DB Cooper

[skyjack71 0]

Quote

The money goes into the Lewis River.
The reason it gets found at a site that got dredged is because the dredging operation put it there.

OH No Richard - have you not enough to do in your retirement. Still selling your story I see.

There is NO WAY it was dumped there by a dreging machine used at Lake Merwin and gets dumped into the Columbia - think that thru. The pack would have been torn apart and it would never have survived over 7 yrs that way on the beach.

Please realized that the money was protected for several yrs due to the condition of the bills found in 1980 - . Reference my experiments in the other forum that I did with acid soil, rubber bands and dollar bills...I did this test yrs ago...and I got my answers. The US Treasury is the best source for the answer to this...using the printed dates of the bills found. Maybe I have already been there.

That money WAS NOT in the Columbia river for 7 1/2 yrs. If there are NO bones with that chute - there is only one way that money got to the Columbia and remained in the condition it was found yrs later...It was thrown into the river no more than a yr before it was found.

Copyright 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 2013, 2014, 2015 by Jo Weber

[snowmman 3]

***
from Ckret:
Because of the condition the money was found in it had to be all or nothing, either he lost the money bag in the jump with the money still tightly bound in it or he survived and hide the bag of money or he died with the money in the bag by his side.
***

You didn't call attention to all the implications here when you posted it in the early thread, and no one really dug into what you were saying.

You're saying you think the bundles of money stayed aligned because they were still "TIGHTLY BOUND IN THE BAG" (and stayed tight during any flotation) and the bag rotted away but the money didn't and so did the tight binding nylon cords. (Didn't know nylon cords rotted that fast when protected by sand :)

Come clean Ckret: Aren't you trying to tell us you think the money was buried there?

I'm honestly trying to find the information you say you posted before. Did I find it?

[dumstuntzz 0]

interesting. if cossey is saying the canopy that was found is silk he would most likely be mistaken. parachutes have been made from nylon since WWII(the japanese cut off the silk supply).source for this information is poynter's parachute manual ,which for you non jumpers, is the parachute riggers bible.from personal experience(40+ years)i have not seen any canopy made after 1943 made of silk.and it is not fathomable that the military would have gone back to silk which is an inferior fabric for parachutes.
maybe cossey is covering up something??

[snowmman 3]

I've offended SafecrackingPLF and didn't mean to.
I noticed he updated his post on layers to point out his thinking.

here's mine. I was too curt before.

Ckret said 2 feet of clay and sand were deposited by the dredging operation. (see old post ..really)

The professor said there was a clay layer with the money on top of the clay layer.

There is no evidence that the dredging operation deposited a single uniformly distributed clay/sand layer. The way sediments happen in a river, it's reasonable that it might have deposited multiple layers

A clay layer. Maybe a sand layer. Maybe layers of material from wherever.

My point is not to denigrate earth science. It's to denigrate assuming a geologist understood the 1974 dredging operation fully. (unless I see more data)

I think of it like boring a well. When they keep a well log, you can understand the layers they went thru.
If 30 years later they just tell you "we went thru 300 feet of granite/sand/clay...you can't assume it's just one uniform layer of material.

See what I mean? It's not geology. It's dredging machines (or movement of dredging materials). Specifically the '74 operation if that was the only one. We don't even know, like I say if there were more, or more dumping operations.

Am I being stupid? I may be. Just call me on it if so. I also apologize if my tone offends. No one liked Cooper either!

Also, since what I read says most of the Columbia dredging is sand (you should see all the bazillion yards of sand dumping they've done historically when you web search!)...I figure the dredge could have done the clay layer, the sand, and the money in the sand.

But Ckret's comments about the positioning of the money bundles has set me off on a new line of thinking, obviously.

[Sluggo_Monster 0]

The link to Columbian.com is not working for me. Maybe it is getting too many hits. I get a "Cold-Fusion " diagnostic screen.

I'll try again later.

'da Slug


________________________________________________________________________

EDIT:


I got it... They Changed the headline, it's now "Expert - Unearthed chute not Coopers"

Sluggo

Web Page
Blog
NORJAK Forum

[Orange1 0]

snowmman, there has been a fair amount of discussion about the bundles, in the bag etc - it is there if you go back and look. as for safecracker, he gets offended quite easily when people don't take his scientific deductions as gospel (SCPLF, don't get offended by that now! ) But seriously, i don't like the "it's been said before read the thread" approach you've been getting, because between the threads there must be way over 1000 posts by now... however, the subject has been discussed a lot. someone, can't remember who, even went to the trouble of finding out what the most likely bag the money would have been in was. somewhere earlier...

Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

[snowmman 3]

There were a LOT of hijack attempts with parachutes in 1972. I'll put out another message with snippets so you can see some parts of the news archives without paying for it.

But I wanted to break out the details of Martin J. McNally because he apparently did a successful 727 jump while the indicated airspeed with 263 knots, in 1972. (he was caught later). Hard to believe the 263 knots reported below is correct. Also note it was 3 A.M. night jump.

Cooper had it easy in comparison?
I would also note you could be pretty inept and still get out of the plane and live
see other details at
http://www.tulsaworld.com/webextra/itemsofinterest/centennial/centennial_storypage.asp?ID=070729_1_A4_spanc01672

This is from the court of appeals for the case
http://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F2/485/485.F2d.398.73-1061.html

UNITED STATES of America, Appellee,
v.
Martin J. McNALLY, Appellant.

On June 23, 1972, at approximately 2:35 p. m., an American Airline Boeing 727 jet airplane, Flight No. 119, having originated in New York, left St. Louis, Missouri, bound for Tulsa, Phoenix, and Los Angeles. At about 3:15 p. m. and when approximately 20 minutes before planned arrival in Tulsa, the defendant, holding a machine gun, accosted one of the four stewardesses and gave her two notes to deliver to the captain. The notes in part demanded $502,000 cash, certain parachuting equipment, and the return of the flight to St. Louis.
5

The plane returned to St. Louis and landed at about 4:00 p. m. The women, children, and some men deplaned. The plane refueled and circled St. Louis, awaiting the collection of the money and the equipment. After the defendant was told that the money was not available in St. Louis but was in Fort Worth, Texas, the airplane headed for Fort Worth at 6:45 p. m.
6

At about 7:45 p. m., the captain was informed that the money could be collected in St. Louis, and the flight was redirected to St. Louis, where it landed at Lambert Field at 9:25 p. m. for the second time on June 23d. During this time on the runway, a male passenger retrieved the money and parachuting equipment outside the jet. The defendant then allowed all the original crew, except two stewardesses, to deplane; one male passenger was ordered to remain on board as a hostage. The new captain and crew, including a FBI agent disguised as a pilot, boarded the flight for a new destination.
7

With the relief crew in command, the same American Airlines Boeing 727 began to taxi for lift-off. In the process, however, a late model automobile, which had broken through the airport security gates, struck the airplane on its underside and disabled it. A private citizen, acting entirely on his own, drove the car about 90 miles per hour into the airplane. After several minutes of high tension and assurances that the FBI was not involved in this misdirected and unfortunate incident, arrangements were made for another American Airlines airplane, a Boeing 727 jet designated Flight No. 821, to accommodate the hijacker's demands. The entourage transferred to this plane, with the hijacker in control. He ordered the plane to proceed toward Canada. At 3 a. m. on June 24th, en route to Canada, traveling at 10,000 feet and 263 knots true air speed and located 43 miles west of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and five miles south of Peru, Indiana, the captain noticed a shift in air pressure according to certain instrumentation, a Transponder system, that indicated to him that the hijacker had parachuted from the airplane. The jet then turned around and eventually landed in Chicago without the hijacker.
8

From June 24th through June 28th, 150 FBI agents scoured the area around Peru for the hijacker. On one of those days, a farmer near Peru found the American Airlines' mail pouch containing over $500,000 and notified the FBI. Also discovered in the same area of open fields were a .45 caliber machine gun, the parachute given to the hijacker, and clothes.
9

Operating on reliable information, the FBI continued its search in Wyandotte, Michigan, close to Detroit and the home of the defendant. On June 28th at about 11:00 to 11:30 p. m., the defendant was arrested in front of his home in Wyandotte. Agents, according to their testimony, surrounded the defendant's home and entered it at 2:45 p. m. on June 29th after a search warrant had been issued. They further testified at a hearing on a motion to suppress evidence that no one entered the home before 2:45 p. m. on June 29th, that lights inside the home did turn off once during the night before the search, and that a timing device that turns off lights automatically was found on the premises during the search. One neighbor testified that someone was inside the house during the early morning of June 29th, and another neighbor testified that the lights inside the house flickered off and on several times during the night. During the search, the agents found certain books and charts connected with aviation, a box of .45 caliber ammunition, a rifle stock, a metal foregrip for a .45 caliber machine gun, and a .45 caliber M-3 cartridge magazine. Over objection, these items were admitted as evidence during the defendant's trial.

