Priest Lake

Priest Lake is Idaho's northernmost lake, situated in a 20-mile long glacier-made valley, and one of its loveliest. The forests surrounding the 26,000-acre lake consist of hemlock, cedar, grand fir, Douglas fir, white pine, lodgepole, Engelmann spruce, alder, and others. The lake is actually two lakes connected by a waterway known as the Thorofare. Upper Priest, the smaller of the two, remained isolated from the influence of roads and highways until well into the 20th century. Nevertheless, a unique community based on boating grew up around the lake.

As industries go, tourism is not that old. It wasn't until the 1870s that wealthy residents of the east began coming west for vacations. The people around Priest Lake, Idaho, however, didn't necessarily strive to attract the wealth of New York, but were happy with regular visitors from Spokane, Washington, a city about fifty miles away to the south.

President Grover Cleveland declared a Priest River Forest Reserve in 1897, closing 650,000 acres of nearby land to homesteading and logging. The resort trade grew. A lodge built by Sam Byers in 1914 was typical of many small establishments. His Forest Lodge was a summer home with seven bedrooms upstairs, a screened-in porch, and a piano. Out front was a dock on the Thorofare, the river connecting the upper and lower lobes of the lake.

The way of life on Upper Priest Lake was strictly by boat transportation--no roads were built to access the upper part of the lake until after 1950. So the community around the lake depended on this relaxed form of transport. There were power boats (after 1896), houseboats--some with gambling, girls, bars, and dancing--cruise boats, Forest Service boats, boats with tourist cabins, and flotillas of small boats of all kinds, one famously named "Cant Sinkum."

One of Byars' famous guests was Nell Shipman, an independent movie producer who set her films around Priest Lake. She, her crew, and their cast of wild animals stayed at Forest Lodge for a year while they made one of her films. Later she built her own movie camp, Lionhead Lodge, on the north shore of the lake, and headquartered her movie company, animals and all, for four years. Her work made Idaho part of the pioneer days of the movie industry.

Tourism continues to power the economy around Priest Lake. Every conceivable outdoor activity is available, and visitors don't have to be well-to-do physicians from Spokane to participate. The Spokane Mushroom Club, however, has its annual foray at Priest Lake every fall. It chooses its venue from among a variety of resorts that allow for cabins, RV space, and campsites.

Sources:

Claude and Catherine Simpson. "North of the Narrows: Men and Women of the Upper Priest Lake Country, Idaho." Moscow University Press, 1981.

Nell Shipman. "The Silent Screen and My Talking Heart: An Autobiography." Boise: Boise State University, 1988.