Bayview History Part Four

After more than a century, Bayview has come full circle. The Indian settlement that gave way to the frantic industry -- both peaceful and wartime -- again basks in the peaceful waters of Scenic Bay. The Navy gone, except the small research facility tucked into the SW corner of Scenic Bay. The fishing fleet is no more. The once frantic pace gave way to the present peaceful pleasure boating mecca that we now enjoy.

Most fishing on Lake Pend Oreille had ceased during the war years, 1941 through 1945. During that time, the monster Gerrard Rainbow trout were getting fat off of teaming schools of kokanee. The landlocked Sockeye Salmon were so plentiful that a commercial fishery for them existed. Unfortunately they were over fished past the point of no return in later years. Some of the blame was also placed on the establishment of dams on the lower Clark Fork River, which severely impacted spawning salmon. The bright spot in this saga was the day in 1947 when Wes Hamlin set out for a day of fishing. We don't know what he was trolling with, if in fact he ever told anyone. He got a monster strike and after a tussle of epic proportions, hauled in a 37 pound rainbow. It was a world record and still is, as it has not been broken. Limits on Kokanee were 100 daily for individuals and 200 daily for commercial licensees.

Many residents of Bayview were employed by the Good Hope company, whose job it was to tear down everything that was frantically built in 1942. Salvaged lumber went to area yards, as well as windows and doors. Another company involved the the deconstruction of Farragut Naval Station was Farragut Wrecking. Many buildings were moved intact, some as far as Sandpoint and even Coulee City, Washington. The various hospital buildings and equipment went to area cities. Some examples would be the retaining wall and guest cabins at MacDonald's Resort. Many homes that are still in use dot downtown Bayview, some added on to and some as they were back then. Dependent housing at Farragut village supplied most of the intact homes, while the green lumber used to build the base had cured in place and was welcomed in the post war village of Bayview.

May 29 through the 31, 1948^, Lake Pend Oreille flooded big time. Pictures from that era show boats pulling up to the original JD's Bar with the bartender serving them from the top of a dutch door while standing in waist deep water. These were the days before the dam was built at Priest River, which helped control the highs and lows, up to the time that the depth control served to kill massive Kokanee spawners, where their nests were left high and dry to die.

From the end of the war in 1945 and the demise of the college that sprung up to serve veterans that wanted to further their education under the G.I. Bill, deconstruction of the base occurred. The chief industry in Bayview was that of scavenging lumber, windows, doors and other construction material for pennies on the dollar. Most of the older parts of Bayview were built from these materials and in many cases, entire buildings were constructed courtesy of the war department. Some examples are: The Bayview Scenic Bay motel/apartments, the guest cottages at MacDonalds Marina, The new JD's now raised above the flood plane and many others. From the late forties through the fifties, it was boom town days.

Several natural phenomena occurred during the years following World War 11. January 13, 1950 showed temperatures dropping fast, with a high of 25 and lows of 2 degrees. It stayed cold until the days between January 20-23. Then it plunged again on the 25^th.From January 29 through February 5 the lows went to minus 29 at night then down to 30 below by the 5th. Scenic Bay for the first time in recorded history snap froze and stayed frozen for a substantial period of time

The fifties and 60's were also a huge fishing opportunity. I(n addition to the trophy trout, Kokanee were fished hard. Personal limits were 100 fish per day and 200 for commercial licensees. Jim MacDonald, while serving in the state senate, requested in 1971, the cessation of the huge limits on Kokanee. He foresaw the fact that harvest along with predation was happening at a higher rate than new spawning could replace. The Idaho Fish & Game Department agreed, and curtailed the almost unlimited harvests in 1973. The damage, though, had already been done. Kokanee went into a death spiral.

