An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho, Part 192

Author:
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: [S.l.] : Western Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1524

USA > Idaho > Kootenai County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 192
USA > Idaho > Nez Perce County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 192
USA > Idaho > Shoshone County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 192
USA > Idaho > Latah County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 192

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

length, with a beam twenty-three feet across and a hold depth of six feet. Its registered tonnage was two hundred and seventy-two tons and it was equipped with two high-pressure engines. It still plys the river between Bonners Ferry and points on Kootenai lake, British Columbia.

With the advent of the Great Northern railroad in 1892 came a colony of Chinese. The aliens quartered themselves in a collection of shacks on the outskirts of town as is usually their custom where they are settled in numbers. This was about the time the effort was being made to enforce the alien labor law in northern idaho and as its enforcement was being resisted by the railroad companies there was general and intense feel- ing against all foreigners of this class. In June, 1892. the citizens of Bonners Ferry took the law into their own hands. They assembled by appointment, dis- cussed the situation, declared the Chinese colony a nuisance and decided to take immediate action, ex- pelling them from the community. They marched in a body, two hundred strong, to the laundries and dwellings and informed the celestials that they would be allowed two hours in which to pack their goods and go. There were fifty members of the colony and they stood not on the order of their going but immediately prepared for departure. No overt acts of violence were committed by any of the citizens; they furnished two box cars into which the Chinese were instructed to pack themselves and their belongings. When all was in readiness, the engines whistled and the Chinese train moved out of town amid the wild yells of the entire populace that had gathered to witness their departure.

In 1893 Bonners Ferry was visited by a disastrous fire, which destroyed half the business portion of the town. For a year or two previous there had been great activity both in the business an:1 residence por- tions and many buildings had been erected, some of them costing several thousand dollars. This fire, com- ing at a time when the panic in financial circles had paralyzed all business enterprises, was a very heavy blow to Bonners Ferry and one from which it did not recover for years. In addition to losses by panic and fire, the city has suffered on three occasions from over- flows of the river. In 1894 the lower portion of the city was flooded and the people driven from their homes and places of business to seek refuge in the higher altitudes on the hillsides. Considerable dam- age was done to residences, business houses and to merchandise. A few of the frailest dwellings were washed away. The postoffice building, which stood near the banks of the river, was undermined and car- ried away on the flood and was afterwards found stranded on the low lands, one hundred miles down the river. The tracks and small bridges of the Great Northern railroad were washed out in some places and badly damaged in others; traffic was stopped for almost two weeks while roadbed and track were being replaced. The year 1898 was another high water year in the history of the town. The lower floors of dwellings and business houses were flooded and the railroad traffic delayed, but no serious damage was

798

HISTORY OF NORTH IDAHO.

done. Again, in June, 1903, the river overflowed its banks and swept through the town. The streets and lower floors of all buildings were under three feet of water ; sidewalks were floated and many of them car- ried away ; boats afforded the only means of transporta- tion about the town ; but little business was transacted and families took refuge in a portion of the town that is terraced upon foothills on the south, many of them putting up tents for shelter. The railroad tracks were under five feet of water; a number of small bridges and in places sections of the roadbed and tracks were washed out. Three engines and a number of cars were ditched and the Kootenai Valley Railroad bridge across the river was swung two feet out of place by the force of the current and driftwood. For a time all traffic on the railroads stopped and it was several weeks before all repairs were completed and business was able to resume its uninterrupted course. The overflows have never been accompanied by loss of life, and aside from the damage to the railroads, the de- struction of property has been comparatively small when the volume of water and the location of the business district are taken into consideration. The sources of the Kootenai river are in the Rocky mount- tains where precipitation of snow is, during some winters, very great. When a winter of unusually heavy snowfall is followed by a late spring, the snow remains banked in the mountains, and a sudden change to warm weather in June causes it to melt rapidly, thus sending down a volume of water that quickly fills and overflows the low banks of the river. This is an unusual combination of conditions ; as a rule the snows are gradually melted during the month of May and the waters escape without causing overflow ex- cept in the lower valley where the lowlands are sub- ject to annual inundation.

