An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho, Part 199

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 199
USA > Idaho > Nez Perce County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 199
USA > Idaho > Shoshone County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 199
USA > Idaho > Latah County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 199

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).

The channel of the Spokane river, the outlet of Lake Coeur d'Alene. is not wide and deep enough to carry off the waters of the lake as rapidly as they are poured into it by the numerous mountain inlets, hence the back or slack-water that renders the Coeur d'Alene and St. Joseph rivers navigable. Should this outlet

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HISTORY OF NORTH IDAHO.

channel be deepened or should the surface of the lake be lowered by any other means steamers will probably cease to ply to Old Mission and St. Joe. The Spokane river is not navigable. In its course through Kootenai county is winds through stretches of prairie land and plunges down rocky inclines of narrow canyons and great ravines. About eight miles below the lake, at Post Falls, the river has a total fall of 42 feet. and, below the first fall, all its waters are crowded into a marrow channel, scarcely thirty feet wide, while on either side rise the perpendicular walls of a box canyon. Along the river's course are many charming views of landscape scenery. There is a pleasing vista of rolling peak-like foothills. The level meadow and the bor- dering slopes are gray or green or white as the case may be. The distant hills lie whitened in the midst of a wintry morning or outlined in green against a sum- mer sky, and on the loftier peaks the dazzling white- ness of the eternal snows affords at all seasons of the year, a pleasing contrast to the prevailing tones of pine- green and rock-gray and sky-blue. That portion of the Spokane valley lying in Kootenai county, and called locally Rathdrum Prairie, is fifteen miles long, and in places, ten miles wide, is nearly level throughout its course and in the upper part, is covered with a forest of pine.

In the central portion of the county are a number of small lakes that are becoming famous tourist resorts because of delightful summer climatic conditions and enchanting surroundings. They are isolated though not far distant from Northern Pacific railroad stations and the drives across country are pleasant and inter- esting features of a visit to any of them. The road, in many instances lined on either side with stately pines, cedars and tamaracks, so tall and dense that the sun cannot be seen at mid-day, winds through dense for- ests on the mountain sides, and at times drops into deep, shadowy canyons, where the rumble of a moun- tain stream adds its charm to the journey through the solitudes of nature. Again it skirts a minature valley or runs out upon the prairie amid the fields of grain and by the orchards and groves of the rancher. Sur- rounding the lakes are dense forests on sloping hills or precipitous mountains. Rare and delicate flora grow here in profusion, dipping gracefully into the water along the shore and forming at times a dense under- growth in the forest above, contrasting strangely with the giant pine that casts its shadow over all. Among these water jewels is Fish lake, sometimes called Twin Lakes, because formed by two water bodies connected by a narrow channel, is three miles north of Rathdrum. The lake is five miles long and has a considerable ele- vation above the prairie. Tesemini, or Spirit lake, three miles north of Fish Lake. is seven miles long and in its widest portion, one mile across. Heyden lake is seven miles north of Coeur d'Alene and twelve miles east of Rathdrum. It is about eight miles long and. in places, two miles wide. In the extreme northern part of the county is Sullivan lake, four and one half miles long by three fourths of a mile in width. Other smaller bodies of water are Hoodoo lake, east of Gran- ite; Cocolala lake, at the town of the same name, on

the Northern Pacific railroad; Mud lake, two miles north of Hauser, and a number of small lakes in the valley of the Coeur d'Alene river.

Clark's Fork of the Columbia river, named for the famous explorer William Clark, rises in Montana, and from its source to its union with the Flathead river is known in different sections as the Deer Lodge river, Hellgate river and Missoula river ; formerly through- out its length, it was known as Clark's Fork. This name now applies to it from its junction with the Flat- head river to where it pours its waters into Lake Pend Oreille. From the lake to the Columbia it is known locally as the Pend Oreille river. It is about twelve miles from the point where the river crosses the Koo- tenai county line to its mouth at the lake. Fed, in its upper valley, by numerous large tributaries, which in turn have their sources in the everlasting snows of the Rocky mountains, it pours into Lake Pend Ore- ille immeasurable quantities of water, which, during the freshet season, the outlet of the lake is unable to carry off with equal rapidity. This results from the shallow channel of the outlet river and from the addi- tional quantities of water that are emptied into the lake by numerous other streams. These conditions cause an annual rise of the waters of the lake of from fifteen to thirty feet. It never rises sufficiently high, however, to cause overflows, owing to its uniformly precipitous walls and to the deep channels of all inflowing streams.

