The media in Spokane has frequently been interested in the happenings in our remote community. In 1933, radio station KHQ was located on top of the Davenport Hotel and produced several programs about the history of outlying communities in the Inland Northwest. M.D. Pace of the Commercial club of Bonners Ferry gathered the information and Mayor Fry delivered the address. The natural history part of the address is shared here.

"Bonners Ferry is located on the Roosevelt Highway, at the point of diversion for the Banff-Windermere Highway.

"You will find us situated in one of the most beautiful settings in the Northwest. Our valley is surrounded by heavily wooded mountains-the Selkirks to the north, the Cabinets to the south and the Purcell range to the east. These mountains abound in streams and waterfalls that are heavily stocked with trout, making this a fisherman's paradise.

"Our bench lands contain over 150,000 acres which are still largely available for settlement. These are logged off lands of fertile soil, easily cleared and especially adaptable to dairying, poultry raising and fruit growing. Small fruits, vegetables and grasses, especially alfalfa, grow remarkably well on these lands and produce abundantly.

"The historical background of Bonners Ferry can be pictured only by linking it with the story of the Kootenai River. Almost a freak of nature, the Kootenai has its source in British Columbia in the same swampy highlands as the Columbia River. From this same source, the Columbia flows north for 200 miles before it turns in the opposite direction toward the state of Washington. The Kootenai, flowing south, passes within two miles of the Columbia. At one time, a canal was constructed connecting the head waters of the two rivers and boats have passed from one river to the other. Geologists tell us that at one time the first 100 miles of the Columbia drained directly into the Kootenai.

"Entering northwestern Montana and turning westward the Kootenai rushes at high speed until Bonners Ferry is reached and then meanders leisurely back to the Dominion of Canada, into Kootenay Lake, and finally a little below the thriving city of Nelson, B.C. it joins the Columbia at a point said to be less than 50 miles from where it started.

"In this region have long dwelt the Kootenais. These Indians have witnessed the coming of the explorer, the fur trader, the missionary, the pioneer, the hewers of the international boundary line 20 miles to the north, the prospector, the pack train, the steamboat, the railroad and the improved highway.

"For centuries the Kootenai, at the time of flood stage, has deposited layer upon layer of fertile soil as it meanders in its wide valley from Bonners Ferry to the north. The mighty river falls but four feet in sixty miles as it swings from one side of the valley to the other, and from these flood areas drainage districts have been formed.

"The reclaiming of the land has been accomplished without state or federal aid. Drainage District No. 1 was started in 1922. Today there are 13 of these districts, ranging in size from 700 to 500 acres, with a total acreage of 35,000 acres as level as a floor, free from rock and fertile almost beyond belief.

"Bonners Ferry is the county seat of Boundary County, said to be the only county in the United States bounded by two states and a foreign country. Located in a beautiful setting among towering mountains and close to rushing streams it is little wonder the Indians have for many generations fought to retain possession of the fertile hunting ground.

"The 108 miles from Bonners Ferry to Spokane is now all oiled and paved. U.S. Highway No. 2, which reaches from coast to coast, joins near the city, North and South Highway No. 95.

"With an altitude of only 1760 feet (the second lowest in Idaho) and an average annual rainfall of 27 inches, agriculture can be highly diversified not only in the drainage districts but in the bench land areas which are rapidly being settled.

"Bonners Ferry is today a thriving little city, noted far and near for its community spirit, for its ability to develop the marvelous resources which nature has endowed this locality and noted also for its vision for the future. This community proudly takes its place in the Paradise of the Northwest."

The remainder of this article and more are available to browse in the reading and research room at the Boundary County Museum. Summer hours: Tuesday-Saturday 10-4.