'Daddy Huff' renowned in Blue Lake area

Calvin Hardesty Huff was a pioneer of the Blue Lake area, which is located about 12 miles north of Priest River. He was born on Feb. 12, 1868, and was known throughout the Blue Lake Valley as “Daddy Huff.” He was a woodsman, trapper, carpenter, ranger, farmer and a tanner. He took great pride in being a devoted family man.

At 12 years of age Cal worked for 50 cents a day at the Anaconda Mine in Anaconda, Montana to help support his family. In 1887, when he was nineteen, he packed from Hamilton, Mont., over Lolo Pass and through the Bitterroot Mountains to Idaho. He learned how to build a cabin to survive the deep snow and to trap for a living.

Early in the 1890s, Cal was in Priest River, Idaho. He had a contract with the Railroad to furnish meat for the workers but he never lost his love of the mountains and trapping. Daddy Huff and John Long, a friend, would go back to the Wallace, Pierce, Kelly Creek, and the Lolo area. His life as a trapper furnished him many exciting adventures as well as some close calls.

To say that Calvin Huff’s life was an active one would be an understatement. In the mid-1890s, he and his nephew, Charlie Seybold, brought cattle by train from Dillon, Mont., to the Rathdrum prairie. They herded them, via Seneacquoteen, to the Blue Lake Valley. In 1900, Cal worked as a ranger for the U.S. Forest Service in Coolin. It was during this time that he, along with Charlie Johnson, hewed the logs and built the Northern Hotel in Coolin.

On March 2, 1902, Cal Huff married Sarah Brown Davidson of Dell, Montana. Teddy Roosevelt signed the Huff homestead in 1904 and Sarah and Cal started their family. The children were, William, Myrtle, Cal, Sivilla, Ronald, and Mary Ellen. Cal stayed busy and continued to trap and build log buildings, including the thirteen room log home on the homestead. The family was provided with all the things they needed. They farmed, raised cattle, hay and grain and they had a big garden. Everything was canned, brined, or smoked. Big wooden barrels were under the house with pickles, sauerkraut, and hams. In the fall, venison was taken and jerked, smoked and canned for the winter.

To spend more time at home with his family Cal started driving the mail stage to Coolin. He used a six-horse team and it took two days to make the trip, three in the mud, and in the winter he used sleighs. He often played his home-made violin for parties and every Saturday night there was a dance somewhere.

In the 1920s, things got pretty lean for everyone in the Blue Lake area. Logging was the main industry and large camps for the men dotted the area.  Cal offered to sell them fresh milk, cream, and butter so he could pay his taxes and save his homestead, called Meadow Brook Farms. The Diamond Match Lumber Company was one of his customers and his prices were: five gallons of milk, 75 cents; l0 gallons, $1; 15 gallons, $1.50; 1 pound butter, 20 cents; 1 dozen eggs, 12 cents; and two dozen large eggs, 26 cents. Some workers came to the Huff house to eat and they paid 33 cents for a family-style meal.

Every fall, the Indians from Newport would come to Priest Lake to catch and dry fish. Cal would let them set up tents and they would stay two or three days. While the chief talked to Cal the young Indians played with the Huff children along the creek, and would try to teach them how to run with a horse.

Many visitors would stop by the home at Meadow Brook Farm to talk with Daddy Huff. He always sat and listened and gave his help. People looked up to him because of his knowledge, his wisdom, and his sound personal advice.

Daddy Huff turned the farm over to Cal Jr. and retired. Sarah Huff passed away on Dec. 30, 1944, and Cal passed away, while watching the Fourth of July fireworks in Everett, Wash., in 1950. He was 83 years old. (My thanks to Juanita and Elaine Savage for the information about Mr. Huff.)