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drpenrod.com: Soap Lake

New Address!
Dr. Penrod's new office in Soap Lake is now open. The new address is:
330 East Main
Soap Lake, WA 98851


Open house at Dr. Penrod's new
office in Soap Lake
About Soap Lake
The first white settlers arrived at Soap Lake in the 1850s. Cowboys that used lake water for washing up after a hard day's work noticed that the water lathered up without even adding soap to it. When the wind blew, suds formed on the shores of the lake. Early on, the lake was dubbed "Soap Lake," and the name stuck. Later pioneers tried to "civilize" the name, but despite their best efforts, the lake remained "Soap Lake." Indians living in the area discovered the lake's unique properties even before the new settlers did. They believed the water had healing properties, so they called the lake, "Smokiam," meaning healing waters. One legend remembers an old woman who sickened and died. The tribesmen did not want to bury her so they tossed her in the lake. Two days later, the woman caught up to the tribe, alive and well! Obviously the lake was unique. But what made it that way?


Dr. Penrod's new Soap Lake Office and Restaurant
Soap Lake's story really begins about sixty million years ago. At that time, molten rock from the earth's mantle pushed toward the surface. A few thousand feet before it reached the surface, the molten rock cooled and solidified into great slabs of granite. Over the next several million years, erosion, minor earthquakes, and weather changed the landscape into a series of hills and valleys. At that point, another eruption from beneath the earth brought forth another flood of molten lava that filled the low spots and diverted the Columbia River. These basaltic lava flows occurred intermittently throughout the next several million years.

The big change came about 13,000 years ago during the last ice age. Glaciers blocked the flow of the Columbia River, forcing it into a lake for a time. Eventually the water found a new channel through which to flow--that of the Grand Coulee. While flowing through this area the water deposited large amounts of silt and gravel along its path. Nearby hills caused swift currents to churn away at the underlying lava, digging holes. The holes were eventually partly filled again and waterfalls began forming. Over time this "wave action" cut the lava cliff back toward the direction the water was flowing. At some point during this period, the ice dam suddenly went away, and the river reverted to its former channel. The water stopped flowing down the coulee, and left behind a series of small lakes geologically known as plunge pools. Dry Falls is at the upper end of the coulee, the point where the water stopped churning out holes. Soap Lake is at the low end of the coulee.


The restaurant portion of Dr. Penrod's Soap Lake office
Over the next several thousand years, seepage from the subterranean lava flows began to fill these plunge pools with minerals. Being at the low end of the coulee, Soap Lake received more than its share of minerals seeping through cracks in the lava. Sodium, chloride, carbonate, and sulphate are present in the biggest proportions. Traces of aluminum, potassium, magnesium, and several other minerals have been measured in the lake as well. Another unusual feature of the lake is that it is "meromictic," that is, the minerals do not mix but remain in layers.


Some happy campers enjoying the
open house
Repeated treatments with water from Soap Lake have been purported to cure conditions such as rheumatism, skin diseases, eczema, arthritis, lumbago, and joint aches. It is supposedly the only cure for Buerger's disease, a circulatory disorder.

The lake's curative powers are taken seriously. Many people drink the water to ease digestive and intestinal disorders. The water is pumped into many hotels, homes, and local facilities for hot mineral baths. There must be something to it because each year, several thousand people from all over the country come to rest and rejuvenate. "After spending nine days there . . . the pains have gone and I feel like a new person," claims a visitor from Las Vegas, who had been suffering from arthritis.

Are the stories true? No one knows for sure. But ask a native and they will tell you, "It's the water!"

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