Interest in educational matters began early in the history of Bonners Ferry. The first school was taught by Mrs. Martin Fry in the fall and winter of 1883- 84. Her own children were the only whites in at- tendance, the remainder being half-breed Indians ; she had in all, ten pupils. During the winter of 1884- 85 a Mr. Tailard taught a three-months' term, after which there was no school until five years later, when Mrs. Fry again taught a short term, this time number- ing among her pupils the children of white families that had made their homes in the village. The first school house was a small log building and Mrs. Fry was succeeded as instructor by Miss Bell Jones, now Mrs. Dr. T. A. Bishop. Among other teachers in the early schools were Miss Christiana Winterbottom, Miss Jennie Jackworth and Thomas Hydorn. The present handsome school building was erected in 1894 at a cost of $2,500: in addition to this amount there was expended on furnishings $800 and on text-books and library $500. The district has no debt. There is an enrollment of ninety pupils and three teachers are emploved, the principal receiving a salary of seventy dollars, and the two assistants each fifty dollars per month. During the school year just closed the schools were in charge of Prof. O. R. Shern, principal, and Misses Bertha Reeder and Viola Macartor, assistants.

These instructors have been eminently successful and have made the schools a credit to themselves and to the city. The present school board is composed of James Dolan, Andrew Kent and John Mulfeldt.

There are congregations of the Presbyterian, Methodist and Catholic churches, The Presbyterian church was erected some years ago under the pas- torate of Rev. M. M. Marshall. Rev. John Hope is the present pastor. The Catholic church was built in 1894 at a cost of $1,200 and was dedicated by Bishop Glorieux of Boise. Father J. Purcell is the officiating pastor. Rev. J. M. Eastland conducts services for the Methodists.

The following fraternal orders have well supported lodges: Utopia Lodge, No. 36, I. O. O. F .; T. A. Bishop, N. G .; William Vangasken, Sec. Loyal Re- becca Lodge, No. 43, I. O. O. F .; Mrs. Anna Bish- op, N. G .: Mrs. J. E. Dolan, Sec. Acme Lodge, No. 15, K. of P .; John Mulfeldt, C. C .; S. E. Henry, K. of R. & S. Crescent Temple, No. 10, Rathbone Sis- ters : Mrs. Ella McLauglin, M. E. C .; Mrs. Minnie Little, M. of R. & C. Kootenai Tent, No. 20, K. O. T. M .: S. D. Taylor, Com. : B. W. Luddington, R. K. North Star Hive, No. 16, L. O. T. M .; Miss Maude Collins, L. C. ; Mrs. W. R. Eddy. R. K. North Star Camp, No. 6160. M. W. A .; Clarence Collins, V. C .; E. R. Little, clerk.

The town was incorporated in 1894. It now has a population estimated to be eight hundred and is grow- ing steadily. The present members of the board of trustees are S. R. Gray, chairman and ex-officio may- or : William Eaton, William Elderton, N. B. Williams and Benjamin Morrow. A. J. Kent is city marshal. John F. Cooke, Jr., has served as postmaster since 1897. A review of the present business establishments will complete this article. Much of the support of the fu- ture will come to the city from the lumber industry which is rapidly developing. William Eaton put up a small sawmill in 1891 and from this beginning there has been a gradual increase in the production of lum- ber. The local demand is now supplied by the mill of the International Lumber Company, William O'Connell, manager. The Stein Lumber Company of Glenwood, Wisconsin, has recently purchased of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company ten thousand acres of heavily timbered land tributary to the town and is preparing to expend $200,000 in the erection of a sawmill. This company is composed of Wisconsin capitalists. H. C. Stein being manager, and will op- erate under the corporation name of the Bonner Man- ufacturing Company. The Bonner Mercantile Com- pany, established in 1891 and incoporated in 1894, car- ries a very large stock of general merchandise and im- plements. Their present store building was erected in 1806. Of this company E. N. Kinnear is president ; W. L. Kinnear, manager; E. G. Stuyvesant, secre- tary, and E. L. Little, treasurer. The C. C. Mercan- tile Company, Ltd., carries a large stock of general merchandise. It also handles feed, flour, hay and grain. William Van Gasken is manager of the Koo- tenai Trading Company, which also deals in general merchandise. John F. Cook and T. J. Jones are drug-

799

HISTORY OF NORTH IDAHO.

gists. Other establishments are James Egan, restaur- ant : William Elberton, bakery and livery ; Mary Hol- linger, dry goods ; J. G. Jorgenson, shoemaker ; T. W. IcLaughlin, confectioner ; Charles O'Callaghan, real estate and U. S. commissioner ; John O'Hogge, meat market ; Emery and Cane, barbers. J. Muhlfeld is a contractor and builder and deals in lumber and all kinds of buikling material. S. S. Combs is the village blacksmith. J. P. Beeler is proprietor of the Inter- national Hotel, and H. M. Casey of Hotel Casey. S. E. Henry, James E. Dolan, C. H. Merriam and Elbert Owen are attorneys. Wallace S. Beebee has estab- lished a dentistry. G. E. Barker and T. A. Bishop are physicians.

