Amenities

Gravel parking lot, toilet, boat launch, swimming.

History

The site of the Laclede Boat Launch was a river crossing for local tribes and early fur traders for many years, before a ferry operated here from around 1863 until sometime in the 1950s. 

The ferry began on the south side of the river at the traditional crossing at Seneacquoteen, which means “crossing” in Kalispel, a local Inland Salish dialect. The ferry crossed to Laclede on the north side. The gold rush in the mid-1860s brought in thousands of miners, and after the ferry crossing, a pack trail led north to the White Horse mines near Fort Steele in British Columbia. 

The Markham family, who lived on the south side at Seneacquoteen, operated the ferry for many years. It became less important after the first Long Bridge was built in 1910. Children often rode the ferry to school. The name of the ferry was changed to Laclede sometime after  the Great Northern Railroad came through in 1892.

In 1866, the first steamboat was built across the river at Seneacquoteen. The local gold rush faded after only a year or so, and while the boat was used on the lake for a time, it was dismantled in 1876.