General Warren's island has an interesting history

If you take a drive out Hope way you will see a large island in Lake Pend Oreille. It is the largest island in the lake and it is located a mile and a half southwest of Hope. On all the old maps the island was called "Wasunka Island" but the maps of today identify it as "Warren Island." Who was Warren and why is the island named for him?

The island bears the name of Illinois born Charles S. Warren, a veteran of the Civil War, who drove a bull team from St. Joseph, Mo., to Montana after the war. He arrived in Virginia City, Mont., on Aug. 20, 1866. From there, he went to French Gulch in the Deer Lodge Valley to try his hand at placer mining. He married Mittie Avery in 1872 and was elected sheriff of Deer Lodge County in 1873.

Charles Warren moved to Butte, Mont., where he was one of the owners of the Gagnon mine. In 1877, at age 30, this veteran soldier was made adjutant general of the Montana Battalion in the Nez Perce Indian War. General Warren returned to Butte, where he engaged in mining, real estate, and Republican Party politics.

In the summer of 1889, Warren came to Hope to do some mineral prospecting. He felt that the largest island in Lake Pend Oreille, known by settlers at that time as "Abbott's Island," had mining potential. Warren bought the island from Frank T. Abbott of Hope for $525 on July 1, 1889. Warren and his partners, Joseph Clark of Butte and George Pease of Murray, filed a placer mining claim in 1890 and called their claim the "Pend d'Oreille" mine. They built a cottage on the island and operated two barges on the lake, the "Webber" and the "Mud Hen," in connection with working their claim. In time, the island became known as "General Warren's Island."

On Oct. 9, 1909, Gen. Charles Warren, who lived in Butte, sold all but six acres of the island to J. Busch, one of the brothers of the Anheuser-Busch brewing company of St. Louis, for $24,336. The Busches planned to build a large resort hotel, as well as individual summer cottages on the island. They also planned to build a water and electric light system. Mr. Busch had a large hotel in Portland, Ore., and was buying up property to start a chain of hotels all over the West. Obviously, the resort complex was never built for some reason, and the Busches sold out.

Charles and Mittie Warren sold their six-acre portion of Warren Island and their cabin to Katherine Murphey Brown of Fort Worth, Texas, on Sept. 11, 1920. The Warrens left their name with the island.