Submerged Valley

Kootenai County · dedicated 2025 · SH-97, milepost 67.36

Glacial activity 20,000 to 14,000 years ago created Lake Coeur d’Alene out of what previously had been a river valley. North of here near Sandpoint, the Cordilleran ice sheet blocked valleys and formed large ice-dammed lakes. Repeated failures of the dams drained the lakes. Waters rushed across the outlet of this valley, beyond modern Coeur d’Alene. Sand and gravel deposited there raised the level of the land and blocked the old river channel. This backed up the river, submerged the valley before you, and produced one of Idaho’s lovely landscapes.

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under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s

what this marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years here

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