Priest Lake,
IdahoIdaho is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States of America. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans." Idaho was admitted to the Union on 3 July 1890 as the 43rd state....
,
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
is located in the northernmost portion of the
Idaho PanhandleThe Idaho Panhandle is the northern region of the U.S. State of Idaho that encompasses the ten northernmost counties of Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Clearwater, Idaho, Kootenai, Latah, Lewis, Nez Perce, Shoshone. Residents of the panhandle refer to the region as North Idaho...
with the northern end of the lake extending north to within 15 miles (24 km) of the Canadian border. The history of the lake dates back almost 10,000 years to the end of the last
ice ageThe general term "ice age" or, more precisely, "glacial age" denotes a geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in an expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Within a long-term ice age, individual...
. After the vast
glacierA glacier is a perennial mass of ice which moves over land. A glacier forms in locations where the mass accumulation of snow and ice exceeds ablation over many years...
s that covered most of the area receded and vegetation started to re-grow, humans started to resettle the area. This is evident from historical artifacts found in the area and ancient rock art along the lake.
The first white settlers arrived in the early 1800s.
Priest Lake,
IdahoIdaho is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States of America. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans." Idaho was admitted to the Union on 3 July 1890 as the 43rd state....
,
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
is located in the northernmost portion of the
Idaho PanhandleThe Idaho Panhandle is the northern region of the U.S. State of Idaho that encompasses the ten northernmost counties of Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Clearwater, Idaho, Kootenai, Latah, Lewis, Nez Perce, Shoshone. Residents of the panhandle refer to the region as North Idaho...
with the northern end of the lake extending north to within 15 miles (24 km) of the Canadian border. The history of the lake dates back almost 10,000 years to the end of the last
ice ageThe general term "ice age" or, more precisely, "glacial age" denotes a geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in an expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Within a long-term ice age, individual...
. After the vast
glacierA glacier is a perennial mass of ice which moves over land. A glacier forms in locations where the mass accumulation of snow and ice exceeds ablation over many years...
s that covered most of the area receded and vegetation started to re-grow, humans started to resettle the area. This is evident from historical artifacts found in the area and ancient rock art along the lake.
History
The first white settlers arrived in the early 1800s. These early settlers were mainly fur trappers who quickly established trade with the native
KalispelKalispel may refer to:* Pend d'Oreilles , a tribe of Native Americans* Kalispel-Pend d'Oreille, the language of the Pend d'Oreilles tribe* Kalispell, Montana, a city in the United States...
Tribe. Jesuit Priests would eventually settle the lake in the 1840s and establish a base camp at Kalispell Bay. One of these priests, Father Pierre-Jean DeSmet, a native Belgian who had escaped from European persecution and became the most trusted of the white men among the Western Native Americans, named the lake Roothaan Lake for one of his superiors in Rome. The name would not stick though and in 1865
Captain John MullanJohn Mullan was a soldier, explorer and road builder.Mullan was born in Norfolk, Virginia and graduated from West Point in 1852. He became a member of Isaac Stevens's party to explore the newly-created Washington Territory...
, a U.S. Army Captain who was traveling through the area under orders to build the "
Mullan TrailMullan Road was the first wagon road to cross the Rocky Mountains to the Inland of the Pacific Northwest. It wasbuilt by US Army Lieut. John Mullan between the spring of 1859 and summer 1860...
" from
Walla WallaWalla Walla is the largest city in and the county seat of Walla Walla County, Washington, United States. The population was 29,686 at the 2000 census and 31,350 from the 2008 estimate of the Washington State Office of Financial Management...
,
WashingtonWashington is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Washington was carved out of the western part of Washington Territory which had been ceded by Britain in 1846 by the Oregon Treaty as settlement of the Oregon Boundary Dispute. It was admitted to the Union as the...
to Fort Benton,
MontanaMontana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of the state contains numerous mountain ranges; other 'island' ranges are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
after the discovery of silver in the central Idaho mountains along what today is the route of
Interstate 90Interstate 90 is the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It is the northernmost coast-to-coast interstate, and parallels U.S. Route 20 for the most part. Its western terminus is in Seattle, Washington, at 4th Avenue S. next to Safeco Field and Qwest Field, and its eastern terminus...
