AHA! I stumped you this week! The question was: “Where in Washington can you spot Bigfoot?” I know; I’ve seen him!

If you drive from Spokane to Omak or Okanogan, going through Coulee Dam and up through Nespelem and over Disautel Pass (3552′), and keep your eyes wide open, you will see him walking along a rocky bluff up above the road.  (This is my photo.) 

Certainly, he is not real. He is a Virgil “Smoker” Marchand’s sculpture  and looks to me to be about 12 feet tall. He’s totally awesome and quite visible. It certainly was exciting to me when I spotted him for the first time!

We will try again: Today’s Mystery:  What are hops, what are they used for, and where are they mostly grown in Washington? 

Today’s mystery question is this: Where, in Washington, can you take a photograph of Bigfoot in his natural setting????

And a freshly baked WSGS cupcake to Anne Grimn who was the only one to answer last week’s mystery……… The Tacoma Narrows Bridge, aka “Galloping Gertie,” was opened to traffic on 1 Jul 1940 and collapsed in high winds on 7 Nov 1940. This event put egg on many faces and made the national news.

Who remembers driving across the brand new Tacoma Narrows Bridge? You could have between (     ) when it opened and (      ) when it came crashing down due to high winds. What were those dates? (YouTube video of this is still amazing to watch.)

And a WSGS cupcake to Lora Rose of Colville for knowing that the boundary between the U.S. and Canada was set at the 49th parallel “in the mid-1800s” she said; it was actually in June 1856. Enjoy, Lora, and thanks for participating!

Ah, another mystery question from Washington’s history.

When and where was the final boundary between the U.S. and Canada established? This boundary divided Canada from the Oregon Territory, not Washington, at that time, remember.

And a WSGS cupcake to both Barbara Johnson (who was first) and Sonji Rutan, both of whom had good answers to the question “how was Dry Falls created?  Barbara explained, “They were cut during the Breitz Floods and are part of the Channeled Scablands.”  Sonji said, “They were formed by the multiple ice dam breaks due to the Missoula Floods.”

I recently learned the more exact explanation: The beginning of Dry Falls was actually way further downstream and the water  continually under cut the stream bed to work their way upstream………. just like Niagara Falls is doing today.

Enjoy your cupcakes, Barbara and Sonji, and thanks for participating!

At a recent conference in Vancouver, Washington, the theme was “Layers of History” and meaning along the final hundred miles or so of the Columbia River. The first session addressed The Great Ice Age Floods (also known as the Missoula Floods) and I learned just how the cataracts in the coulee areas of central Washington were carved or created. So the mystery question today for you is: HOW were the Dry Falls created? By what term is the process known?  (You perhaps have been to the Dry Falls State Park when going on Hwy 2 between Spokane and Wenatchee?)

And a double delicious WSGS cupcake to Sonji Rutan of the Eastern Washington Gen Society in Spokane. Here’s her comment about Black Pudding:  Isn’t this the same as ‘blood pudding’? I’ve tried it and don’t care for it, but then today’s pallets are perhaps more sophisticated or spoiled then our ancestors.

The above picture may look a teeny bit enticing but NOWAY today. Black Pudding as made from animal blood, mixed with animal fat and then flour, oats, wheat, or whatever grain-thickening they had.

In the 1840s at Fort Vancouver (Vancouver, Clark County, Washington), a food delicacy was Black Pudding. What was this? Would you have enjoyed it??

And a great big WSGS calorie-free cupcake to Gary Parfitt who knew that the answer to the previous Mystery was TRUE. According to “Ask Marilyn” in the Sunday Parade Magazine, water runs down a drain either way depending on many factors. Thanks to all who answered but Gary was the first; maybe he’ll share his cupcake with you??

Good morning, Washington (and surroundings)!  Our mystery for today is this: TRUE or FALSE:  Water going down a drain spins one way in the Northern Hemisphere and the opposite way in the Southern Hemisphere. Is this TRUE or FALSE?

A Delicious Calorie-Free WSGS Cupcake to Elsie Deatherage for correctly answering the previous mystery…. how many feet did Mt.St.Helen’s lose in the blast in 1980? The correct answer was 1300 feet. Wowsers, eh? And, as we Eastern Washingtonians know, lots of that ash residue is still findable and/or visable yet today.

Today’s Question is a “fun” memory question:  How many feet did Mt.St.Helen’s lose on that Sunday, May 18, 1980? And do you remember what YOU were doing that day?

A WSGS cupcake goes to Pam Hert for the correct answer to last week’s mystery question: What year did the Ellensburg Rodeo begin? It was 1923.  Good for you, Pam. 

Our Washington’s Monday Mystery question this week is:

The Ellensburg Rodeo, began by “modern community minded citizens motivated not only by desire to celebrate a vanishing way of life but also by a modern entrepreneurial drive to promote their community and generate commerse.” The question is what YEAR did the Ellensburg Rodeo begin?

We want to keep you guessing, so use the “Leave a Comment” box below to tell us your answer. The answers won’t be posted (but we’re getting them!) until we announce the correct answer and first correct responder next week. Good luck!

Kudos and a WSGS Digital Cupcake to Barbara Johnson for her corret answer of 14…..”how many dams are on the Columbia River.” Enjoy your cupcake, Barbara.

Guess we stumped you all last week but good….. or at least Charles Hansen’s “mystery” stumped you. Nobody got the correct answer. But no never mind, here is today’s mystery:

How many dams are there on the Columbia River?? 

Do remember that the Columbia originates up in Canada. 🙂

First correct answer gets a Digital Cupcake and their name in print!