Grand Coulee at the higher side of the flexure. Encountering the steep slope of the monocline, the new river would have cascaded off the rim, down onto a broad plain where Coulee City and Dry Falls State Park now stand. Upper Grand Coulee began as an cascade just north of Coulee City. As the rush of water eroded the surface, it steepened into a waterfall. The falls continued to erode backward (northward) creating the canyon. When the falls reached the divide into Lake Columbia, i.e., preglacial Columbia Valley, it disappeared, leaving the elongated notch. Today, the waters of the Lake Roosevelt are
Battle of Birch Coulee side of the Minnesota River with a force of 350 Indians. Gray Bird's party and Brown's troops missed encountering each other during the day, but some Indian scouts discovered that Brown's troops were moving toward the campsite at Birch Coulee. The Sioux planned to ambush Brown's troops in the morning, thinking that only the cavalry was present and that they could be easily destroyed. The Birch Coulee campsite was not easily defensible, since the Indians could approach from all sides and still remain under cover. Also, since the burial detail felt themselves safe, they did not take precautions against attack