North Fork is a collection of tape-recorded and edited interviews with homesteaders, railroader, and others. Itâs all here as they told it: the dangers of logging, the raunchy stories by which the river drivers defused the bite of ice water and forgot straining muscles; the origin of names like Dolly Falls, Deadmans Eddy and Lovers Leap. What itâs like to dive into one of the steamholes of Pond Peak and travel a country of fish-eating snakes; to joyride a borrowed railroad speeder and meet another head-on in the dark. The fear that gripped Enaville during the Maki killings. The festive days of the Sunday Fish Train. A family picnic where the mothers got soused. The man who required an otter skin to keep his do-do from freezing. And one who said, "When I got a vasectomy they damn near drummed me out of the clan." From before 1910 to 1945. Also Do-It-Yourself Tours of where things happened.
Author
Together, Bert and Marie Russell collected interviews, information and photos from old-timers over many years. North Fork is one of six books produced by the couple. Calked Boots, Hardships and Happy Times, Swifwater People, The Sawdust Dream and Rock Burst all reflect the lives of working men and women in the Coeur d'Alene region.
Bert was born in Harrison, Idaho and worked as a logger, river driver, shipyard electrician, timber cruiser, rancher and writer. Bert passed away in 1997. Marie continued to keep the stories told by these pioneers alive by making the books available to the public. Marie donated the books she had on hand to the Museum of North Idaho. Marie died Dec. 2014.
The Museum of North Idaho reprinted North Fork in 2003
Contents
Individual Stories
Baker, Neva and Fred Bentley, Elton and Doris Clark, Bill Cramp, Dooley Cramp, Thelma Drake, Howard Hussa, Jonas Jacobson, Archie Kosonen, Edith and Whitey Krueger, Carl and Dorothy Maryott, Ken McPherson, Frank Nearing, Bill Pearson, Ed and Addy Ryser, Rudy and Vesta Smith, Guy Smith, Ward Stevens, Earl Lightner, Dewellyn Ulvila, Ailie Van, Warren Welch, Dick Welch, Lilas Whalen, Maurice and Sadie
Addendum
Glossary Of Terms
Maps & Diagrams: Idaho Little North Fork North Fork
Local History Tours With References:
Tour A, The North Fork, 70 miles Tour B, The Little North Fork, 71 miles From the Jacobson Story: Cataldo-Kingston, 7 miles Kingston-Yellow Dog, 37 miles West Side North Fork, 18 miles
Index
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This website is supported in part by the Idaho State Historical Society.