At one time, Kokanee were fished commercially. Many old-timers remember their fathers hand-lining with jigs for washtubs full of 10- to 12-inch Kokanee. Commercial fishing was finally closed in 1973, but the old smokehouse still stands sentinel at the south end of the Long Bridge in Sandpoint. All was still well until 1952, when two new dams were built, Cabinet Gorge on the Clark Fork River in Montana and Albeni Falls on the Pend Oreille River at Priest River, Idaho. These two dams were

the death knell for the Lake Pend Oreille fishery but for different

reasons.

The Cabinet Gorge Dam chopped off the river seven miles upstream, removing the 75 or 80 miles of upriver spawning habitat. After the Clark Fork ceased to be of use, only the strain of kokanee that had adapted to spawning in the lake shore gravels were left. Kokanee spawn in the late fall. Chip Corsi, Fish & Game, explained, "The destruction of 75 or 80 miles of spawning habitat up the Clark Fork River and its tributaries had a huge impact on the survival of the Kokanee."

The following year was the opening of Cape Horn to vehicular traffic. Bob Peck, then road foreman for the Belmont Road district, climbed onto his bulldozer and cut through and over the summit of the Cape. With him on his road crew was Milton Cameron, whose Grandson and granddaughter, Ethan and Maddie are still living and working in Bayview. Cameron primarily hauled gravel in the area once called Belmont. The impetuous for the road being opened up was access for shoreline homeowners who up until then had only water access. Each lot owner was taxed $1.00 per front foot to fund this undertaking. Bob Peck, Belmont Road district foreman said, “Previously, some of the homeowners rented a bulldozer to cut the initial path through. It was one lane and treacherous. The road district then came in and widened it out and in some cases ran the road away from the original trail.. Peck told us,” I built that road across the cape.”

June 24, 1956 was the beginning of a ladies group formed in the areas of Bayview, Athol and Belmont, a community that no longer exists except in the memories of those who lived there back when. They called themselves BABS and dedicated themselves to community service. The original street fairs during the fourth of July week-ends were established by BABS. They still exist and still serve quietly and without fanfare. Two years later, the Bayview Chamber of commerce was formed. The organization was a bit different as it doubles as a community action group and social club as well.

One of the few government sponsored plantings, this time mountain goats instead of non-native fish, happened in 1960. Sixteen goats trapped in the Clearwater mountains were transplanted to Bernard Peak in 1960. The goats had a setback two years later when a monumental slide happened on the north face of Bernard Peak undoubtedly killing some goats and caused a small tsunami that rolled up the length of Lake Pend Oreille. Some damage of floating docks was reported as the waves dashed against the north shores of the lake.

July 1,1965 was the date that Farragut State Park was established. Park Ranger and historian, Dennis Woolford said, “Pulling together various tracts of land owned by different state agencies, such as Idaho Department of Lands, Idaho fish & Game and a few other smaller pieces. Idaho Parks and Recreation was in a hurry, because about to descend upon the brand new park were 12,000 senior girl scouts for a jamboree.” Two years later was the boys' turn as 13,000 scouts showed up for the world jamboree. While there, like scouts tend to do, they started building things. The two crafted towers they built still stand, slowly being swallowed up by the encroaching timber.

Bright and early Sunday morning around 7:30 am the northwest was about to radically change. It was May 18, 1980 When Mt. St. Helens blew it's top. It was a clear day, but to Northern Idaho residents it appeared to be clouding over with dark rolling clouds. Many thought it was a monster thunder storm coming It was a monster, but instead of rain, it started snowing. Then it was discovered that the flakes didn't melt and they tasted funny. Many who were away from home, hurried home or to the nearest shelter. Some panicked, until the news of the eruption was received. Dick and Shirley were hunting morel mushrooms across the lake at Cedar Creek. Shirley said,”When we returned to their boat, it was full of ash. Bayview looked ghostly when we returned.”There are still areas where the white ash can be seen in crevasses. Thirty years have passed, yet it seems liker just a short time ago.

The Hansens' are consistent. They received the first boat slip rental from the new sailboat marina just built. It was dated September 2, 1980. Dick told us, “I had just took on a huge debt load to build the Bitter End Marina when the economy tanked. It was a struggle for a few years.” More recently, they developed the Baywatch Estates. It was finished just in time for the economy to tank again, in the recession/depression we now are in.

