Heritage Oral History Project

In the late 1970s the Idaho Panhandle National Forests (IPNF) commissioned a study to identify, catalog and describe the oral histories of North Idaho. Soil Systems Inc. was contracted to identify and visit the many locations which housed interviews of individuals who lived in Idaho north of the Clearwater River. Dale F. Martin, Jr. spent several weeks in September of 1979 combing records in eight museums and historical societies, five public libraries, 10 Forest Service Offices, and four colleges and universities for oral history interviews. In addition, he contacted four individuals who had access to or information about oral histories of the Panhandle National Forests.

This information was compiled into "Overview Report: Idaho Panhandle Oral History Study" (pdf) that detailed his efforts and presented the results of his research. He summarized the resources held at each location by giving the informant's name, occupation, birth date, interviewer name, interview date, whether the interview was transcribed or taped, and the subjects described by the informant. While somewhat dated today, the overview is a significant record of research material regarding North Idaho history that is held at a wide variety of institutions.

In addition, transcriptions of taped interviews with 10 individuals who lived in North Idaho were included as an appendix. These transcripts provide a rich view of life in the Coeur d'Alene (CdA), Sandpoint, Wallace, Avery and Prichard areas. The informants include homesteaders, miners, a steamboat operator, loggers, mill workers, Forest Service employees, a store operator and a house wife. They describe life in local communities, logging, mining and steamboat operations, local entertainment, the various nationalities that inhabited the area, local geography and so much more. The transcripts are witty, poignant, informative, compelling and provide an insight into local history that is missing in most books.

Below you will find the name of each of the 10 informants. Associated with each name are links to the individual transcripts (in Adobe PDF format) and a brief summary of each interview. Given space limitations the summary doesn't come close to covering all of the information in the transcript and a thorough reading will provide numerous surprises that might otherwise be missed.

 

• Alice Carnie

  Transcripts	Summary
  Tape 18, side 1	Family moved to Mica Bay area and homesteaded in 1890; describes homesteading life and activities on NW end of Lake CdA.
  Tape 18, side 2	Continues to describe homesteading life and activities around Mica Bay.
  Tape 19, side 1	Continues to describe life around Mica Bay.

• Dooley Cramp

  Transcripts	Summary
  Tape 16, side 1	Describes family moving to Frank homestead at Hayden Lake in 1885, moving to Avery in 1944, working in logging, living in Hayden Lake area and F. Lewis Clark house.
  Tape 16, side 2	Discusses working in Winton Lumber Co. logging camps on CdA Forest and logging practices, especially dams, chutes and flumes.
  Tape 17, side 1	Continues to discuss logging practices and working for Potlach.
  Tape 17, side 2	Discusses logging terms, local entertainment, various nationalities, Indian encampments and monuments, and the Aripa family.

• Maidell Clemets

  Transcripts	Summary
  Tape 20, side 1	Family moved to Smelterville area around 1902; describes life in the mines and around Wardner.
  Tape 20, side 2	Continues to describe life in the mines and around Wardner.
  Tape 21, side 1	Continues to describe life in the mines and around Wardner, additional information about mining practices.
  Tape 21, side 2	Continues to describe mining practices.
  Tape 22, side 1	Describes local entertainment.
  Tape 22, side 2	Continues to describe local entertainment, mining disasters, the poor farm in Osborne, and local nationalities.

• Henry Janusch

  Transcripts	Summary
  Tape 1, side 1	Describes 1926 move to CdA, area around the lake, finding Indian artifacts, his house and life in CdA.
  Tape 1, side 2	Continues description of life in CdA, logging camp life in Wisconsin and working at the Potlach saw mill in CdA.
  Tape 2, side 1	Continues description of working in a mill and logging in the CdA area, including use of dams, flumes and chutes.
  Tape 2, side 2	Description of rail lines, flumes, chutes and local entertainment.
  Tape 3, side 1	Describes local nationalities, happenings, and logging terms.
  Tape 3, side 2	Continues to describe logging terms.

• Ole Jennested

  Transcripts	Summary
  Tape 4, side 1	Describes move to Sandpoint in 1905, the local area, life in Sandpoint, buying goods at the Humbird Store and starting his own store.
  Tape 4, side 2	Continues to discuss his store, supplying the logging camps, and other local occupations, nationalities and entertainment.
  Tape 5, side 1	Continues to discuss supplying the Humbird logging camps.

• Henry Kottkey

  Transcripts	Summary
  Tape 10, side 1	Born in Wallace in 1910; discusses 1910 fire and aftermath, life in Wallace and Burke and working for the Forest Service (FS).
  Tape 10, side 2	Describes working for Wallace Ranger District, logging and mining activities, local nationalities and entertainment.
  Tape 11, side 1	Continues to describe local entertainment and working as CCC camp foreman.

• Fred Murphy

  Transcripts	Summary
  Tape 6, side 1	Describes running steamboats since the mid-1920s, the CdA area and handling log booms.
  Tape 6, side 2	Continues to discuss handling log booms, CdA entertainment and various nationalities.
  Tape 7, side 1	Continues to discuss CdA and St. Maries entertainment and various nationalities.
  Tape 23, side 1	Describes local geography, steamboats and logging booms.
  Tape 23, side 2	Continues to describe life on steam boats and in CCC camps.

• Frank McPherson

  Transcripts	Summary
  Tape 8, side 1	Describes moving to Prichard area in 1917 and Senator Creek in 1921, working summers for FS and homesteading.
  Tape 8, side 2	Continues to discuss homesteading life, local logging life and practices.
  Tape 9, side 1	Continues to discuss logging and milling operations, life in Prichard, Murray, Wallace, Enaville and Eagle, prostitution and various nationalities.
  Tape 9, side 2	Continues to discuss the various nationalities of the area and geographic names.

• Donald Peterson

  Transcripts	Summary
  Tape 12, side 1	Born in 1929 in Sandpoint; describes his father working for Humbird and Diamond Match logging companies and him working for the FS at Priest Lake, Sandpoint, Magee, Trout Cr., Noxon, and Bonners Ferry Ranger Stations, life in Sandpoint, and work in various logging and milling operations.
  Tape 13, side 1	Continues to discuss work in logging and milling operations, local geographical names, local entertainment, and the Chinese.
  Tape 13, side 2	Continues to discuss various nationalities and pole and plank roads.

• Harold Theriault

  Transcripts	Summary
  Tape 14, side 1	Moved to Harrison, then St. Joe and finally Avery between 1906-08; Discusses his father cruising timber in Marble Cr., life in Avery, and working for the railroad.
  Tape 14, side 2	Continues to describe working for the Milwaukee RR, logging, fighting fire.
  Tape 15, side 1	Describes entertainment in Avery, various nationalities, discusses Indian monuments, and geographic localities.
  Tape 15, side 2	Continues to describe geographic localities and Indian monuments.