Harrison, Idaho - Frontier Town
Photos and text courtesy of Mary Mills and the Crane Historical Society.
Harrison was a typical frontier town with dirt streets, wooden sidewalks, and false front buildings. The Village of Harrison was Incorporated July 21, 1899 and grew to about 2,000 residents during its heyday.
Harrison's main street looking north. The building on the left is The Mint, a popular saloon with rooms upstairs. It stood where the playground is in city park. The mint and eleven other buildings on this block burned in the 1917 fire.
​Harrison's Main Street (Hwy. 97) looking south in 1910. Left side: August & R.S. Jensen Brothers Grocery, Corskie Drug, Ed Harris Barber Shop, Jimmy Jones Cafe, Telephone Office, E.C. Ribstein Hardware. Right Side: Lamb's Blacksmith Shop, Lafferty Bakery (tall bldg.), Opera House, Frank Smith Pool Hall.
An Indian Village Since Time Immemorial
In 1740 Coeur d'Alene Chief Circling Raven foretold the arrival of men in black robes with powerful medicine. One century later, the prophecy was fulfilled and the first Jesuit Mission of the Sacred Heart was built 12 miles south of Harrison. There is an interpretive sign that commemorates the spot on Hwy 3 (White Pine Scenic Byway) and Mission Point Rd.
Capt. John Mullan and his men traveled through the same spot in 1859, as they built the Mullan Military Road that connected the Missouri and Columbia Rivers. Much of their road in this area follows SR-3. You can walk on part of the original unimproved road in Heyburn State Park. An interpretive sign in the tent campground marks the entrance.
In those days, the Indians wintered their wild ponies on Harrison Flats. There was a tribal village called Alkwari't at the mouth of the Coeur d'Alene River, named for how the sun sparkles on the water here.
Gold in the Hills
Gold was discovered in the Coeur d'Alene mountains in 1882. The stampede began in earnest in the winter of 1884, and part of it came through Harrison. Prospectors with grubstakes acquired in Spokane and Coeur d'Alene rode steamships to the southern part of the lake, then turned up the Coeur d'Alene River at Harrison to the head of navigation at present day Cataldo. From there, the trek to the boom town of Eagle City was completed on horseback or by foot. Wyatt Earp and his wife Josephine were among the hopeful seekers who took this route to the gold fields in the Coeur d'Alene Mountains.
The gold mines and subsequent silver strikes near Kellogg were located in territory controlled by the Coeur d'Alene Indians. The pressures of civilization threatened their security so the priests encouraged tribal leaders to sign an agreement for a reservation. The influx of settlers continued unabated and the chiefs signed another agreement in 1890 to cede the northern part of their reservation to the Federal government. Most of the Indians moved their activities to farmlands on the west side of the lake at that time
Harrison Still On the Reservation!
An embarrassment occurred when the settlers realized the land they were building on was still part of the Indian reservation, not in the public domain. Working with Congress and tribal leaders, town representatives were able to resolve the issue, but it took a number of years. The final legal homestead patents in the town site were not completed until 1909.
Meanwhile, Harrison's timber industry took root in the 1890s and was booming by the turn of the century. Harrison's location was ideal to profit from it. Tugboats pulled millions of board feet of logs down river to Harrison. Building occurred at a frenzied pace, and soon the waterfront was packed with lumber mills, shingle mills, and factories.
The regional lumber industry was generally stable, but labor relations became tense as the Industrial Workers of the World agitated for improved conditions. The Wobblies led a major strike in the summer of 1917 that paralyzed the entire Pacific Northwest and half the region's timber workers were off the job by mid-August.
Timber!
Meanwhile, Harrison's timber industry took root in the 1890s and was booming by the turn of the century. Harrison's location was ideal to profit from it. Tugboats pulled millions of board feet of logs down river to Harrison. Building occurred at a frenzied pace, and soon the waterfront was packed with lumber mills, shingle mills, and factories.
The regional lumber industry was generally stable, but labor relations became tense as the Industrial Workers of the World agitated for improved conditions. The Wobblies led a major strike in the summer of 1917 that paralyzed the entire Pacific Northwest and half the region's timber workers were off the job by mid-August.