The Western news. [volume] (Libby, Mont.) 1933-current, 1936-10-01

man to see that wilderness and he was
the first geographer of that far north
western country.
Thompson the "Star -Gazer'
The Kootena Indians, whom Thomp-
son first contacted in 1907, called the
nurly Scotsman "Koo-Koo Sint, Z
meaning 'the starman," or star-gazer,
because they so often saw him making
observations from the stars. Like a
good Scotsman, Thompson gave Scotch
names to many points on his maps.
What is now known as the Kootenai
river he named the "McGillivary.' The
Indians called it the Flat Bow river.
Thompson's map was made in 1913,
but when Arrowsmith, London car
1ographer, revised Thompsons maps
in 1880, he disregarded the names given
by both Thompson and the Indians and
called the river the Kootenai, A photo
static copy of Thompson's original map.
with the original place names, hangs
in the Licoln county library at Libby.
David Thompson called the Kootenai
falls the lower dalles," and there he
made one Of his most difficult port
ages.
His expedition was the first group of
white men the Kootenai Indians had
ever seen and they were much inn
pressed. Thompson also was very much
impressed by the Kootenais and their
rich country, and established several
posts in this region for his trading
company.
For 20 years Thompson explored the
great northwest and for nearly CEN
fury after him other mapmakers used
his maps and gave him no credit When
the Great Northern railroad built west
the road took an interest in Thompson
and his work for their track lay in the
heart of the area Thompson explored
A mass of data on Thompson's life was
gathered together and his great work
made known The railroad has erected
a monument to his memory at Bonner's
Ferry, Idaho, and a plan now afoot
would honor him with a monument at
Kootenai Falls.
British Claimed Region
AS part Of the Oregon territory, the
region that is now Lincoln county was
long claimed by the British government.
1t was not until the signing of the
treaty Of 1846 that England finally re-
linquished claim to the area. The Brit
ish lay claim to the land because the
first settlers had been British subjects.
In the winter of 1903 one Finan Nc
Donald established fort and trading
post at the mouth of Deep creek, just
across the present Montana Idaho Dor
der. In 1810-11 Joseph Halves and John
Parks established post on the north
side of the Kootenai river, one mile
below the present town of Jennings
and about is miles west of Libby. In
terested parties have established the
exact location of this old post
In 1912 the Northwest Fur Co. estab-
lished post on Rainy creek, a few
miles east Of Libby, on what is now
the Ben Thomas ranch. The Hudson's
Bay Co later took over this post. A
vast fortune in furs was taken out of
the region by the several companies
operating there and the fur trade there
continued profitable long after it had
been abandoned in most other parts of
Montana. The trade was still good in
1859 when the Hudson's Bay Co erected
Fort Kootenai on what is now the
Sheldon ranch, near Libby. This post
was later moved across the interna-
tional boundary to a point near what
is now the village of Gateway, Mon
tana.
Fur Traders Moved Out
The fur traders moved out in the
1865 and for nearly a decade the
region that is now Lincoln county was
left to the Indians, with only an oc-
casional trapper or prospector wander
ing through.
The year 1885 saw the first perma-
nent mining camp in this region, es-
tab)ished by Tom Shearer, B. F. How
ard, John Leigh, Lawyer Barton,
George Reider and James Powers.
Their claims, placer properties, were
on Libby creek, twenty miles south
of the present town Of that name. The
men met with success and by 1887
large mining camp was on the site.
0fhnv min ~ ~ t>