The Kootenai Herald is a weekly newspaper ably managed and edited by S. D. Taylor, who came from Kootenai with his paper in 1892 and has since been energetically devoted to the advancement of the best interests of Bonners Ferry and Kootenai county.

Bonners Ferry is in many ways fortunately located and it is reasonable to believe that the city will grow and become populous and prosperous. On three sides are extensive timbered sections that must contribute to its growth. The Boulder, Grouse Mountain, Lib- by and Rainey creek mining regions on the east and north, and the Priest river mining region on the west are tributary to the town. Its elevation is but sixteen hundred feet and it is in the center of a fruit and stock raising section that is developing rapidly. It is at the head of the Kootenai vallev, that, when properly drained, is destined to become the richest agricultural section in northern Idaho. There are no extremes of temperature either in winter or in sum- mer and it is regarded as an exceptionally healthful location. The site of the Moyie Falls, seven miles up the river, has been taken up by J. F. Cook, who is put- ting in a power station with machinery that will har- ness one hundred and sixty horse power, with which he purposes to operate an electric lighting plant. The shipping facilities by rail and water are excellent. In 1899 the receipts of the Great Northern Railroad at this point were $144,000: those of the Kootenai Val- ley Railroad $67,679, and each year shows a material increase. As the varied industries of the surround- ing sections are developed, Bonners Ferry must of necessity develop with them. The standing of the city among the advanced and prosperous centers of northern Idaho is assured.

HARRISON.

Harrison is located on the east side of Lake Coeur d'Alene. It is within seven miles of the head of the lake and the mouth of the St. Joe river. On the northeast the mouth of the Coeur d'Alene river is but half a mile away. It is on a branch of the O. R. & N. Railroad that leaves the main line at Tekoa, Washington, and runs via Harrison and Wallace to a connection with a Montana branch of the North- ern Pacific. It is distant about twenty-five miles from Coeur d'Alene city with which it has direct communi- cation by steamers. All Coeur d'Alene steamers from

Harrison make direct connections with a branch of the Northern Pacific Railroad. Harrison is built on a hill or rather it may be said to be terraced up the side of a mountain, residences in the upper part of town be- ing several hundred feet higher than those on the lake front In approaching on the lake almost every build- ing in the city is visible from the deck of the steamer. It is about thirty miles, as the crow flies, from Rath- drum, the county seat. According to the 1900 census it was credited with being the largest town in the county, with a population of seven hundred and two. The pre- cinct including the town, at that time, had a popula- tion of 1004. At the present time it is claimed there are about twelve hundred permanent residents within the town limits.

Harrison has developed from a squatter homestead to a thriving city in about twelve years. In 1891 S. W. Crane settled on a timbered tract which joins the present corporation on the south and east. In the fol- lowing year his sons, A. A., W. E. and E. S. Crane, settled here. W. E. Crane occupied what is now the site of the town. Being near the mouth of the Coeur d'Alene river on which there was a great deal of travel to and from the Coeur d'Alene mines, a demand arose for a trading point and in 1892 S. W. Crane opened a general store. In 1893 a postoffice was established, the name was chosen and W. E. Crane became postmaster. From this date there has been continuous growth, al- though the period of rapid development did not com- mence until several years later. W. S. Bridgman and Company established a general merchandise store in 1893. The railroad was completed to Harrison in 1890 and has always been a prime factor in the development of town and country. W. E. Crane, with the assist- ance of R. M. Wark, erected the first building in 1891. In 1889 the Fisher brothers had put up a sawmill at St. Marie's which had a capacity of twenty thousand feet per day. This plant was purchased in 1891 by Fred Grant and moved to Harrison. It was greatly enlarged and is now known as the Grant mill. It has a capacity of sixty thousand feet per day. In 1893 Mr. Sexton built a mill which he afterwards sokl to J. L. Cameron of the Cameron Lumber Company. The mill was rebuilt on a much larger scale. The next mill was put up in 1895 by C. W. Russel. Another of the earlier business men was W. A. Reiniger, who established a general store about 1894. A newspaper called first the Signal and later the Mountain Mes- senger was established in 1895 and published in turn by several proprietors, among whom were S. W. Crane, Hubbard & Company, Thompson & Biggs and Thomas Lawson. The name of the paper was again changed in 1900 to The Searchlight and since April, 1902, has been ably edited by S. M. Logan. It has aided very materially in the advancement of the city's best interests.

