Searching For Fur And A Finer Life
Clark Fork Corridor: The People
David Thompson was the first Euro-American to record his travels along this stretch of the river. Early in 1809 he came through searching for an ideal site to establish a fur trading post. Later that fall he built the “Saleesh House” northwest of here near present day Thompson Falls.
For the next fifty years, miners, trappers, and traders passed through this canyon and settlers began homesteading the Wild Horse Plains Valley, twelve miles down river. In the late 1880’s a railroad was completed, linking Missoula with Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho. This connected the Puget Sound and Lake Michigan and the number of settlers moving west dramatically increased.
Paradise, Almost
Across the river rest the ruins of an old homestead established in the early 1900s. It seems ideally located, but no road led to the site. Instead, the residents had to ferry themselves across or follow the perilous railroad track.
Koo Koo Sint
David Thompson, trader and noted geographer, often looked at natural features through a telescope. The name Koo Koo Sint, or sxw cl xlkw ukw usm in the Salish language, was given him. It means “He Who Looks at Stars.”
Marker is on Montana Route 135 1.2 miles south of Montana Route 200, on the right when traveling south.
Courtesy hmdb.org
