Bonner County Historical Society

Ever wonder what daily life was like in Sandpoint more than a hundred years ago?

Archaeologists contracted by the Idaho Transportation Department and SWCA Environmental have been working on the answers to that question over the past few years and will share some of what they’ve learned in two Idaho Archaeology Month presentations at the Sandpoint Community Hall on May 19 and 26. The presentations are free and open to the public, but donations to the Historical Society will be gratefully accepted at the door to help cover expenses.

On Thursday, May 19,  at 7:00 P.M., Robert Betts of Vanguard Research will present “From Time Immemorial: Sand Creek and the Prehistory of Sandpoint, Idaho.”  The Sand Creek Byway archaeological excavations of the historic Sandpoint townsite involved ten sessions of field work over a period of three years and is the largest archaeological project ever undertaken by the State of Idaho.  Close to 570,000 artifacts were recovered.  Artifact analysis and report preparation is currently under way at the University of Idaho.  While excavation focused on recovery of artifacts associated with the early Sandpoint townsite, a small number of prehistoric artifacts were also recovered that reflect Native American activity at the mouth of Sand Creek that preceded the establishment of the early townsite by thousands of years.

Robert Betts was involved in all three years of the Byway excavations. He will discuss what the stone tools and other prehistoric artifacts recovered can tell us about the Native Americans who were utilizing resources in the vicinity of Sandpoint for thousands of years.  Some of the prehistoric artifacts found at Sand Creek point towards long distance trade and cultural contacts with regions far to the south in Idaho as well as to the north in Canada and suggest that since “Time Immemorial” people living on the north shore of Lake Pend Oreille were well integraded into regional prehistoric trade networks.

The “Historical Archaeology of the Sand Creek Byway” will be at 7:00 P.M. on Thursday, May 26. Bob Weaver, one of the principal archaeologists on the Byway project, will share some of the artifacts that were recovered during the three years of excavations on the original Sandpoint townsite. Weaver will explain how these artifacts are being used to piece together a history of Sandpoint from the arrival of the railroads in the 1880s, the growth of the town and the Humbird Lumber Company, and the more recent tourist industry of the Lakeside Hotel site.

Both presentations are sponsored by the Bonner County Historical Society, City of Sandpoint, Vanguard Research, SWCA Environmental, and the Idaho Transportation Department.

Stop by the Bonner County Museum for a flyer with a complete listing of Idaho Archaeology and Historic Preservation Month programs throughout Idaho or visit http://history.idaho.gov/archmonth.html.

1910 Fire at Sagle, Idaho

Two showings of Ordeal By Fire, a new documentary film about the “Big Burn” or forest fires in 1910 that burned large portions of the panhandle of Idaho and western Montana, will be hosted by the Historical Society in Clark Fork and Sagle.

Both showings will begin at 7:00 PM with an introduction by Sandpoint District Ranger, Richard Kramer, and the filmmaker, George Sibley. The events will be held on Monday, August 16, at the Clark Fork Senior Center and on Tuesday, August 17, at the Sagle Senior Center. A $5.00 donation to the Historical Society is requested at the door.

The fires which raged across the panhandle of Idaho and the mountains of western Montana in August of 1910 “blew up” into the biggest forest fire in US history. America had seen big fires before, but this was the first time that a serious effort to fight such fires was attempted. In 1910 the federal government, mostly in the form of the US Forest Service, was committed to conservation, and it sent a virtual fire army of 10,000 men into the woods. This massive campaign started out as hundreds of smaller efforts to fight fires kindled by lightning and steam locomotives and people across the Northern Rockies in July.

There were bad fires everywhere that unusually dry year, but the mountain west was hit especially hard. Fires raged from St. Maries, Idaho across the Bitterroot Mountains and over to Glacier Park and the Blackfeet Indian reservation. The worst of them, though, clustered along the Idaho-Montana border. On August 20 hurricane-force winds whipped those fires into one massive Big Burn that scorched across more than 3 million acres and sent fire crews running for their lives. People huddled in mines and root cellars, and approximately 90 people lost their lives, most of them firefighters.

After September rains finally doused the flames, the haunting memory of the failed fire fight of 1910 made the Forest Service determined to beat the fire demon. For better and for worse, these fires shaped how Americans and their government would view wildland fires and fire protection, and set in motion a chain of events which would greatly affect both western landscapes and attitudes toward land management 100 years later.

George Sibley has been a film-maker for over 40 years, mostly making educational films and documentaries. Based in Florida, he is fond of telling lesser-known stories of American history to wider audiences. Last year (2009) his film “Shadows of David Thompson” was widely shown in cities across Canada and the US as part of the 200th anniversary of Thompson’s most important explorations. Sibley will have copies of Ordeal By Fire available at the showings.

Contact the Historical Museum for more information. Download a flyer here.

The new year in 1908 brought news that the Northern Pacific Railroad had agreed to purchase 14 acres from the Humbird Lumber Company on which to build their new division point. This news prompted T.J. Humbird, an owner of the Humbird Lumber Company mills at Kootenai and Sandpoint, to create the Kootenai Townsite Company. Lots and new homes began to be put on the market in the fall of 1908.

In 1910 the Northern Pacific completed it new roundhouse, car shop, and coal chute, and officially moved the division point from Trout Creek, Montana to Kootenai, Idaho. By this time the town had grown rapidly and had become an incorportated city. In 1910 the town could boast of having an active lumber, cedar pole, and railroad industry providing employment for hundreds of men and women. By that time Kootenai also had a bank, forty-room hotel, several stores, restaurant, brick school house, dance hall, two saloons, church, and streetcar terminal.

This Saturday, July 24, the city of Kootenai will be celebrating this milestone in their history with a day of activities for all ages. The festivities begin at 8:00 AM at Kootenai City Park at 200 Spokane Street. There will be an Injectors Car Club showcase, a pancake breakfast and barbeque lunch hosted by the Shriners, live music throughout the day, a self-guided walking tour of historic Kootenai, and a display of historical photographs.

Part of the walking tour will include a stop at the interpretive site installed by the Bonner County Historical Society earlier this year. The Society owns the site of the Northern Pacific’s car shops and stockyards. The interpretive panel shows many of the most historic places related to Kootenai’s past.

Download a schedule of events here.