Sanders County Ledger - Your Best Source For Sanders County News

105 YEARS AGO • MAY 7, 1916

BREAKING THROUGH THE THOMPSON RIVER CANYON BARRIER SOON

Thompson River Road Will Open About July 1

Continued from last week

The construction of this road will naturally decrease the distance between Thompson Falls and Kalispell. We in Thompson Falls can normally expect considerably increased tourist traffic, since tourists traveling west on Highway No. 2 may turn at the head of Thompson River, come downstream to Thompson Falls and go west over alternate No. 10. There will be no prettier stretch of road anywhere along the route than the stretch through the Thompson River canyon. This roadway has been cleaned of litter. Dead trees have been removed to the fullest extent possible without destroying the natural beauty. Three splendid camping spots have been cleared by the CCC personnel under the direction of the Forest Service; the West Fork, the Cedars Memorial and the Copper King campground. It may be expected that further campground development will be necessary to meet the increasing demand.

During the past 10 years the Forest Service road-building program has meant a great deal to the development of Sanders County. In 1931 the first road was constructed between Thompson Falls and Mineral County. This is the road that goes south up Dry Creek and connects with Highway No. 10 at Deborgia. In the summer of '33 work was started on the Twelve-mile road and this construction work was finished in 1934 so that Highway No. 10 may be reached at two points from Thompson, Cabin City and Deborgia. In the winter of 1933 and '34 the Cut-off road was established. Martin Quinn for whom the Quinn Springs was named, advocated the construction of this road as far back as 1881.

Since the road has been constructed, an average of over 5,000 cars and trucks a year have gone across the ferry.

Through this work the Sanders County Dairy Co-operative has obtained a market for its products at St. Regis, Deborgia, Saltese, Mullan and Wallace. Many truckloads of hay, potatoes, cattle, hogs and grain have been taken from Sanders and Lake counties across this road to markets at Wallace and Mullan.

In 1930 the road was started up Jack's Gulch south of Heron. This road was constructed primarily for fire protection, but has considerably more than paid for itself in benefits to the local community. In 1933 County Agent Armeling, figuring huckleberries at 25¢ a gallon estimated that the road had actually more than paid for itself in 1931 and 1932, through the huckleberries brought over it.

The Vermilion road, too, has been of great advantage locally and has made for transcontinental traffic. Every summer a considerable number of cars leave Highway No. 2 and come across the Vermilion road via Fish Trap lake, to alternate Highway 10 (now Highway 200). Part of this road was originally constructed by miners and later maintained by the county. The Forest Service reconstructed that portion which had been built and constructed the balance of the road, the work being done in 1932, '33, '34. This road has been of extraordinary value to the miners on Vermilion Creek. It is expected that one of the Sanders County logging contractors will operate in Lincoln County this summer on the west fork of Fisher's River, cutting white pine on Northern Pacific land and bringing it to the railroad via the Vermilion road at Trout Creek. This road will therefore make it possible for some 15 to 20 Sanders men to obtain employment this summer.

Back in 1931the Thompson Falls Chamber of Commerce held a meeting at which maintaining road construction jobs was discussed at some length. The chamber went strongly on record in favor of building a road up Beaver Creek so that ore from the Jack Waite properties could be hauled to the Northern Pacific railroad in Sanders County. This road has been built and provides a fine route to the old towns of Murray and Pritchard.

In 1933 the Minton Peak road was built up the Idaho-Montana line. Since then the Coeur d'Alene Forest Service has constructed roads so that it is entirely practical to drive this way and over to Wallace. Some ore from the Heidelberg mines on Rock Creek has been freighted over this road, which is heavily used in summer by berry pickers.

The road from Thompson Falls up Prospect Creek and across the Glidden Pass to Burke and Wallace is on the road plan. This road, however, is slated for construction by the Public Roads administration. We cannot expect this work for years, but when the road is pushed through, we can expect that a large portion of the traffic now going over Highway 2 will be diverted west through Thompson Falls and that a considerable portion of the traffic going east over No. 10 will turn east throughout the city.