Area author's book of local history selling like hotcakes

When you give a good book to someone, it’s a gift that will be remembered long after Christmas is over. And if you are still Christmas shopping, consider supporting local authors and local businessowners by buying locally.

Many new books have been published by local writers in the past few months — including one that is a must-have if you love Sandpoint and want to learn about its history.

Gary L. Pietsch has written the first definitive history of Sandpoint. “Sandpoint’s Early History” is hot off the press and selling rapidly. It is the story of how pioneers carved our city out of a wilderness, a physical and spiritual wilderness.

Pietsch starts off the book with very early history, explaining how the area was formed by a massive prehistoric lake created by ice sheets that blocked the Clark Fork River near present day Lake Pend Oreille. (Imagine being a bird watching when that dam broke.)

He continues with reports on the Pend Oreille and Kalispel tribal members’ peaceful influence.

“These tribes have a long history of pacification. To their credit, they befriended the first white man, trapper David Thompson,” said Pietsch, and that relationship contributed to a history of peace; other areas were not so fortunate, he said.

Pietsch’s book tells of mining discoveries and steamboats and of the early-day trappers, and loggers. Before the 1900s, Sandpoint was thought of as a ‘hangtown’ full of rough people. He recounted the story of a stolen wallet; word got around in one of the bars naming a particular man as the thief. The men in the bar hung him, only to find out later they’d hung the wrong man.

“That was before there was a justice of the peace,” Pietsch said.

But it really was the arrival of the Northern Pacific Railroad that changed everything, Pietsch said.

“Pioneers moved in and saw the opportunity to sell real estate to farm families for raising vegetables for the workers,” he said.

He catalogs influential settlers and their contributions, people such as Ella Farmin (a familiar surname in Sandpoint), who “started a Sunday School in the White Swan Saloon as soon as she took her hat off upon arrival,” Pietsch said.

“I tried to include anecdotes to give readers opportunities to glimpse their personalities and the difficulties they encountered,” he added.

Ella Farmin worked at the Great Northern Depot and had to walk a mile and one-half each way. She told about the deer who followed her to work and about a ruffian named Switzer who stalked her because he wanted to marry her, but she was already married and “a respectable woman.” Switzer’s badgering prompted her to put a six shooter in the telegraph table drawer, right next to her Bible. The harassment went on and so the sheriff and the county doctor were called in to investigate. They found Switzer at his cabin boiling a pot of cats — yes, cats — for his dinner. He was hauled to prison and then to a sanitorium. Years later, Pietsch said, people who were familiar with this story suggested “Schweitzer” as the name for the ski area.

It took Pietsch four years to conduct the research for the book, primarily at the Bonner County Museum where he had donated all the “News-Bulletin” files when he retired from editing the family newspaper and co-publishing it with his father, Laurin Pietsch. He eventually sold the newspaper to Pete Thompson in 1975, and it evolved to the name “Bonner County Daily Bee.”

Book sales are going well; Vanderford’s nearly ran out of books Friday, but supplies have been replenished.

“I’ve received some very positive feedback, congratulations, and it’s ego-boosting,” he said, chuckling.

But all book sale proceeds are donated to the museum. “The museum has been a chief interest of mine and I’ve served as a past president and treasurer of the Bonner County Historical Society. Besides, I used their resources primarily, Pietsch said.

“Part of what was driving me to write the book has to do with setting the record straight. A lot of people have moved here from southern California and they have no idea how Sandpoint came to be,” he said, “and now they can learn about the 100 years of roots that brought us here.”

Pietsch said he has been pleased to work with Chris Bessler of Keokee Publishing. “He has been so helpful and he has a great staff there,” he added. Additional printings will be handled by the historical society.

Books may be purchased at Corner Book Store or Vanderford’s, both downtown, or through keokeebooks.com or at the museum for $19.99.

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Here are more book options by local writers published recently.

- Mary Friedmann Berges of Bonners Ferry has written her autobiography, 162 pages, titled “Finding the Light Within: My Journey of Healing After the Holocaust” about the impact World War II had on her entire life. When she lost her Jewish parents to the Nazis, she was placed in a Catholic orphanage. She tells how relationships were difficult and jobs were difficult all her life because of her early abandonment. The book is uplifting in part because at age 84 she believes that every person can change and every person can find fulfillment.

Find the book at Bonners Books, Corner Book Store, Vanderford’s or through keokeebooks.com

Cost is $13.95.

- “Memories and Reflections Spawned by a Life List of Fish” by Al Van Vooren, 256 pages, is a non-fiction recounting of the author’s 70 years of fishing. The angler in your life, and even the non-angler, may enjoy Van Vooren’s stories, photos, and vignettes of catching 140 different kinds of fish all over the world—from the Midwestern U.S. muddy rivers and lakes to blue waters in Hawaii and Costa Rica; from tundra in Alaska to the Amazon jungle. It’s funny and if you fish, it’s relatable.

Cost is $13.95 at Vanderford’s, Corner Book Store, or through keokeebooks.com

- “My Name is Ramsey” is a colorfully illustrated children’s book about a Clydesdale (horse) named Ramsey. A true story about his journey from Scotland where he was a champion colt in a national horse show there, the book is about lessons, good and bad ones, that all contribute to character.

Author Jack Parnell grew up on a dairy farm and served as Deputy Secretary of Agriculture for the U.S. He owns a ranch in Idaho where Ramsey lives today.

Bonnie Shields of Leanin’ Tree fame, is the artist for “My Name is Ramsey.” She lives in North Idaho and loves mules, and horses.

The book is 56 pages. It is available in soft or hardbound covers through keokeebooks.com, Corner Book Store, or Vanderford’s.

- “Amazin’ Jason” is a children’s book by Kathy Joyce-Garrison. It is the true story of a turtle named Jason, told in his voice. It is told with affection and includes the Christian message of unconditional love.

The book, 67 pages, is illustrated by the children who raised Jason.

Cost is $13.95 available at Vanderford’s, Corner Book Store, or through keokeebooks.com