Researcher Dechant to speak on monument history

Coulee Dam's town council will hear about those who gave their lives during construction of Grand Coulee Dam next Wednesday night, and how there is a need for a suitable memorial to them.

Susan Dechant, a researcher who lives near Colville, will bring the council up to date on the memorial that once stood near Delano and then was confiscated for non-payment and relocated on the Stevens County Courthouse grounds.

The memorial featured the names of 44 who had died to date (1938) in construction of the dam. The memorial, ordered by the American Legion, had a $1,750 price tag on it and the monument manufacturer from Colville came to Delano under cover of darkness one night and took it back for nonpayment.

The monument now features the names of those from Stevens County who served in World War II.

Dechant will provide details of the monument's storied past and reveal that she now has names for about 80 of those who lost their lives during construction at the dam.

The story has sparked interest in Coulee Dam official circles, and Mayor Greg Wilder and Councilmember Gayle Swagerty went to Colville recently to see the original monument.

Dechant hopes that the monument's history and the need for a proper memorial will prompt the town of Coulee Dam to commit to placing a new memorial here using hotel/motel tax money.

She will give her talk after 6 p.m., Wednesday, April 23, at the town hall chambers. The public is invited to hear the story of the monument.