Harrison Area, The

By Crane Historical Society

Harrison dates to 1891, during the exciting days of the Northwest’s expansion. The area’s forests were full of old growth pine, fir, and cedar. Lakes and rivers provided transportation. Logging camps, sawmills, homesteads, and towns were springing up. Harrison was such a town, growing from a squatter homestead to a bustling city of 2,000 with stores, hotels, saloons, and churches in 12 short years. Mills lined the waterfront vying for space with the railroad and steamship docks. The boom did not last, but its legacy is a small, proud, picturesque city on the shore of beautiful Lake Coeur d’Alene.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Sep 18, 2012
• ISBN: 9781439624272

Crane Historical Society

Recounted here is the story of the hopes, hardships, failures, and successes of the early settlers and entrepreneurs who braved floods, fires, and the wilderness to fulfill their dreams. Through the years, local historians and families have contributed photographs and personal accounts to the Crane Historical Society's museum archives. Using these and newspaper records, the society's members have compiled a pictorial presentation of the area's glorious history.

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INTRODUCTION

This book tells the story of many of the events and people that shaped Harrison—the logging, the mills, the homesteaders, the pioneer families, the businesses, and the fire of 1917.

The Harrison story really begins before the town was settled. When fur traders and explorers came to the area in the early 1800s, they found a tribe of Indians living in the forests and along the shores of Coeur d’Alene Lake. They called themselves camas people, but the French Canadian trappers and traders named them the Coeur d’Alenes. Two definitions have been brought forward as to the meaning. One is heart-like-an-awl, comparing their sharp bargaining capabilities with the sharp tool. The other is strong-breathed, recognizing their strong-hearted endurance. Regardless of the meaning, the name was used not only for the tribe but also for the river, the mountains, and the lake. The Indians made fishing camps along the shores of the lake at Shingle Bay, Lacon, East Point, and Powderhorn Bay. Undocumented sources claim the point where Harrison eventually was built was originally called Willow Springs or Spring Point.

The first permanent settlers in the Harrison area were two Jesuit missionaries who, in 1842, founded a mission at an Indian fishing camp about 11 miles south of Harrison. Father Nicholas Point and Brother Charles Huet built a cabin where they taught Christianity and farming, which the Indians readily embraced. In 1846, the mission was abandoned due to continued flooding, and a new mission was established at Cataldo, about 35 miles up the Coeur d’Alene River. The Mission of the Sacred Heart is the oldest standing building in Idaho.

Also in 1846, a treaty between Great Britain and the United States ceded title of the land west of the Rocky Mountains to the United States. Capt. John Mullan established quarters at Mission Point in 1859 and began constructing a road from the site to Black Lake. That route later became State Highway 3, connecting Harrison Flats with the interstate at Rose Lake.

Idaho became a territory on March 3, 1863, but northern Idaho remained remote. Soon, however, the following outside forces came together, which affected Harrison’s future: the establishment of Fort Coeur d’Alene (later Fort Sherman) in 1878 and the discovery of gold in 1893 and silver in 1895. The Silver Valley mining district encompasses the cities of Wallace and Kellogg east of Cataldo. Eastern lumbermen began sending agents to buy timberland.

The first steamboat, the Amelia Wheaton, was built in 1880 to carry supplies to the fort. The Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company’s rail line reached Harrison in 1890 and continued on to the Silver Valley. Harrison would become a transportation hub for both steamboats and trains.

The Crane family, consisting of brothers Addison, Edwin, and William, their father Silas, and grandfather George Jones, found a point that was the perfect location to establish lumber mills along the lake. The following is from an account by Helene (Crane) Kroetch, Edwin Crane’s daughter:

Our family came here in 1889. At first we lived in a log cabin with dirt floors below the Cope store, by the lake ... There were no trains at that time, but they had begun to build the railroad. The first trains were work trains and then freight trains. When the first passenger train was put on, it brought the mail. Before the railroad was completed, the boats traveled from Coeur d’Alene to the Mission at Cataldo ... Where my home is, was all a deep forest.

The Coeur d’Alene reservation had been established by treaty in 1887, and the town site selected was in the reservation. Silas Crane contacted Pres. Benjamin Harrison, a close family friend, and persuaded him to have the US government purchase a section of the reservation. Negotiations were begun. On March 4, 1891, President Harrison signed an executive order, which was ratified by congress on July 6, 1892. In 1894, a one-mile strip of land including a portion of the lake was ceded for a payment of $15,000.

Needing to pick a date for the town’s founding, historians have settled on 1891, the year Silas Crane built the first home. The site incorporated as a village in August 1899 and was named after the president, Harrison. By 1903, Harrison had a population of 1,200, making it the largest city in the county.

The Homestead Law of 1862 (along with its amendments), the extensive railroad land grants, the Timber and Stone Act of 1878, the statehood grants, and the Forest Homestead Act of 1906, served to expand the population of the outlying area.

Tragically, the fire of 1917 changed the face of the city forever. Soon after, economic decline and the scarcity of readily available timber took its toll. The steamboats were expensive to maintain. Passenger traffic by steamboat ended in the 1920s and freight traffic in 1932. The last passenger train went through Harrison in 1957. The last remaining mill in the area closed in 1962. The rail line closed on April 29, 1993.

Harrison remains the urban center for a large portion of Kootenai County. The train’s route is now the internationally known bicycle trail, the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes.

Descendents of the original settlers are scattered throughout the world; some have remained in the area, others have returned after living in larger cities. As they read this book, we hope it brings back memories of stories their families told. This beautiful part of north Idaho has been rediscovered as a place for vacationing, to raise a family, and to retire. The hope also is that visitors and new residents will revel in the glorious past and appreciate the dedication of the early settlers. Enjoy!

One

LOGGING

Many factors came together to fuel the growth of logging in the Northwest. The supply of old-growth white pine in the Northeast and upper Midwest was shrinking. The growing agricultural industry required wooden crates. Railroads needed ties. Mines required timber