The Mountaineer 
~2 
io.2) 
SCIENTIFIC NOTES 
EDITED BY GERTRUDE STREATOR 
THE SUBMERGED FOREST IN LAKE SAMMAMISH 
Lake Sammamish, a little lake parallel with Lake Washington, lies a short 
distance to the eastward. “The land separating the southern portion of the 
bodies of water might be termed mountainous; many of the hills rise from 
1000 to 1500 feet from the base, and are covered mostly with a dense growth 
of trees.”’1 : 
There is a submerged forest which occupies forty to fifty acres of the 
bottom of this lake near the west bank.2 The trees stand erect with their 
roots anchored in the mud, but with their tops extending from one to four 
feet above the surface of the water, some of the largest ones measuring three 
to four feet in diameter. The bark has been worn away; yet snags from broken- 
off branches may still be seen on the trees when the water is low. 
The theory has been advanced that this forest once occupied a position on 
the steep west shore,’ but through some cause has slipped down into the 
water. The soundings of the lake, which are uniform except at this particular 
place, would verify this theory.4 
The accompanying maps were drawn by Redick H. McKee and Arthur 
Nation, who used the U. S. Geographical Survey Topographical map, Seattle 
sheet. (Topography by G. E. Hyde and R. H. McKee.) 
1 Post-Intelligencer, Feb. 27, 1898. ‘‘Explorations and soundings in Lake Sam- 
mamish—Theories of a submerged forest in the Lake.’ Compiled by Professor 
Edmond S. Meany. 
2 See map. 
3 See detail map. 
4 Compare the two maps. 
LEGEND OF THE SUNKEN FOREST OF LAKE SAMMAMISH 
The following legend of the sunken forest in Lake Sammamish is gleaned 
from talks to Lee Monohon of Renton by Jimmy Moses, an Indian at Renton, and 
Chief Rodgers of Suquamish on the Port Madison Indian Reservation: 
Long, long ago, a great tribe of Indians came from east of the Cascade 
mountains to make war on the Indians living along the shores of Lake Wash- 
ington and Lake Sammamish. They intended to conquer the Lake Indians 
and take their homes for their own. 
The battles were fierce and the Hastern Indians were generally victorious. 
After a number of years of such desperate struggle, the Lake Indians took what 
they thought was a last stand around Lake Sammamish. 
Saghalie Tyee, the Great Spirit, took pity on the Lake Indians. He told 
the enemies to go to their own homes over the mountains and let peace be 
restored. When they refused, the Great Spirit was angered. 
During the years of fighting there was no time for fishing or hunting. Both 
sides were living on roots that grew in the shallow waters on the edges of the 
lakes. These are called by the Indians “wapato.’ The supplies were running 
low and soon one side or the other must yield through starvation. 
It was then that the Great Spirit came to the rescue of the Lake Indians. 
He caused trees to grow up from the bottom of Lake Sammamish. The Lake 