The Pend Oreille river is in reality only a contin- nation of Clark's Fork which flows through the lake. For twenty-five miles its course lies southwest and west in Kootenai county, through a rugged, mountain- ous region timbered with pine and tamarack, with some cottonwood, poplar and maple along the banks. Priest river joins it seven miles east of the Idaho-Washing- ton boundary line. The total drainage area of Pend Oreille river, including the water sheds draining into Clark's Fork, from its primary source in the Rocky mountains, to the Columbia, is 15,000 square miles. The upper river, or that portion of it between the lake and the mouth of Priest river, is from one to three thousand feet wide, with a depth of from twenty- five to fifty feet at extreme low water. Five miles be- low the mouth of Priest river and two miles east of the Idaho-Washingcon line, are Albany falls. Here the river is divided by a rocky island, having an area of five acres, the summit of which rises sixty feet above the water level. On either side of this island the falls have a descent of about seven feet. The Great North- ern railroad crosses the river immediately above the falls, passing over the island referred to. From the lake to the state line the valley is not over one mile wide, is comparatively level and, in places, heavily timbered. On either side of the valley rise the forested foothills of the Priest river and Pend Oreille mountains.

Lake Pend Oreille is the largest lake in Kootenai county and the largest in the state of Idaho, its area be- ing 180 square miles. The extreme length from Steam- boat Landing in the south, to the outlet, in the north, is about sixty-five miles and its shore line is over three hundred miles. It is fifteen miles across in its widest portion. A few miles out from the town of

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HISTORY OF NORTH IDAHO.

Hope, soundings have been made to a depth of 2500 feet. Its low water elevation is 2050 feet, which is raised fifteen to thirty feet in the spring and early sum- mer months. It never freezes except in the north where the waters are shallow. It was first known as Kalispelm lake, but later the name was changed to Pend Oreille, meaning ear pendant. Some writers state that it was so named because of its peculiar form, somewhat resembling in its windings the shape of an ear pendant worn by the aborigines; others, that it took the name of the Pend Oreille Indians who were so called by the French Canadian trappers, because of their custom of wearing rings to which various or- naments were attached, in the lobe of the ear. In the lake are a number of islands, the largest of which con- tains one hundred and sixty acres. This island is about one mile from the town of Hope and is the property of General Warren, who took it up in 1888. receiving a government patent in 1890. He has built here a palatial residence and makes it his summer home. A number of streams flow into the lake besides its chief inlet, Clark's Fork, the largest of which is Pack river, heading well up in the Cabinet mountains of the north, and entering the lake near the town of the same name. On all sides are lofty ranges of mountains, the Coeur d'Alenes on the south, the Cabinets on the east and north and the Granite range on the west. These ranges enelose a deep mountain gorge, which forms the bed of the lake, and about which are grouped, rounded hills, lofty, rugged peaks and sheer declivities which, for miles in portions of the lake, rise almost perpendicularly from the water. Along the south shore are precipices having a slope of over eighty de- grees and a height, above the water level, of two thou- sand, eight hundred feet. Pend Oreille lake like a broad and winding valley in the mountains, filled to the brim with gathered waters, with its tor- tous shore line and imprisoning mountain walls, charms and bewilders with its rare beauty and its majestic grandeur. In all the northwest there is not afforded a better conception of the beautiful and the mighty and wonderful in the works of nature than is found on the bosom and on the surrounding heights of this magnificent lake.

