K is for Kamiah and Kooskia (and Lowell too)

Little towns. Lost and getting loster as the saying goes. All three towns in today's entry are in remotest Idaho, way down the hill from Lolo Pass on Highway 12, on the banks of the Lochsa and Middle Fork of the Clearwater Rivers. The drive down Highway 12, which is part of the ?Lewis and Clark route is a treat, if you like mountain roads hidden away in the midst of flyover country.

Kooskia is one of them. With history as each of them likely have. Kooskia is a Nez Perce word and the town itself is within the Nez Perce Reservation or it was at one time, before white settlers violated their own agreement with the Nez Perce and settled on reservation lands. Mention is made of the Internment Camp, which was about 30 miles upstream from Kooskia.

Kamiah is another town, downstream from Kooskia, that is heavy with New Perce history. The name means rope net and has to do with the ropes and nets that the Nez Perce made for Salmon fishing. Likely more significant, the Appaloosa is claimed in New Perce history to have been bred in this area by the Nez Perce.

Lowell is the third tiny burg made mention of in today's entry. Population 30, it is just barely there any more. It occupies the wide spot between the confluence of the Lochsa and the Selway. You access it across a bridge from Highway 12. The Selway and Lochsa merge to form the Middle Fork of the Clearwater.

J is for Japanese Internment Camp

The existence of a WWII era Japanese Internment Camp near Kooskia, Idaho was one of the big surprises unearthed in researching River and Ranch. This is reality not fiction. While little remains to mark the camp's footprint near Canyon Creek's entry into the Lochsa River, there remains an historical record of this camp, the men that were detained and the work they did on a stretch of Highway 12 leading up to Lolo Pass.

The University of Idaho has done work both on the site as well as in written archives putting together a story of this unfortunate piece of U.S. history. This camp near Kooskia and the men that worked there, were somewhat unique amongst all of the internment camps. They were aware of their rights according to the 1929 Geneva Convention. They organized themselves a bit and file a grievance and surprisingly the INS responded.

From most accounts the camp warden, Merrill Scott was a just man, maybe even a bit on the kind side. He acknowledged their grievances and fixed them. The result was a group of men, mostly non-citizen residents of the U.S. who were mostly happy to work. Records show that some of the men had even volunteered to come to this camp, because unlike Minidoka and other internment camps, there was work to be done here, building Highway 12 up the length of the Lochsa. The men were paid about 50 dollars each month and had something to do besides while away the hours in a confined setting.

The Densho Encyclopedia has the most complete record of this internment camp that I found while researching this bit of WWII-era Lochsa history.