[Orange1 0]

That is interesting... i'd also highlight: while he survived, he also appeared to have lost the money in the air...

Ckret, can we presume people like this were all checked to see that they were not DBCooper?

Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

[377 20]

Successful night jet jump at 262 kts?
A farmer finds over $500K in cash and calls the FBI?

Amazing facts.

2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

[snowmman 3]

Okay I'm going to post little snippets here of all the 1972 parachute related hijacks. Note not all of them had jumps.

But it makes me think. Cooper could have done it. He may have succeded because the citizens in the Northwest were supportive, as opposed to these other areas of the country. Also the FBI had experience by then with the problem. Note the use of tracking devices (they say)

Also, these other guys mostly had guns. People don't like guns. Some of them were younger. An older, smooth operator can get away with a lot.

The 1972 hijack facts also make you really that there was a lot of hysteria at the time. In summer 1972, the govt was being attacked with "what are we going to do" demands. You can imagine there was a lot of pressure to just say Cooper didn't make it.

You can easily ask: how come no one remembers all these. We talk about McCoy, but that's about it.
No wonder they had to seal up the 727 aft doors.

(no guarantee on completeness for 1972 parachute related hijacks...I just put a little bit of work into this..note some repeat mentions so don't just count)

One of the successful jumps is this guy in colorado in a DC-9.
Jan. 20: Richard Charles LaPoint, 23, an ex-Army paratrooper, used a fake bomb to obtain $50,000 and two parachutes from Hughes Airwest. He jumped to safety 80 miles northeast of Denver, but was later captured.

Then McCoy
Then the guy in Central America.
Then McNally. McNally was interesting as I noted in prior post.


Some are duplicate articles, but I included them so you can see more text.

FBI/police did a pretty good job in '72 when things were going crazy. They
all were caught...even the guys that jumped.

[Jan 21, 1972] A young man saying he had a bomb hijacked a jetliner today, obtained two parachutes and a $50000 ransom, bailed out over Colorado and was then captured near his parachute, silent, mud-splattered and injured. The twin-engine Hughes Air-I west DC-9 was taken over on the runway at Las Vegas, Nev., ...
From Hijacker of Jet Parachutes In Colorado and Is...

[Jan 21, 1972] "We tracked him for half a mile." an FBI agent said. "We followed Ihe footprints be led in tile snow and mud." Tile Air force said il bug- geil the two bright orange parachutes given In l.aPiiml with homing devices lo allow easy tracking when be bailed out. The hijacker apparently did not notice ...
From Daily Review, The (Newspaper) - January 21, 1972,...

[Jan 27, 1972] A Mohawk Airlines plane from Albany to New York City, hijacked to Westchester County Airport last night, took off again early today and landed at Poughkeepsie, with only the three crew members, the armed hijacker and the parachutes and $200000 in cash he had demanded aboard. ..

[Apr 9, 1972] I'm inclined to think he used his own parachute,' Captain Hearn said-. The armed hijacker took over the Plane yesterday afternoon a.few minutes ... The hunt for tile cool, bespectacled hijacker, who jumped from the. airliner with a parachute in which a radio signaling device had been planted ...
From Suspect Is Hunted in $500000 Hijacking of... - New York Times ($$)

[Apr 10, 1972] A law enforcement student and skydiving enthusiast, who said that he had been a Green Beret and a helicopter pilot while in Vietnam, was arrested today and charged with the $500000 extortion-parachute hijacking of a United Air Lines 727 jet on Friday. Associated Press SEIZED IN HIJACKING: ...
From Skydiver Held as Hijacker; $500000 Is Still... - New York Times ($$)

[Apr 10, 1972] Friday's hijacking was the seventh involving parachutes in just under five months. FBI[ agents say that it was not con-' nected with any of the others, including the one involving a man known as DB Cooper, still sought after bailing out over Washington last ThanksgivingEve with $200000 ...

