Trudy and Dale Buxton
Publishers, Biggar Independent
Our day continues after a great stop in the very beautiful community of Sandpoint.
Our destination for the rest of the day is Creston, British Columbia where we stop for the night.
We continue our ride, travelling north on Highway 95, the views with the Kaniksu Forest on our right side are really quite nice – we are seeing less of the rich fertile flatlands of the farming community and headed into more mountains and forest.
We are travelling through the community of Naples, which was named after the city in Italy, which became a popular spot back in 1992 when the Weaver family of Ruby Ridge had a stand-off with federal authorities. Of course the Weaver Family thought they were right in their dispute, but the authorities didn’t see it that way. As a result, there was three deaths in the stand-off including one U.S. Marshall and two from the Weaver Family.
We have come to the City of Bonners Ferry, population of around 2,600 people.
Bonners Ferry was named after a prospector named Edwin Bonner who was looking to find a way across the Kootenai River.
Back in the mid 1800’s there was a mad dash of people who making their way into B.C. during one of many gold rushes. Mr. Bonner built a manual ferry in 1865 across this one point in the river and this ferry provided the much-needed crossing for people to get to B.C. and find their fortune in gold.
The community of Bonners Ferry is nicknamed the Nile of the North for its rich fertile land that was created from constant flooding of the Kootenai River.
In the late 1800’s building along the river were built on stilts to protect their assets from the rising waters. It wasn’t till the early 1900’s were people were building theirs on more solid ground.
Bonners Ferry is also the home of the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho which has been in these parts for hundreds of years. Normally this tribe is a semi-nomadic tribe they have continued to thrive on these lands preserving their customs and language.
Bonners Ferry is also home to a large 2,800-acre wildlife refuge which is a resting spot for tens of thousand of migratory birds and hosts well over 200 different species of birds.
As we continue up the highway we split with the Highway 95 and continue on the Number 1 highway to the Canada-USA port of Porthill.
Way back in the year of 1860 this little port crossing was know as Ockonook which in English terms meant a grassy hillside with some rocks, which about sums that up, because that’s exactly what it looks like.
After crossing the border, we continue our way on the Creston-Rykerts highway for a short drive into Creston, this is where we stop for the night and enjoy some relaxation and do a little exploring in the area.
Stay tuned next week as we discover Creston and continue on north into British Columbia.
