Bayview History Part Two

After a slow start, the small town of Bayview finally took the fast

track to success. ll it took was an increase in production at the local lime kiln to

bring the Spokane and International Railroad to the quiet shores of Lake

Pend Oreille. Of course, the tracks ran both ways from Bayview to Spokane, which began

to send tourists by the hundreds. Suddenly, Bayview had all the right

connections - and a reason to grow.

That same year, a hotel was built. Suddenly rather than an old muddy road from Granite and Athol, Spokane tourists could ride the rails all the way into town. Today the old depot still stands on 5^th Street, now a residence. The early 1900's didn't sport paved highways. Most roads were gravel and mud. Model T fords and later, model A's didn't have that high clearance without cause. The old model A pickup that belonged to the Wigwam Hotel is now owned and restored by Dick Hansen, owner of the Bitter End Marina and other large parcels of land previously owned by Washington Brick & Lime.

The hotel was built at the corner of 5^th & Main. It is now the entryway to Harborview Marina. Originally called the Bayview Inn, the hotel was built by J. Grier Long, founder and president of the Washington Trust Company. There were 20 guest rooms with four communal bathrooms on the top floor, with various business on the street level. Facing toward the lake was a tavern and pool hall. A dance floor graced the middle. Much of the twenties saw Alice and Martin Burroughs managing the hotel. Long's daughter, Frances “Mickey” Mulrooney George took over and renamed it the Wigwam Lodge Hotel.

An interesting side to this history are the census records. The 1910 census counted 94 people. 17 worked at the Washington Brick and Lime works, 12 single workers in a boarding house and 9 Russell's, one of the earliest families. 1920 counted 216, with the population declining to 139 in 1930. This decline was the beginning of the end of the lime industry in Bayview. In 1939 the railroad was discontinued and the tracks ripped out, only to be replaced in 1942 by the navy.

The first few years of the float home era were somewhat informal. Many were brought close to shore where they anchored off the beach with a gangplank to shore. One such was an entrepreneurial man recently retired from the Spokane International Railroad. He was John B. Wilcox. With his wife Jennifer. They bought a float home and ,moved it close to where Boileau's resort is now. Operating a boat livery from the makeshift dock. It was two stories. The boat livery was on the lower level with living quarters on top. Wilcox rented out boats and motors, and also ferried people between Bayview and Lakeview. A gas bottle explosion caused the building to burn down in September 1931. They rebuilt it with just one story. Living in Bayview today is Skip Wilcox who moved here after retiring from the U.S. Air Force

Carl and Selma Gasman moved to Bayview in 1932. They bought several waterfront lots from the Prairie Development corporation. Gasman built a marina now owning the littoral rights. According to Bob Peck, who worked with Daniels some, Gasman evicted Wilcox from in front of his holdings. Wilcox promptly bought the lot to the west, where they moved their home from the water. The Wilcox's sold out to the navy in 1942 and moved back to Spokane, Washington. That home ended up today as Rusty's Buttonhook Inn.

Gasman sold to Glen Daniel in 1944. He renamed the resort,”Daniel Resort,” and ran it until he sold to Boileau's in 1949. Dianne Martinson, Granddaughter of Glenn related what she knew regarding those years: “From what my mother recalls, my grandfather, Glenn Daniel bought Gasman s Resort in 1944. Apparently Bayview was not incorporated then and cows were allowed to roam the streets. You can image what a mess that must have been so my grandpa apparently initiated the process

of getting Bayview incorporated so that the cows would have to be confined.” Further investigation revealed through Bob Peck, that the effort to incorporate was given up, citing “too much red tape,” as the reason.

(excerpted from Bayview Historical Society)

Glenn (1911-1984) and Lillian (1912-1999) Daniel owned a Buick dealership in Moscow, ID. and began coming to the lake in the 1930's. The couple bought the resort known as Gasman's in 1944. Situated in the bay on the bottom of 5th Street, the Daniel's Resort was comprised of a series of docks, a store and 28 rental boats. Lillian (right) worked in the store, as did their daughter Evelyn, then a teenager. The store was equipped with all the essentials needed for fishing. Even at a young age, Evelyn was an accomplished angler and many visitors relied on her expertise when selecting the appropriate lures and bait.