[May 6, 1972] After the hijacker bailed out, the plane flew 80 mites to Me- rida, Mexico, and landed with the crew all reported in good I condition. Nieto said it was presumed the skyjacker jumped with the I in ransom which he took on during a stop in Wash- ington, DC The hijacker also had six .parachutes, ...
From The Daily Times News (Newspaper) - May 6, 1972,

[May 7, 1972] A hijacker who extorted $303000 from Eastern Airlines parachuted into Central America before dawn today, apparently leaving little trace. The crew of the aircraft landed safely in Mexico, exhausted after a 21-hour ordeal that began in Pennsylvania. One report, said that tlie hijacker had left ...

[May 7, 1972] The plane did fly over British Honduras but did not land at Belize, apparently on orders of the hijacker, who had in his possession a gun, two bush , two jump suits, two crash helmets, food, drink, cigarettes, the money and six parachutes. lie is believed .to have jumped some time between 4 AM ...
From Hijacker, With $303000, Jumps in Central America

[Jun 24, 1972] In addition to the extortion money and the parachutes, the hijacker demanded an Army shovel and a radar-scanning device with which he evidently intended to monitor whether any "chase" planes were following him. I According to Tile AssociatedI Press, a radio operator at the airport who monitored ...
From HIJACKED PLANE RAMMED BY AUTO; Hijacked Plane Is... - New York Times ($$)

[Jun 26, 1972] The growing belief that the 3200-acre reservoir may hold the body of the hijacker was [linked in part to a theory that 'his parachute did not open when he jumped to fell from an American Airlines 727. Radar fixes pinpointed his departure from the airliner at ,the eastern edge of this city at an ...
From 150 Searchers Find No Trace of Hijacker in Indiana -

[Jun 30, 1972] Martin Joseph McNally, 28 years old, was arrested last night in front of his home in Wyandotte, Mich., outside Detroit, by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and charged with air piracy in connection with an airline hijacking in the Midwest last week in which $502000 ransom was paid.

[Jul 7, 1972] The hijacker took off after he received the money, a parachute and handcuffs. He said the money was to be given to "two organizations involved in the ... The hijacker said he would release all but ,wo male passengers once he received he and parachute. He added ,that he would give his destination ...
From Hijacker Seizes Coast Jet, Flies Off With 5...

[Oct 7, 1972] Officers returned fire and thought they hit the hijacker nut waited until daybreak to board the plane. They said they bund the man's body sprawled outside the control cabin, a .22 caliber pistol beside it. Police said the hijacker's tiitcase contained cartridges nid a parachute. Pres. ...

[Nov 16, 1972] The hijacker, a bearded man 34 years old, had demanded a parachute and transfer to a small plane for a flight to a remote area west of here. ... A policeman managed to approach while the hijacker was tying on his parachute. The policeman was shot after he tried unsuccessfully to grab the rifle. ...
From AUSTRALIANS KILL ARMED HIJACKER; Police Battle... - New York Times ($$)

[Orange1 0]

Quote

Successful night jet jump at 262 kts?
A farmer finds over $500K in cash and calls the FBI?

Amazing facts.

Even more bizarre though nothing to do with this case is that McNally offered to buy the originals of those Prophet Mahomed cartoons that Danish cartoonist did... http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/cartoonist-opposes-his-work-being-hijacked-rejects-offer_10026504.html

Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

[Ckret 0]

Well, since Cossey let it out I'll tell you this much, I asked him to not say anythig until I could get back down there and make one more attempt to find anything else related to the canopy. We felt this way we could release as confident of a finding (or lack thereof) to the media.

Snowman, please dont take my suggestion of going back and reading the old post as anything more than that. You are amazing with the energy you bring, I need people like you, I just need you up to speed. And thats not to say that you agree, I would rather you disagree, but disagree with the facts (as we know them) as your foundation.

[Ckret 0]

Hey Safe, sent some of your work off to HQ yesterday, congrats, your kinda like an agent now. Keep this up and I'll have to make you drink the Kool Aid.

[SafecrackingPLF 0]

Thanks Ckret.

Funny story... we had a career day when I was at UW. It was for the athletic dept. We got to pick out which person we'd eat dinner with. Of course, I pick out the FBI agent.

When it came time for each person to introduce themself to the room, (for the life of me, I can't remember who it was) says his name, followed by FBI.