, would re-name the lake Kaniksu. Kaniksu is believed to be the native word for “black robe” and because of the Jesuit presence the lake was later named Priest Lake.
Logging
From the 1890s logging has played an important role at Priest Lake. Logs were floated down the lake, and eventually to the outlet where they would travel down the Priest River until they reached the mills on the Pend Oreille River. National concern over conservation of natural resources led to the Forest Reserve Act of 1891, under which the Priest River Forest Reserve was established in 1897. This forest reserve subsequently evolved into the
Kaniksu National ForestThe Kaniksu National Forest is a U.S. National Forest located in northeastern Washington, the Idaho panhandle, and northwestern Montana. The Idaho portion is one of three forests that are aggregated into the Idaho Panhandle National Forest, along with the Coeur d'Alene National Forest and St. Joe...
- which has been recently incorporated into the Idaho Panhandle National Forests system. Most of the area on the east side of Priest Lake was gradually consolidated into State of Idaho lands beginning after Idaho's entry into statehood in 1890. In 1950 these state lands to the east of Priest Lake were designated as Priest Lake State Forest. Later, in the 1980s, the State executed land exchanges with private companies that added nearly 13,000 acres (53 km²) to the state forest and resulted in its present boundaries.
Wildlife
Priest Lake has a pristine variety of wildlife both in and around the lake. The standard bear, deer, and moose population that can be seen throughout northern Washington and Idaho is present about the lake. Priest Lake also has a large population of fish, ranging from small
TroutTrout are a number of species of freshwater and saltwater fish belonging to the Salmoninae subfamily of the Salmonidae family. Salmon belong to some of the same genera as trout but, unlike most trout, most salmon species spend almost all their lives in salt water...
to Mackinaw. The largest lake Trout caught in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
was caught at Priest Lake, and weighed 57 lbs. 8 oz, however the average size of the Trout ranges from 4-10lbs.
Tourism
Today the lake's biggest draw is tourism. There are several large private resorts on the lake including
Kaniksu Resort,
Hills Resort, and
Elkins Resort. Popular camp grounds include Indian Creek
http://www.stateparks.com/priest_lake__indian_creek_unit.html and Lionhead run by the State of Idaho as well as Beaver Creek, Reeder Bay, Osprey, Outlet Bay, and Luby Bay, which are all located in and run by the Idaho Panhandle National Forest. Several hiking trails circle the lake, also connecting to the Upper Priest Lake. In the winter time the larger resorts cater to cross country skiing, snowshoeing, and snowmobiling. There is also a hotel and marina located at the lake's largest town,
CoolinCoolin, Idaho, United States is a town in Bonner County, Idaho, United States. Its population is roughly 100 residents.-Geography:Coolin is located at 48.479°N, -116.848W°, situated at the southeast end of Priest Lake. Its elevation is 2,490 feet above sea level.-History:Coolin was named after...
. The Priest Lake Public Library, located at the corner of Luby Bay Road and Highway 57, is open year-round. Housed in the historic Lamb Creek School, the library has wireless internet access and an extensive local history collection. More information about the community is available through the
Priest Lake Chamber of Commerce.
Weather
Both the summer and winter activities at the lake are made possible by a truly four season climate. Summers are generally warm and sunny with high temperatures around 85 degrees
FahrenheitFahrenheit is the temperature scale proposed in 1724 by, and named after, the physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit . Today, the scale has been replaced by the Celsius scale in most countries; it is still in use for non-scientific purposes in the United States and a few other nations, such as...
(29 degrees Celsius). Swimming and boating are very popular in the summer. Winters are cold and snowy, and although not as cold as east of the
Rocky MountainsThe Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in Canada, to New Mexico, in the United States. The range's highest peak is Mount Elbert in Colorado at above sea level...
, the area does get much more snow. Sixty inches (1.5 m) precipitation falls in the mountains around the lake each year with almost half of that coming in the form of snow. Cross country skiing and snowmobiling are popular winter activities.
Aquatic Invasive Species
Priest Lake Milfoil Treatment a blog has been set up to inform the public about treatments for Eurasian Milfoil
Conservation