W is for wilderness

Wilderness. A big space full of wild lands. If it is large enough, some would say an "intact ecosystem". The Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness is just that place. I'm not sure where the boundaries are and there is also the matter of adjacent wild areas like the Gospel Hump Wilderness Area. It's big. Not a whole lot of level, lots of land on a slant. There's probably still a few valleys that have never seen a human. In the lower 48 there's no other place like it. It's the largest roadless area in the lower 48 states and we have an Idaho Senator named Frank Church to thank for it.

Wikipedia (see link above for complete entry) says, "..In 1964, Church was the floor sponsor of the national Wilderness Act. In 1968, he sponsored the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act and gained passage of a ten-year moratorium on federal plans to transfer water from the Pacific Northwest to California. Working with other members of Congress from northwestern states, Church helped establish the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area along the Oregon-Idaho border, which protected the gorge from dam building. He was also the primary proponent in the establishment of the Sawtooth Wilderness and National Recreation Area in central Idaho in 1972.
Church also was instrumental in the creation of Idaho's River of No Return Wilderness in 1980, his final year in the Senate. This wilderness comprised the old Idaho Primitive Area, the Salmon River Breaks Primitive Area, plus additional lands. At 2.36 million acres (9,550 km²), over 3,600 square miles (9,300 km2), it is the largest wilderness area in the nation outside of Alaska. It was renamed the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness in 1984, shortly after the diagnosis of his pancreatic cancer. Idaho Senator Jim McClure introduced the measure in the Senate in late February,[21] and President Reagan signed the act on March 14,[22] less than four weeks before Frank Church's death on April 7.

From small roots as an Idaho kid, he grew to do great things. The wilderness, named after him, is a testament to doing the right thing at the right time. As a guide in Idaho during the summers of 1989 and 1990, I benefited from his efforts. Those of you that like roadless wild places are still benefiting. Thank you for wilderness Frank Church.

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.