Interest in educational matters began early in the history of the settlement. The district, No. 29, was formed in 1895. The first school was taught in the winter of 1895 and 1896 in the M. E. church build- ing by Mr. Edelbiute. There were at this time fifty- nine pupils in the district. Among the other early

800

HISTORY OF NORTH IDAHO.

school teachers was E. W. Burleigh, who conducted the schools continuously for three years. A school building was erected in 1896. The Methodists were the first to erect a church building, which was begun in 1895, but was not entirely finished and furnished until the following year.

The town site of Harrison is in the form of a tri- angle, with the lake front as the base, and it contains twenty-two and fifty-eight hundredths acres. The plat was made in 1897, but owing to the fact that it was on unsurveyed land, until November, 1902, town property was held only by lease from W. E. Crane, the first settler on the land. Proof on the townsite was made in November, 1902, and deeds were issued in February of the present year. From the proced- ings of the county commissioners in August, 1899, we take the following :

That the inhabitants of the territory hereinafter described be and the same are hereby incorporated into a village to be governed by the provisions of the laws of this state applicable to the government of villages, under the name of the village of Harrison. It is further ordered that the boundaries of said vil- lage be as follows : Commencing at a point on the east side of Lake Coeur d'Alene in said county of Koo- tenai, where the north boundary line of the Coeur d'Alene Indian reservation intersects said lake, thence east along said reservation line to a stone set by the gov- ernment surveyors and witnessed by two pine trees, and designed to make a quarter section corner when said survey is accepted by the government ; thence north on what. when said survey is accepted, will be the north and south quarter line to the southeast corner of the northwest quarter of section 31, township 48 north, range 3 west, of Boise meridian ; thence west along the east and west quarter line of section 36, township 48 north, range 4 west, until said line interesects with the waters of Lake Coeur d'Alene ; thence southerly along the shore of said lake, at the water's edge at low water, to the place of beginning. And it is further ordered that A. P. Harris, George E. Thompson, E. W. Wheeler, George S. Johnson and M. W. Frost be and the same are hereby appointed as trustees of said village to hold their offices and perform all the duties required of them by law until the election and quali- fication of their successors at the time and in the man- ner prescribed by law ; and it is further ordered that the clerk of this board forward a certified copy of this order to George E. Thompson, one of the trustees hereby appointed, and also give notice to each of the other trustees named of their appointment to such office. The present officers are Dr. John Busby, O. B. Steward, E. W. Wheeler, H. A. Lanmeister and J. L. Boutellier.

In August, 1901, a franchise was granted to parties from Spokane to put in a system of waterworks and through the efforts of Village Clerk A. A. Crane right of way for laying pipes over the city was quickly se- cured. The cost of the plant was twelve thousand dol- lars. It is now the property of A. P. Powell. Water for city consumption is obtained from two sources.

A flowing spring, high up on the mountain, supplies about ten thousand gallons per day and the balance is pumped from the lake into two tanks built on the mountain side above the town. The cost of the pumping plant was ten thousand dollars. Each of the tanks mentioned has a capacity of fifty-two thousand gallons. Pipes from these tanks connect directly with the mains on the business streets below, and the pres- sure at the hydrants is abundantly sufficient for pro- tection against fire. A fire company was organized several years ago and the city owns hose carts and a quantity of fire hose, which are kept always in readi- ness for use, in a building erected for the purpose.

An electric lighting plant was installed in 1901 by Kimmel Brothers, at a cost of eight thousand dollars. The officers of the light company are G. H. Kimmel, president ; L. J. Kimmel, vice-president and superin- tendent : H. O. Thompson, secretary. Commercial lighting is furnished at one dollar per light and resi- dence light at a lower figure.

A telephone line connecting Harrison with various points up the St. Joe and Coeur d'Alene rivers was built in 1902. It was erected by the Interstate Tele- phone Company. The Rocky Mountain Bell Tele- phone Company purchased the property in the same year and Harrison now has long distance connections with all points. Mrs. A. M. Thanke has charge of the local office.

