History of Coeur d' Alene, Idaho
Indians Acquire a New Name
For thousands of years, almost 5,000,000 acres of what is now North Idaho, eastern Washington and western Montana was the homeland of the Sahlish-speaking Schee-Chu-Umsh. In the early 19th century, when explorers and fur traders began to move into the Northwest, the Schee-Chu-Umsh acquired the French name Coeur d'Alene. Translated "heart of awl," meaning hearts like the point of an awl, the name described their great skills in trading. The Tribe embraced Catholicism on the wings of legend: Coeur d'Alene Chief Circling Raven's vision of men wearing black robes bringing a great spiritual truth to his people.
The Mission
The importance of the Old Mission of The Sacred Heart can't be minimized. Its story is interwoven into Idaho history. It served as a learning center and home for the Coeur d'Alene Indians, a stopover for westward settlers, a haven for the sick, and a supply and post office. Originally built on the St. Joe River in 1842, it was moved due to flooding. The present site in Cataldo, overlooking the Coeur d'Alene River Valley, was selected by Father Peter DeSmet in 1844. Visible from I-90 it is approximately 90 ft. long 40 ft. high and 40 ft. wide. The structure was built by Jesuit priests and the Coeur d'Alene Indian Tribe. Through Father Ravelli's ingenuity, the entire building was constructed with a broad axe and auger, ropes and pulleys and a pen knife. Completed in 1853, it is the oldest standing building in Idaho. It is a national land mark and was designated an Idaho State Park in 1975.
Idaho's First Road
In 1853 General Isaac Stevens, the first governor of Washington Territory, came through with a survey party in search of a northern route for a transcontinental railroad. Stevens recommended to the Congress that the proposed route should cross the Bitterroot Mountains and follow the south fork of the Coeur d'Alene River.
The 624 mile road, which became known as the Mullan Road, after Captain John Mullan who supervised the construction, was completed in 1862. It served as a military road, as a settler's route, a supply route for the Northern Pacific Railroad, and would provide access to the Coeur d'Alene Mining District.
A Military Presence
Camp Coeur d'Alene was established at the headwaters of the Spokane River. Fort Sherman was the beginning of a pioneer village that became the city of Coeur d'Alene. In 1898, the entire Fort Sherman garrison was sent to fight in the Spanish-American War. The post was officially abandoned in 1901. Today, the original fort grounds are the site of North Idaho College. The first sawmill in the Coeur d'Alenes was built by the military at Fort Sherman.
Rush for Gold & Silver
Rumors about the presence of gold in the Coeur d'Alene Mountains date back to the early 1860s when the Mullan Road was built. Some 20 years later a veteran prospector, Andrew J. Prichard, discovered gold near the North Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River. In 1884 silver was discovered on the south side of the Coeur d'Alene Mountains, near Wallace. By 1890 most of the great silver mines of the Coeur d'Alenes had been discovered.
Wallace became the hub of one of the richest mining districts in the world. Over $5 billion worth of metals has been extracted from the Coeur d'Alene Mining District. The Coeur d'Alene Mining District claims many records for silver production: The deepest, the Star-Morning Mine at Burke (7,000 feet deep); the richest, the now-closed Sunshine Mine on Big Creek (over 300 million ounces of silver produced); the biggest, now closed Bunker Hill (over 180 miles of underground workings). Historic Wallace's past is replete with tales of millions being earned and lost, cataclysmic forest fires, mining wars and U.S. Army-supported marshal law, gambling and bordellos. It's the last town listed on the National Register of Historic Places and up until a decade ago, downtown Wallace was the location of the last stoplight on Interstate 90 between Seattle and Boston.
The township of Kellogg was established in 1892. Kellogg is named after Noah Kellogg (his jackass is credited with finding the first Galena ore in 1884) founder of The Bunker Hill Mine, once one of the largest employers in the region. Headquarter buildings are now converted into hostels and are popular for travelers interested in modest accommodations. In 1886 Kellogg was linked by rail to the Coeur d'Alene River at Cataldo where steamboats carried supplies from Coeur d'Alene and minerals to connections in Spokane. With the completion of the Veterans Memorial Centennial Bridge in 1992, the trip from Coeur d'Alene to Kellogg by auto is less than 30 minutes.
Trains, Boats, & People
The discovery of gold and silver coincided with the completion of the Northern Pacific Railroad, which connected Lake Superior to the Puget Sound. By 1915 Coeur d'Alene had shipping facilities on five transcontinental railroads, plus an interurban electric railroad that maintained hourly transportation between Spokane, WA and Coeur d'Alene. A fleet of steamboats offered tourist excursions as an extension to rail access to Spokane and the Northwest. By 1910 Coeur d'Alene was known as the convention city of Idaho.
Originally named Westwood, in 1881 Rathdrum was renamed after a town in Ireland in order to obtain it's own post office. It was county seat of Kootenai County until 1908. It was the end of the Northern Pacific Railroad route to the Coeur d'Alene Mining district. From here, miners took a stage to Coeur d'Alene and a steamboat to Cataldo. In 1886 a branch line to Hauser re-routed traffic. Several of Rathdrum's historic buildings reflect its prosperous days as the county seat.
At one time a rough-and-tumble logging town, Harrison still sports remnants of its colorful past. Historic buildings, like the community's two churches, weathered saloons and even the city's cemetery, all stand as testament to the hardy souls who built this one-time boom town. In the early 1900s, Harrison was a main port for the big passenger steamers that navigated Lake Coeur d'Alene.
The Waters of North Idaho
Prior to 1846, Native Americans inhabited the shores of Hayden Lake. Legend has it that in 1878 a pioneer named Matt Heyden and another early homesteader, John Hager got into a poker game to see who would name the lake. Heyden won, although time altered the spelling to Hayden Lake. The Hayden Lake Country Club was once a recreational stop on the area's electric railroad known as Bozanta Tavern. During World War II it was an R & R site for service personnel.
The village of Bayview was once the terminus for lake steamers bringing lumber and lime from other points on the lake. After the start of World War II Farragut Naval Training Center was built just west of Bayview. The second largest training center in the country, it processed 293,381 sailors in one 15-month period. After the war the center was decommissioned and given to the state of Idaho for a state park. Bayview is currently the site of a US Naval underwater research facility.
Frederick Post came upon a falls in the Spokane River in 1871 and visualized the ideal location for a sawmill. He negotiated a treaty with Chief Andrew Seltice of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe and started the area's first commercial sawmill in 1880. The settlement of Post Falls grew up around the mill. The dam is now operated by Avista Utilities and is the site of Falls Park, with observation decks open to the public. The Coeur d'Alenes and much of northern Idaho had immense stands of white pine and met all the conditions for logging, including transcontinental railroads to take the lumber to market. Many of the towns in northern Idaho began as logging centers.