The standoff began Tuesday after JoAnn McGuckin was arrested and authorities tried to take the children into protective custody. The incident again drew national attention to this remote region of Idaho just 60 miles south of the Canadian border. It is home to very small but vocal groups of white separatists and 45 miles from Ruby Ridge, where federal agents shot and killed the wife and son of white separatist Randy Weaver during a 1992 standoff. This is north Idaho. It's a way of life here.
People are individualists.
In the past five years, the McGuckin family has been in a downward slide. Their sawmill business went bankrupt, and the family has lived without heat, electricity or telephone service. Neighbors said they had tried to help the family in recent years but were mostly rebuffed. On Saturday, they were glad to see a peaceful outcome to a sad and scary week. They've had a lot of losses in the last few months.