1988 was the year the Bayview Water & Sewer district came into being. With an EPA grant of $1,700,000 and an additional $472,000 from Idaho Health & Welfare, plus an easement from the US Forest Service to spray effluent, the district began construction. By 1991 the district was operational. Today, the sewer district is at capacity. To expand, they would have to get an enlarged permit from the forest service in order to spray effluent over a larger area.

Bayview’s Vista Bay Marina on Lake Pend Oreille was experiencing an early season warm day.

Jan Larkin, then part owner of the marina said this. “Just after 7 p.m. on May 14, 1977, we heard a loud pop from the boat docks. Suddenly, flames gushed out of the east boat sheds.” When it was all over, 12 boats were destroyed.
A chain reaction occurred, with the 188-foot long wooden dock engulfed in flames within five minutes. Since the boats were parked so close to each other, the fire spread quickly from boat to boat. No firefighting equipment existed on the docks, and people formed a bucket brigade. Others who were boating on the lake sped by the docks at close proximity so as to send a wave of water up over the area.
Nothing helped. Some boats were saved, cast free and pushed out of harm’s way.
Other recent marina fires include:
May 4, 1986: Boileau’s main dock suffered the loss of a 33-foot boat and a two-story float home at the end of the dock. Minor damage occurred on adjoining structures. Bayview firefighter Gerald J. Franz collapsed from smoke inhalation and later died from a heart attack at this fire.
June 13, 2001: A boat owner was vacuuming his boat inside a boat shed when a spark ignited fumes in the bilge. Within seconds, the owner bailed out and swam to safety. Destroyed were two boat sheds containing four boats and the two float homes at the end of the same dock where the 1986 fire occurred.
Summer of 1996 was hot and dry. Very dry. Around Lake Pend Oreille, boaters lazed on the shoreline to the south between Bernard Peak and the Lakeview cement plant. One boater and his kids were lighting roman candles on the shoreline when an errant launch send the rocket up over their heads and into the bone-dry brush. The hill side is so steep it would take pitons to climb much of it. The fire raced up the mountainside, devouring everything in it's path. When the flames reached the top, burning debris rolled down the hill creating a zig-zag pattern of fire burning to the top, rolling to the bottom then burning up slope again and again. The forest service fearing a wind shift which would threaten Lakeview, called out a full response team. It took several days to quell the fire. The folks that started the whole thing were seen fleeing toward the Eagle Landing boat launch. They were followed and apprehended soon after.
Superbowl Sunday, February 11, 2000 caught many Cape Horn residents attending Superbowl parties at the local watering holes. Lorraine Landwehr, a cape horn resident in hearing that a slide had blocked the road home was heard to remark to her friend, Liz Justus, “I hope you have something in your closet that fits me for work tomorrow.” Well it was many tomorrows before the road was reopened. Joe Wuest of Lakes Highway district said, “Funding for slope remediation was obtained from the National Resources Conservation Services, a US government agency, in the amount of $1,000,000. FEMA funded the rental of a party boat, the “Idaho” from the Coeur d'Alene Resort to act as a passenger ferry, while yet another barge made many trips between Eagle Landing at Farragut and the old Cape Horn Resort where they created a landing area. Cars stranded behind the slide were barged to the outside and necessary service vehicles such as propane delivery and garbage pickup were also barged in and out. More than two months went by before the road was reopened. Rocks still plummet down from time-to-time.”
Today, the quiet, bucolic village basks in the sun with the sparkling waters of Scenic Bay entertaining both guests and residents as it has since it was an Indian encampment back in the 1800's, and you guessed it, was called Squaw Bay. The future? Hard to say. In the last five or so years, developers and speculators have discovered Bayview, much to the chagrin of long time residents, many of them hoping the good old days would last forever. Bayview is changing rapidly, and post recession will most likely see an unprecedented building boom.