Linton supplying Humbird timber camps

10 Years Ago — 2008

Not about to play dead because JD is gone

Contrary to what you might have read or heard speculated over the past few weeks, the town is not about to lie down and play dead. The loss of approximately 200 jobs in a town of less than 1800 people is a serious blow. The economic upheaval, however, is only one of many tough times this timber-dependent community has weathered in the past. ’I have lived in Priest River for all of my nearly 40 years,” says Mayor Jim Martin…”long enough to see mills close due to the poor lumber market, buyouts and others due to fire. In every case, someone from outside the area would come to town and claim that the town was finished, going to dry up, become a ghost town. And in each case, the town survived with its resilient attitude, hard work and determination.”

20 Years Ago — 1998

Special Olympics team forms

A new level of sports competition will be returning to West Bonner County if a movement currently under way is successful. According to Michelle Schultz, several volunteers are trying to develop and train a Special Olympics team from this area with the goal of competing at the Winter Games at Schweitzer Mountain in February 1999.

30 Years Ago — 1988

Parent volunteers

step in

Parent volunteers worked at Priest River Elementary School Saturday putting in a newly cemented area on the playground. The parent-Teachers Association had money for a project at the school, and the teachers decided a cemented area for basketball and other games would be good for the kids to play on. The volunteers labored from 9 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Saturday to finish the project.

40 Years Ago — 1978

West Side road proposed to Schweitzer

A road from the Priest River-Priest Lake area to the west side of the Selkirk Mountains near Schweitzer Basin Ski Area would make Priest Lake a real winter resort, according to Jim Anderson, owner of Linger Longer Lodge and head of a committee of Priest Lake Chamber of Commerce members studying the feasibility of the project. The Schweitzer Land Company, which operates the ski area, would consider a chair lift down the west side of the Selkirks to a parking area. Anderson reported on the project at the first fall meeting of Priest Lake Chamber Thursday.

50 Years Ago — 1968

New scenic

area created

A 6,000-acre Scenic Area has been created in northern Idaho by the State of Idaho and the U. S. Forest Service. The 1,700-acre Upper Priest Lake is included within the area. About 4,000 acres of Kaniksu National Forest land and 2,000 acres of State of Idaho land are included in the Scenic Area surrounding Upper Priest Lake and the Thorofare that connects with Priest Lake to the south.

60 Years Ago — 1958

Bakery destroyed by fire

The Priest River Bakery, owned and operated by Mr. and Mrs. Ed Mauro and Mr. and Mrs. Joe Naccarato, was completely destroyed in a flash fire that broke out in the building at 2:15 a.m., Sept. 18. Speculation is that the fire originated in the electric boxes on the south wall, since that wall was the first to fall.

70 Years Ago — 1948

Caboose fire damage slight

The fire department was called out to extinguish a blaze which started in the floor of the caboose of a Great Northern freight train that was in the local yard. Origin of the fire is unknown, and damage was slight.

80 Years Ago — 1938

Third highway project started

Construction of the third project on the West Branch highway is under way, with some 40 or 50 men employed in clearing the right of way and burning. Grading will probably not get started this fall.

90 Years Ago — 1928

Keyser is threshing

Considerable threshing is being done in this part of the valley by Henry Keyser (the younger). The grain is a good quality and is making a fair yield.

100 Years Ago — 1918

Linton supplying Humbird camps

Tom Linton has purchased a Saxon ton truck and has taken the contract to haul supplies to the Humbird camps on the Priest Lake road for the winter.