The Kootenai river pursues an erratie course ; ris- ing in British Columbia, not far from Kootenai lake, into which it eventually empties, it flows first in a southwesterly direction to Jennings, Montana, where it makes an acute angle curve to the northwest : enter- ing Kootenai county, it flows for fifty miles through the northeast portion, re-entering British Columbia at Porthill Another peculiarity of this stream is that near its source it flows due south, while over a low di- vide, only five miles away, the Columbia river winds its way northward. The river is navigable for one hun- dred miles, from the lake to Bonner's Ferry. From Bonner's Ferry to Jennings, Montana, a distance of sixty-two miles, obstructions prevent navigation. Al- most every year, from May to July, the valley of this stream is covered with water. This condition is caused by the inability of the lake below to discharge the great volume of water as rapidly as it is poured

into the lake. Because of the low banks and many curves of the river, the water is more easily forced out upon the valley lands. On account of this great yearly overflow, the land is rendered valueless for the production of any crop except the native grasses. The valley is the old bed of the lake, which at one time extended as far north as Bonner's Ferry. Charles F. Fisher, of Copeland, is conducting a scheme to con- struct straight, lateral ditches on either side of the river from Bonner's Ferry to Kootenai lake, thus giv- ing the accumulated waters swift passage down the valley, preventing overflows, and reclaiming seventy- five thousand acres of rich farming land. The lower valley is heavily timbered. On the west are the Priest River mountains, and on the east is a high and broken divide projected south from British Columbia.

The Priest River Forest Reserve, occupying the northwest corner of the county, contains six hundred and fifty thousand acres. It consists of the drainage basin of Priest river, which has its ultimate head at, or slightly beyond, the forty-ninth parallel and flows in a southerly direction to a junction with Pend Oreille river. The greater portion of this reserve is in Kootenai county, only a small part of the western area being in the state of Washington. It is essentially a mountain region, the approximately level tracts not forming more than fourteen per cent. of the whole. Its greatest length is fifty-five miles, and its average width twenty miles. On the east is the Pend Oreille range of mountains and on the west are the Priest River mountains. The elevations vary throughout the reserve from three thousand feet on the surface of Priest lake to eight thousand feet on the higher ridges of the western range of mountains. Priest lake is di- vided into two portions, the upper and the lower. con- neeted by a tortuous channel, named the Thorofare, two miles long and varying in width from seventy-five to one hundred and twenty feeet. The upper lake is a shallow body of water two miles long and one mile wide. Lower Priest lake is eighteen miles long and from one-half mile to five miles in width. The eastern shore is bold and rocky, rising rapidly by steep es- carpments and spurs to the summit of the main divide. The spurs and ridges of the western shore are mostly low, and broken at frequent intervals by broad valley openings and swampy areas stretching westward. The outlet is Priest river, which leaves the lake through a channel four hundred feet wide and about three feet deep. On its way to the Pend Oreille river it is joined by a number of tributaries, the most important being the lower West Fork and the East Fork. Among the many beautiful spots in the lake region of Kootenai county there are none more attractive than the region about Priest lake. It is essentially a forest-covered region. There are but few tracts within the boundaries of the reserve that do not support a dense, magnificent forest. Besides the young growth and fire-damaged trees, it is estimated by government survey that there are 4,833.600,000 feet of merchantable timber. The government supervisor is Robert S. Bragaw, who re- sides at the town of Priest River. Under Mr. Bragaw are six forest rangers whose duties consist in patroll-

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ing the reserve, preventing forest fires and unlawful timber cutting.

A paradise for hunters, fishermen and tourists lies in the mountains, lakes and rivers of Kootenai county. There are fish in every stream; on the valley prairies and in the grain fields are varieties of grouse and other birds : in the higher altitudes, back in the wilder moun- tain sections, are deer, bear, caribou, moose and moun- tain lion. Nowhere will be found a region more de- lightful and more satisfying from a sportsman's stand- point. From the wild ranges in the upper St. Joe re- gion to the wilder confines of the Priest river reserve is one continuous game preserve where the bravest may find a "foeman worthy of his steel" and where the more timid may gratify his love for the chase to satiety.

Climate, soil. forests, mineral deposits, lakes and

rivers unite in making of Kootenai county one of the most favored sections of the northwest. The valley and mountain streams, and lakes possess a rare beauty of lofty, broken crests and peaks and densely wooded slopes. There is, too, a pastoral charm of grain fields waving by the water's edge or out upon the plain, of orchards sloping up the hill, or grouped about the ranchman's home, all telling of a prosperous and happy people. In addition to its charm of mountain, wood and plain, Kootenai county offers to the investor and the homebuilders opportunities rarely found elsewhere, in the development of its mining industry, its great lumber industry and its agriculture, dairying and stock-raising. There is every reason to believe that the unparalleled prosperity of the past few years will continue and that the county will remain one of the richest and most progressive in the state.

