Coeur d'Alene Lake

Inland Empire Girl gave us the next sibling assignment:

Coeur d'Alene Lake



One of my first recollections and memories of this lake involved a speed boat and a flying saucer. Yes, interestingly enough I have this memory of being in a speed boat on the lake when I was about 3 or 4, and I was hanging over the edge of the boat in Beauty Bay, and there was a silver flying saucer in the air. Not sure if I actually did encounter a UFO, but I sure do have a memory about this incident.

I often like to try and imagine what the lake was like back when the Coeur d'Alene Tribe, or the Schitsu'Umsh freely roamed this land, and were the only inhabitants of the lake. I picture tribal members quietly canoeing across the lake, calling to the birds on a cool, misty morning as the fog settled on the lake, and then, all of a sudden, the sun bursts through. What a peaceful, quiet time on the lake that must have been.

I like the lake better when it was filled with rustic cabins. Some of the "cabins" on the lake now don't seem to fit. They are million dollar homes that don't quite fit in their wooded setting.

It is still a beautiful lake, despite the onslaught of tourism that has taken over parts of the lake, but you can still find the quiet, peaceful parts that don't have as much traffic, and perhaps, in these places, if you listen carefully, you will hear the Schitsu'Umsh voices of long ago.

The First Inhabitants of the Silver Valley

Often the "discovery" of the Silver Valley is attributed to fur traders, or John Mullan, or Andrew Pritchard, or Noah Kellogg, along with other white men who passed through this area. But they were not the first to enjoy the beautiful mountain, rivers and meadows of the area in North Idaho. No, like most of the United States, it was the Native Americans who first inhabited this land. And it is with the Schitsu'umsh that the history of the Silver Valley and her stories begin.

To find out more about the Schitsu'umsh, or the Coeur d'Alene Tribe, and they are more now commonly known, to to their official website at http://www.cdatribe-nsn.gov/default.shtml

On this website you can find out the past, present and future of the tribe. Right now my interests are in the past. Here is an excerpt from the website:

Because there was always a commitment to the future, so will there always be a commitment to the past. The modern Coeur d' Alene Tribe is the sum of uncounted centuries and of untold generations. In the tribe's own ancient language, it is called Schitsu'umsh, meaning "Those who are found here," or "The discovered people." In this remains a land abundant in beauty and resources, a legacy of leadership, and a lineage that continues from time immemorial. The Coeur d' Alene's are who they always were and who they will always be.

Below is a map of the original Aboriginal Territory that spanned more than 5 million acres of todays Washington, Oregon and Montana. As you can see, the Silver Valley is right in the middle.

There is a book titled "Red Thunder" by David Matheson that is a fictional account of the Schitsu'umsh. It is a good story, and gives a good perspective on the tribal life before encounters with the white man. I enjoyed looking at the maps and figuring out where places were they he wrote about when the tribe was in the land that is now the Silver Valley. If I remember correctly, they had had summer camp in what is now Kingston. And what is now I-90 was simliar to the trail they used to travel to what is now Montana to hunt buffalo.

I often like to let my imagination wander, and think about what it must have been like when the Schitsu'umsh roamed the hills, creeks, meadows and rivers of this valley. When I am around Coeur d'Alene Lake I often like to "listen" to the Schitsu'umsh rowing their canoes across the lake and singing their songs. How beautiful the lake must have been in those days.