Amenities

Public park in Priest River. Parking, bathrooms, boat launch, boat-in access.

History

Bonner Park West started out as railway property, became private property, and eventually, ownership was transferred to Bonner County. The land shrank after Albeni Falls Dam was built, and the river basin filled.

The completion of the Great Northern Railway played a pivotal role in the growth of the area. By 1893, the small settlement of Priest River had a railroad station just west of BPW. Since it was surrounded by dense forests, the area attracted the lumber industry. 

In 1911, the railway deeded some of this land to Dalkena Lumber Co, and by 1939, it was owned by Schaefer-Hitchcock Co., an Idaho-based cedar pole company owned by John Schaefer and Beecher Hitchcock. The company had offices in Sandpoint, Chicago, and Canada, and Beecher Hitchcock was a “staunch Democrat” who served two terms in the Idaho legislature, in 1915 and again in 1918.

Each spring during the annual log drive, trees from here were sent downstream to sorting booms near Priest River along with thousands of other logs. Spring-swollen local rivers carried a mix of timber harvested over the winter by several different lumber companies, including Dalkena Lumber and Schaefer-Hitchcock. Despite appearances, the process was carefully organized: each log was stamped with a distinctive brand identifying its owner. Separated logs were eventually towed to sawmills located along the river.

Seventy-ton load of old growth white pine logs on a Dalkena Lumber Company sled, Priest River, circa 1910s. Milton De Witz standing to the left. Photo by C.W. Herr, courtesy of Bonner County Historical Society, donated by Milton De Witz.