FREDERICK POST.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES KOOTENAI COUNTY

FREDERICK POST does not need to be intro- duced to the people of northern Idaho by words. He has earned the encomium lavished by President Roosevelt on a leading citizen of the United States, "He is a man who has done things." Perhaps no man in this part of the inland empire has a better right to the leading place in the realm of real benefactor of the country than Frederick Post. He is a man of great ability, and is possessed of wonderful perception with unerring discrimination, while his executive force and exhaustless fund of practical sagacity have made him a man whose impress has been left for good in the institutions of this rich country and whose life of integrity and moral uprightness has been entirely commensurate with the giant achievements that it has been his good fortune to bring to a successful culmination.

With this brief introduction to the life of one of the leading and distinguished men of the northwest, we will enter more into detail regarding his personal career. From the land whence have come so many · powerful men who have allied their lives with this re- public, also comes Mr. Post. It was on Sepember 16, 1821, that he first saw the light, the place being Herburn, Germany, and his parents were Frederick W. and Ida E. (Sneider) Post, natives of Germany, where they remained until called to the eternal rest of another world. The father wrought at the cooper trade and the mother's brother was a statesman of note in his country. Our subject received a good education in his native land and at the age of four- teen went to work in the mines. At the age of twenty he was compelled to serve in the military, as was the custom for young men in his country. Seven years were spent in this service, the last portion of which was in the capacity of lieutenant of the rear guards, . where he was granted considerable privilege. Sus- ceeding his army career, which was one of credit and distinction, he was placed in the position of oversee- ing officer of the German English Mining Company, where four years were spent. In 1848 he was mar- ried and in 1850 he resigned his position and came with his wife to America. They settled in Kendall

county, Illinois. His vigor and stirring qualities were engaged in farming, constructing lime kilns, handling a stone quarry, operating a saw mill and also a flour mill. He constructed a water power at Black Hawk cave on the Fox river, which bears his name at the present time. In 1871 he severed his connections with Illinois and his businesses were disposed of and he came to the boundless west. He first selected the northern part of Idaho, and had soon purchased from the Indian chief two hundred and ninety-eight acres where Postfalls now stands and at once began extensive improvements. He dammed the Spokane river at the falls which bears his name, erected there the first saw- mill in that portion of the country and then he was forced to buy the land again from the government. This was done by special act of congress, as he had put on such a large amount of improvement. Mr. Post purchased forty acres from James Glover which included the large falls in the Spokane river in Spo- kane and he platted what is now known in that city as Post's addition. He erected the first flour mill in Spokane and did business there for ten years. He then sold his entire property there for ninety-seven thousand three hundred dollars. Immediately suc- ceeding that he came to Postfalls again and continued the sawmill business here on a larger scale. He was active in this until 1898, when he retired from busi- ness. He now owns many lots in Postfalls and two hundred acres adjoining the town.

In 1848 Mr. Post married Miss Margaret, daugh- ter of Philips and Catherine Hilt, natives of Germany, where they died. This wedding occurred in Germany. To Mr. and Mrs. Post there were born six children, two of whom are still living: Henrietta, wife of Her- man Linke, a retired farmer living in Spokane ; Eliza, wife of A. M. Martin, a popular resident of Postfalls Mr. Post and his estimable wife are worthy members of the Presbyterian church and in all their brilliant success they have not forgotten the genuine faith of the Christian and they are now in the golden years of their life cheered and sustained by that hope which is as an anchor. Mr. Post has always been a temperate man, using intoxicants only when demanded

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as a medicine, never allying his influence with the saloon. It is exceedingly gratifying to find one who has been so prominent a figure in the northwest, who has been crowned with brilliant success as charming and generous as one could wish, who has steadily lead the way in building the country up to its present pros- perons condition, who has been a stanch supporter of the faith that makes faithful, who has made an example worthy for the rising generation to follow, --- it is a great pleasure, we repeat, to see such a one now enjoying the ripe age that Mr. Post has at- tained to, in peace, happiness, and in the secure esteem, admiration and love of his fellow men. He has done his part nobly, he has always been a bene- factor to his race, and it is fitting that he be accorded a prominent place in the history that succeeding gen- erations will read with ever increasing interest, when they see more and more the beneficent results of his wise labors and the salutary influence of his noble and upright life.