Glenn rented his boats during the week for $2.50 a day and $3.00 on the weekends. Those were the years when fishermen could get their limit of 200 silvers each day! The entire family caught fish, which Lillian cleaned and Glenn smoked. Glenn had a 23' Chris Craft which was his pride and joy. He built the first covered boat slips on those docks and served in the Coast Guard Auxiliary during the '40s. The family lived in a home (right over the string of boats) on shore next to the resort which was built by the Gasmans. It was a three-bedroom home with kitchen, living room and dining room. When remodeling inside, Glenn found money stuffed in the walls and behind cabinets, apparently left by the Gasmans. He added windows across the front facing the lake for a view. Glenn built a two-story apartment building next door to the north with the help of Clarence Russell. It held 8 modern rental units for fishermen and other visitors which rented for $6.50 for one double bed and $7.50 for two double beds. He used materials such as doors, windows and kitchen cabinets in the construction of the building that he bought from Farragut when the base was dismantled. The home has been torn down, but the apartments are still part of the condo building which today houses the marina offices for Waterford Park Homes. The Daniel's family also owned 4 other rental cabins in town which were rented to Navy personnel during the war years. (End of excerpt.)

Ambrose and Marguerite Boileau bought the resort from Daniel and operated it until 1965 when they sold to D. Presley Fiscus and son The resort then became one of three that Bob Holland purchased in 2004.

The other original resort/marina was J.D.'s, Built by Elmer “Squeaky” Driesbach after his tavern boat, the Dora Powell sunk. According to Bob Peck, he said, “It was called Yacht Inn Dock and was tied up at the railroad pier. He built on shore near the lake, but was flooded out soon after. The original is the gray house down near the water. He then built up on higher ground where the bar is today. J.D. Driesbach, Sqeaky's son traded a parcel of land on the cape to his dad for the bar. J.D. Operated the bar up into the 70's then sold to Bill & Linda Krueger. Krueger died and the resort was once again sold in 1993 to the present owner, Chan Krupiah who also owns the Scenic Bay Marina.”

Jim and Mary Feely moved from the Rathdrum Prairie to a float home at Gasman's docks early in the thirties. They later moved the home to some lots purchased from Washington Brick and Lime and started Feely's Marina, these days known as Scenic Bay Marina. Mary Feely was widely known for an enormous garden built elevated on the main dock. The Feely's are survived by a long time Bayview resident, Chuck Waller, grandson.

Some of the living conditions back then would be abhorrent to today's ecologically minded. Float home owners would fish swim and well … They had outhouses on their decks. One such family, the Lowes lived on a float home as described. Dorothy Lowe recalls her and her sister diving up under float homes for neighbors that had forgotten their keys. They would come up in the boat garage portion of the home and open the doors from the inside. In the context of the outhouses, one wonders how anyone survived, but survive and prosper they did.

Most of the early residents worked either for Washington Brick and Lime, the railroad or the steamships that plied the waters the length of Lake Pend Oreille. Others were loggers or made their living from the bountiful fishing in the lake.

One of the more interesting characters of the time was Hughbert “Mushy” Puckett. The eldest son of Jesse Sr worked at many things including of course the dairy at Blackwell Ranch. Mushy had a pet bear cub that he used to hand feed. Once the cub got bigger this became a problem and he was relocated.

Many interesting characters inhabited early Bayview. There was Elijah “Lige” Napier. It was said that while his wife was very religious, he would shoulder his crosscut saw, head into the hills for the day. When he came home, his saw was as clean as when he left. None of his customers said anything, but rumor had it that Lige had a still on the hill.

Hattie Konkle was the first postmaster in Bayview established in 1906. She segued into hotel management, running the Wigwam Hotel. Those were the old days when judges came from families that were bootleggers. Some claimed, and the statute of limitations being over, that boats actually trekked up to the north shore of the lake where they would load booze from Canada. Then they would make the trip back to Bayview. Some of the cargo probably actually made it to town.

These were the days of deep depression. Most residents killed, caught or grew all of their own food and in many cases made their own clothing.

Currently, we have no Napiers, one Puckett, several Pecks and Bockstrucks. Bill and Eunice Bockstruck moved to Bayview in 1936. Sons Larry and Ron were born in Kenniwick,Washington. Having spent some time in Bayview with his brother as a teen, Bill vowed to return. With the economy in the tank, and nothing to lose, Bill moved his family to Bayview. He bought forty acres out on Cape Horn in 1939, the first family to migrate there, since there was nothing but a foot trail from town. He started out with a one room log home followed by a larger five room home built out of logs. Unlike today, building materials were there for the taking. That home was moved into in 1940 and still exists as a home. Larry Bockstruck said,”our family were the only full time residents on the cape for many years, though some summer people were scattered about.”

Bill finally found work after many hard years, building Farragut Naval Training Base. Unfortunately, he contracted leukemia in 1943 and died soon after. Larry, his son, who lives with wife, Betty up on the top of Lime Kiln Road, had a fine career of bricklaying. When the old hotel was torn down, he acquired the bricks which can still be seen today, as he used them to build his castle on the hill.

The war years were just ahead, with Europe already engaged. Life in and around Bayview was soon going to change radically.