County Commissioners support historical project

THOMPSON FALLS - The Sanders County Board of Commissioners agreed Thursday to help fund a transportation-related project for education of the area straight out of David Thompson’s journal and went with project coordinator Linda Haywood on Monday to St. Ignatius to exchange information with the Salish Pend d’Oreille Culture Committee.

The project, titled “Road to the Buffalo,” is a culturally-focused promotion of historic Sanders County from the days when David Thompson explored the area. The objective of the project is to post signs and information centers along a specific route that Thompson mapped in his journal from 1809-1814. Haywood said the name of the project comes from the phrase Thompson coined in his journal because the route led to good buffalo hunting grounds. Since the route is transportation-related, it is eligible to receive Community Transportation Enhancement Program (C-TEP) funds from the county, which the County Commissioners approved.

“Basically, it’s all the information from David Thompson’s journal,” Haywood said. “That’s where it originated, when he traveled through here in 1809, and he was following what he called the Saleesh Road to the Buffalo. It is mainly for the cultural history of the area; basically, it travels through Sanders County and follows several different roads through the county, like highway 200, Blue Slide Road, and it goes up to Hot Springs and then turns across Camas Creek, then drops back down to 200 again in Perma.”

The map Haywood referenced for her presentation to the commissioners on Thursday as well as to the Culture Committee on Monday was taken out of Thompson’s 1814 journal, in which he named modern places such as Plains, “Horse Plains;” the Clark Fork River, “Slaeesh River,” and Camas Prairie “Onion Plains.” 

As for the meeting with the Salish Pend d’Oreille Culture Committee in the Salish Longhouse on Monday, Haywood anticipates their input for the project will further enrich the community and accuracy of the history.

“The whole idea is to make sure we have the right information,” Haywood said. “Overall, they liked the ideas and appreciated us coming to meet with them. They agreed with the signs and we will work in coordination with them as we plan out the signs and locations along the route. It was a good exchange of ideas.”

Haywood also plans to meet with the Kootenai Culture Committee to share the project plans and receive ideas and information as well, most likely within the month. After the meetings and agreements are made in regards to the content of the informational sites and signs, she then must go back to the state of Montana department of transportation to conduct an environmental impact statement. 

“But the project is moving forward,” Haywood said.