Well, then the geologist I mentioned earlier goes next and he says "Stan, CIA".

The whole room busts up laughing.

Regarding the parachute. I said it before and I'll say it again... would not rule it out completely without the harness. If you need help, I now have two family members out there that are turning into Cooper fantantics. They aren't at the "freak" level like me, but they'd probably help.

Short of it is, get the harness!

[SafecrackingPLF 0]

Ckret,

I was going to speak to Himmelsbach about this, perhaps I will later on this week... there's one more piece of the puzzle I need to figure out.

Suppose the money does wash up (as opposed to being placed there), we need to know how long the money bag can float.

We cannot figure that out without a very strong understanding of the bag itself.

I've heard that it was canvas, no top, two handles.

I have such a bag, but the dimensions are exact which would mean the cash would be brimming. It's also a thick guage... if possible, is there a way to get a better description besides "handles, no zipper?"

I probably won't be able to do a float test until I have access to a swimming pool (memorial day, maybe just prior if I get permission).

I know we assume it can float for a really long time, but it would be nice to know exactly so that we get some parameters.

Orange.. I don't get mad when people don't accept my reasoning, I get frustrated when people throw facts to the wind for lofty theories. 377 & Ckret, for example, agree with my reasoning and therefore believe the plane was in a different location. That's legit thinking.

[Orange1 0]

Quote

Orange.. I don't get mad when people don't accept my reasoning, I get frustrated when people throw facts to the wind for lofty theories. 377 & Ckret, for example, agree with my reasoning and therefore believe the plane was in a different location. That's legit thinking.

Reasoning and facts are not the same thing, reasoning with known or most likely variables might lead you to the most likely outcome and that is certainly a solid lead to follow... but it still is not the same as a "fact" (if you knew the facts you wouldn't need to follow the reasoning to get to a practical theory.. right?) Yes I'm being pedantic, but theories, no matter how solid, are simply not facts till proven so, and there just may be factors out there that you haven't thought of (yeah I know you can't think of what they might be, but that's exactly my point). Anyway, you got the kool-aid offer

Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

[Ckret 0]

Orange, your out of control, you used "pedantic" in a sentence. My goal today is to also use pedantic in a sentence, I just have to look it up first. i am off to dig, be back in about five hours.

[Orange1 0]

Quote

Orange, your out of control, you used "pedantic" in a sentence. My goal today is to also use pedantic in a sentence, I just have to look it up first. i am off to dig, be back in about five hours.

Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

[Albert18 0]

Here is the question I would want to verify regarding the money, especially since I don't live in the area and I don't know how the Columbia is operated.

The Columbia is a dammed river, to put it mildly. The money appears to have been found in an area that is quite high and dry. The dredging operation created a layer in 1974 and the money is 18+ inches above that layer, just a few years later. That is a lot of bank movement for a dammed river. Is the Columbia allowed to be that wild? Especially since it runs through an urban area just a stones throw upriver.

Somebody who lives in the area and knows the river should be able to answer that question quite easily.

[SKYWHUFFO 0]

Hey Safe, don't settle for the Kool-aid! make him use that bright flashy thing! MIB has em so surely the FBI has em. HA!
Seriously, Safe are you accepting the new AB Line? I am not seeing it add up when you put the locations of the canopy and the money on it and then look at wind direction, and factor 8:15-8:20 instead of 8:11. Help me out here what do you think?

[SafecrackingPLF 0]

As most can tell, I see things in a very mathematical way.

It's not because I like it, but because I find it most useful for me.

Everyone has their style, and all the styles have merit and are helpful. While people argue back and forth about Cooper's skydiving experience, for example, I try to work on solving the equation. When there's resolution in the arguments (his experience) we can add it into the equation... but some stuff like that is just too difficult to come to a reliable conclusion.

And I think that's what you were trying to say... deductions do not equate to facts.

I would remind you, it works both ways... conjecture does not trump facts when working probabilities.

It's all good Orange. There's no reason to continue debating with me on meaningless stuff that will have no affect on obtaining a solution.

---

The way I see it, the equation goes something like this:
money found 2-10-1980 =

Variables:
Deposited within one year of being found. Factors include strata in the sand

rubber bands survived the journey (7+ yrs)

Money was not stained. Money was decomposed.

Decomposition occurs only under certain environments. (air + moisture, but not too much air or it counters the moisture and not too much moisture that it counters the air)

Staining occurs with prolonged submersion in dirty water.