LORENZO D. CORZINE. This industrious agri- culturist of Kootenai county is located about two and one half miles north from Sandpoint, where he has taken a homestead which he is transforming into a fine farm, utilizing the timber as he clears it.

Lorenzo D. Corzine was born on June 11, 1871, in Montgomery county, Illinois, being the son of Francis M. and Mary A. (Clifton) Corzine, natives of Illinois and Tennessee, respectively. In 1873, they removed to Sumner county, Kansas, the seat of the family home for twenty years, the father dying there in 1901. The mother had died in 1892. They were the parents of four children, Lorenzo D., our subject; George R., married and living in Oklahoma; John C., living in Oklahoma, now visiting our subject ; Myrtle, in Mont- gomery county, Illinois. There is one half brother, William T., living in Montgomery county, Illinois. Lorenzo was two years of age when the family went to Kansas and there he received his education. He worked with his father until sixteen and then started for himself. Two years were spent in general work and then he went to Portland, Oregon, and was en- gaged for two years there on a dairy farm. Another move was made, this time to Astoria, and in fishing in summer and working in the woods in the winter. he was occupied until 1896, when he came to Colfax, Washington, then worked in various places until 1897, the year in which he came to Sandpoint. He worked for a time in the woods and then being sick spent a month or so in the Sacred Heart hospital in Spokane. After that he made a visit to his people in Oklahoma then returned and took his present place. He has given his attention to its improvement and also to working in the timber since that time and he is pros- pering.

In August, 1901, Mr. Corzine married Miss Vella, a daughter of John and Sarah (Casey) Fouty, natives of Wisconsin and West Virginia, respectively. They came to Kootenai county in 1898 and the mother died here. The father is living with our subject at this time.

Mr. Corzine is a Democrat in politics and active in local questions. He is a member of the I. O. O. F., Sandpoint Lodge, No. 59, also of the M. W. A., Sand- point Camp, No. 7191.

WILLIAM E. SISSON. This enterprising pio- neer in northern Kootenai county is one of the well known and highly respected citizens, both because of his excellent worth in personal qualities and because of his faithful work in the pioneer lines. An account of his career fittingly forms a part of the county history and will be interesting reading for all. .

William E. Sisson was born in Buffalo county, Wisconsin, on December 18, 1863, being the son of Ezra and Amelia (Plemon) Sisson, natives of New York and Canada, respectively. The mother came to the United States with her mother when she was young, locating in Baraboo, Wisconsin, where she met Mr. Sisson and was married. Then they removed to Buffalo county, where the family home was for many years and then another move was made, this time to Dunn county. In 1880, they came west, settling in Latah county and there farmned for ten years. Thence they went to Lewiston, where the father died in 1898, leaving a widow and six children.

William E. was educated in Buffalo and Dunn counties and when fifteen started in life for himself. He worked in the woods, on the drive, railroading, and saw milling until June, 1887, when he came west to Spokane. He farmed near Latah for a number of years and in 1891, he came to his present location, two and one half miles northwest from Kootenai. He took a homestead, built good buildings, and since that time he has been raising hay, doing general farming, and timber work.

In 1885, Mr. Sisson married Miss Cora M. Butter- field, whose parents were natives of New York, but pioneers to Wisconsin. Her father died when she was four years old. They lived in Cedar Falls, and Lochiel. and now the mother lives in Minocqua, all in Wiscon- sin. To Mr. and Mrs. Sisson there have been born eight children, Harry W., Ralph E., Lora M., Harland G., Bert C., Charles P., Hazel F. and Hester G. Mr. Sisson is a member of the school board and has been for some time. He is a member of the F. of A., Court No. 12, at Sandpoint. He is a man of integrity and has always labored for the welfare of the country where he has resided, being a valuable citizen in this county.

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An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho, Part 199

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