The Indians for time immemorial had used it. The
old trail started on the Spokane River and ran
through the Rathdrum prairie to the shores of
the Pend Oreille River. There a crossing was
found called Sineacateen that was located across
the river from present day Laclede.
David Thompson and Finnan MacDonald used the
area around Lake Pend Oreille and the Indian
trail in their fur trade with the Indians.
Thompson decided to abandon the house he had
built on the lake and left the area. The house
was located near present day Hope and was called
Kullyspell or Kalispell house. He and his men
headed for the Spokane House that was located
near the Spokane Falls. MacDonald who had
married a Pend d'Oreille woman decided to stay
in the area and it was along the old trail that
he took his wife to visit her relatives.
In 1864 the Kootenay gold rush brought miners
and supply wagons from Walla Walla along a wagon
road to the banks of the Pend Oreille River at
Sineacateen. There a ferry had been established
to enable the miners to cross the river. A pack
trail, known as the Wild Horse Trail, followed
the old Indian trail to Sandpoint and northward
to cross the Kootenai River at Bonners Ferry. It
was on this trail that the miners made their way
to the Wild Horse mines near today's Ft. Steele,
British Columbia.
The men who ran the ferry probably made more
money than the miners. Here are the charges as
posted in 1892 at Sineacateen:
Horse and Buggy $1.00
Man and Horse $1.00
Pack animals loaded $0.75
Loose animals .$0.25
Footman $0.25
Two-horse team $1.50
Four-horse team $2.00
Sheep and Hogs $0.12