Rubber bands suggest "protection" from UV.

Location of the money would favor transport from the River, but would not preclude a purposeful drop.

Timeline of the jump was 8:11

Flight path was V-23

Water transport is limited to 2 regions: LaCamas & Washougal

LaCamas has possible viability issues (dam, skimmers, it's a big lake) that have not been determined yet.

Additional region would be entire Columbia River South & East of where money was found.

Other water regions require relocation

No body ever reported

No other money ever reported

No bills in circulation ever matched to 34 page S/N list

Crime occured Nov 24, 1971

Cash becomes brittle with constant wet/dry and hot/cold cycles.

Cash becomes "stiff" after even one wet/dry cycle (I know this from drying off my sunken cash)

Found money had crumbles where it lay.

3 stacks of cash found in proximity to each other.

1 stack of dry bills w/ rubberbands (100 bills) floats in undisturbed fresh water for approximately 10 minutes 25 seconds.

Float time of money bag currently unknown.

---

The college I went to hired tutors to make sure I achieved grades. They gave me a guy getting his phd in mathematics. This guy helped me 4.0 several classes. He once told me something I'll always remember... I could give him 20 points (on a graph) and he could develop an equation that would fit all 20. He told me it wouldn't mean the equation would be the "solution", only that it could be done.

If one or more of the "variables" are wrong, that's okay, let's figure it out and make some forward progress.

[snowmman 3]

On your list of "what's known" about the money, shouldn't you include "within the 150 ft search region the FBI used"

It was a constrained search. So the info necessarily could be limited.

If instead the search went for 2 miles and there was more info, or no info, then that would lead one to think other things, maybe.

Am I wrong in saying that there really is no info about bundle placement? The kid found the first 3 bundles right? so there's no info about their exact placement cause they disturbed them. The bundles were what? stacks of 50 when Cooper got them? or ???

For the total $ reported, were other bundles found or was that then from the accumulation of lots of other pieces?

I know you're going to tell me to go look back in the posts. Jeesh. I can't believe how hard it is to get you guys to type a simple 5 sentence current summary on details.

[skyjumpsteve 0]

Quote

Hey Safe, sent some of your work off to HQ yesterday, congrats, your kinda like an agent now. Keep this up and I'll have to make you drink the Kool Aid.

Good news Safe...they are hiring!

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The FBI needs more than 1,000 new agents, intelligence analysts and support staff, bureau Director Robert Mueller told House members Tuesday. Mueller is appearing on Capitol Hill to push for a $450 million budget increase to capture DB Cooper, expand the bureau's ability to combat terrorism, spying, and other national security threats.

....OK OK I added in the DB Cooper part.

[snowmman 3]

There's only one line about the money bag, relating to float time.

If the money bag is going to be implied to be related to the condition or placement of the money, doesn't there need to be a statement about why the money bag isn't there any more?

Shouldn't there be statements about what makes a money bag go away. Statements about rot, or ???

The long list makes it sound scientific, but it sounds a little like picking and chosing from "facts" that one likes.

[SafecrackingPLF 0]

I don't live there now, but I have lived there before.

I've put some thought into what you've said, because I've thought about it myself.

If I understand the strata, there's 3 inches of deposit per year (average from 74-80). Yeah, that's a lot. But, it's also a major river.

You will find river rock near high velocity portions of a river and you will find finer sand near lower velocity portions of a river. That's just how it gets sorted naturally, because the moment the energy disspates, the river deposits the heavier items first.

The sand comes from alluvium. 75% of alluvium winds up on the river path. If you think about how much alluvium (particled rock) the Columbia would be producing, it's quite a bit.

These pieces of sand start off in the mountains and work their way to creeks, streams, and rivers. The Columbia is carrying sediment from all over the NW.

I'm not sure how the dam mechanisms would work to thwart alluvium. At the very least, dam operators would have to make sure their dam is clear of build up (or else the dam would stop working).

The "high and dry" aspect of where the money was found, I cannot comment on. There have been people who have claimed a lot of things... but someone would really need pictures to make a definite conclusion.

The water levels flucuate a lot. I've seen that river go up or down as much as ten feet in height.

Sluggo found a website that had historical data on river flow, but I couldn't figure out how to find river levels for the Columbia in the 70s.