All these modern conveniences and improvements came to Harrison within the short space of a year. From an editorial in the columns of the Searchlight, published Fehruary 14, 1902, we quote the following words: "In the past year Harrison has made rapid advancement in the way of public improvements. One year ago the inhabitants of our town were carrying water for all purposes from the lake in pails, as it was absolutely impossible to procure water by sink- ing wells. Today water is piped to every house and the hardships that once prevailed in our midst along those lines have disappeared through the thrift and enterprise of the Harrison Water Company. Last fall Kimmel and Kimmel came to our town and ap- plied to the trustees for a franchise to put in an electric light plant ; the result is to-day, instead of our business houses and residences being lighted by the dingy kero- sene lamp, the button is pushed and the electric light is on in every corner of the house. We no longer grope our way through the streets in the dark hours of the night, but the glare of the arc light has turned night into day. Up to the present we have had no mode of communication with the outside world except by mail or telegraph, today we talk over the line of the Interstate Telephone Company to people living in the most remote parts of the county. The crew and ap- paratus of the Rocky Mountain Bell Telephone Com- pany are now at Harrison and in less than thirty days we will have a complete telephone exchange and a long-distance line connecting us with the outside world. The Washington Electric Power line passes through our county within four miles of our town, affording an opportunity to procure electric power

801

HISTORY OF NORTH IDAHO.

for whatever purpose we may have occasion to use it. All of this has come to our town in less than one year."

A review of the business enterprises of the pres- ent meludes the following: No enterprise brought to Harrison more wealth and greater prosperity than did the Cameron Lumber Company's mill plant. Although it has been destroyed, the history of Harrison would be incomplete without a record of its existence. The company commenced operations in 1893, when the Sexton mill was purchased and rebuilt. It eventually became one of the largest mills in the country. The entire plant was destroyed by fire on August 27, 1902. Two million feet of lumber belonging to the company was burned with the mill. The loss was two hundred thousand dollars, with twenty thousand dollars insur- ance. At the time of this fire the town of Harrison narrowly escaped destruction. Roofs of houses caught fire all over the city and it was only by united and continued effort on the part of fire companies and citi- zens that a general conflagration was averted. The fire company from Wallace came to the rescue and did splendid service in keeping the flames confined to the mill and yards. The officers of the Cameron Lumber Company are A. B. Campbell, president ; T. L. Greenough, vice-president ; C. Herbert Moore, secre- tary and treasurer ; Donald R. Cameron, manager.

The St. Joe Lumber Company was organized in 1901 with a capital of twenty-five thousand dollars. Three months later this was inereased to seventy-five thousand dollars. The mill was built in 1900 and has a capacity of fifty thousand feet per day. Fifty men are employed and the pay roll is about $2.500 per month. The mill is fitted with planing machines and dry kilns. The officers of the company are Warren Flint, president : George E. Thompson, vice-president ; J. H. Barlow, general manager ; Fred C. Barlow, sec- retary and treasurer. The oldest plant is the Grant mill, which was established in 1891 by Hogue Fisher, and purchased in 1894 by Fred Grant. It has been enlarged to a capacity of sixty-five thousand feet per day. It is equipped with planers, moulders, stickers and lath machines and has its own electric light plant. It employs fifty men besides its logging force. Fred Grant is owner and manager. The C. W. Russell mill was built in 1895. It has a capacity of twenty-five thousand feet per day, employs about twenty-five. men and has a monthy pay roll of about $1,200. Planing and moulding machines are also operated here. The Harrison Box and Lumber Company mill is owned and operated by William Gray and Lee Knutson. Its capacity is twenty thousand feet per day and its month- ly pay roll about $1,000. It makes a specialty of all kinds of fruit boxes. William Gray is general busi- ness manager. The Empire mill is operated by Albert G. Kroetch and Lawrence S. Kroeteh. It has a ca- pacity of fifty thousand feet per day. The Eureka shingle mill is owned by Joseph and Samuel Avery and Victor Carlson. These mills do a good business. The Lyon Navigation Company operates tugs, barges and excursion boats and engages in a general freight and passenger business on the lake and rivers. Among 51

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho, Part 192

Author: Publication date: 1903 Publisher: [S.l.] : Western Historical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1524

Author:
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: [S.l.] : Western Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1524