| Cottonwood
to celebrate 150th year in 2012, area history included
(History continued from last week) By golly, the good ole days keep popping up and here a few more from the time we are looking back to. When our mobility improved after WWII we started to enjoy many trips not available for the “Duration.” Family picnics were enjoyed at Soldier’s Meadow and Winchester Lake, where it seemed the fishing was always good! Even a meal or two of catfish and perch was a nice change. On a real splurge we could get in a trip up the Lochsa-Selway-Middle Fork and South Fork. I can’t remember a one-day trip to Red River or Burgdorf in the early days but as cars and roads got better, quite often the young single folks didn’t mind the six hours it took to go and come and still spend a few hours in the naturally heated pool. This pastime got more popular as the swimsuits got small and “mini-suits” became the thing. Some of the swimsuit set sported a very red complexion for a few days in between. Rubber rafts, 2, 4, 6 and 8 man capacity became available and were used on the local lakes as well as carried in for miles to be used in the high mountain lakes, which had been planted in the thirties and a few in the forties, and now had a lot of nice sized fish. The first thing said by many of the returning veterans was “how about a fishing (or hunting) trip?! I think I stretched it here a little-the first thing was “where’s my girl?” then came the question about the other kind of sporting trip! After the dust settled, many of the new wives (and the kids) joined into these trips to the so-called “prime-time area,” and today those families have passed on this love for the great outdoors another generation or two. Sometimes I feel most of the area’s population can be found handing on to the side of Gospel Mountain rather than out on the prairie here at home. Some pictures show babies a few weeks old enjoying their first camping trip. I believe Molly, Luke, Gus, Sue and Del will attest to this. I remember a time when five or six cabins at Burgdorf were filled with local people and their kids. The Schultz’s, Engels, Hoene’s, the Kops, Frank and Gertie Albers and sometimes the Doc Orrs? Also mixed in these special trips were men only trips to Selway Falls with long bamboo poles equipped with gaff hoofs for spearing salmon. First time trips like these are not soon forgotten. Remember in school when Sister Alexia, Sister Beatrice and Sister Domenica taught about the Industrial Revolution? This was a great time in history but, in reality, it wasn’t any greater than the new things that came about in our history. Shortly after WWII look at the changes here, both in the field and in and around the house. No wonder our life style has changed so drastically. All these new changes gave Dad and Mom more time to spend with the family. Washing clothes and the extra time used to keep the wood cook stove and the wood heat going amounted to a whole new life. Mom now made time for all of us as well as helping Dad driving truck and tractor. Dad’s way of farming-the haying season was cut in half with balers-conditioners and swathers. The old style TD6-TD9 Crawlers and other wheel tractors gave way to bigger equipment and from 60 Hp to 300 Hp tractors! And at harvest time the small headers gave way to monster machines with 30 ft. headers. Trucks went from ¾ ton to one then one and a half up to 10 ton! All this was brought on by good management and new found work practices. Talk about the industrial change-over, you haven’t seen anything yet. Here come all the newer, smaller electronics and the new material used to replace cotton, wool, rubber and wood! What a great time to be alive and enjoy the changeover! Yes, our God was mighty good to us, but, remember, God helps those who help themselves, and help us He did! We have so many things to be thankful for. Man and his new machines were producing more and more products and now, in many cases, mom joined in the outside work force to help pay the ever growing family bills. All this new prosperity soon was being shown in the community basics. Renovating, then building new schools, churches and parks and recreation areas. The Riding Club was activated and is still going strong. A few years ago we did a survey on summer sports alone and found about 700 people either playing ball or cheering their teams on! We all have taken part in this way of life and see more and more of our young folk appreciate what we have. We take time here to thank all those who have made this area what it is. We pause to remember all the people and their efforts to create a new life with good ole USA Freedom! We are including histories of many of the organizations which helped establish the way of life around here-a quick look in the file shows we have 34 or 35 business and organizations in the file. Each will have a place in the book we plan to publish. We expect to end up with close to 50 in total. The last few days have been busy ones with lots of people bringing stories in. As of Jan. 10th, Deb Clark reports 125 personal files in the bag. And we are working on about 100 more yet to be finished. Deb also reports that the Historical Museum is working on the prospect of a new genealogy department which will hopefully be the home of this project upon completion. We thank Sam Couch and the Sisters for their taking a role in this project including histories of both St. Gertrude’s and St. Michael’s. Our realistic goal now stands at about 300 to 350 histories total. Next week we will be talking about the changes the 60’s brought. 
A view down Main Street in possibly the 1930’s. What’s now the Arnzen Drug building is in the foreground and the Hoene Hardware and former Farmer’s store building can be seen down the street. The Hotel Phoenix is the 2-story building and was where the Texaco Building, now warehouse for Bud’s Saw Service, is now. Photo provided by Dick Schultz. 
Idaho Cletrac’s parts counter circa 1951. The business was located where Mager Bargains is now. From left are Harold Wessels, Urban Riener, Clem Riener, Les Simspon, Gene Laufer and Ray Remacle. Photo courtesy of Joe Riener. 
The first Cottonwood Community Church. This photo was submitted by Marlene Jungert. 
Denise Uhlenkott brought by this photo of the Kuther Building in it’s early days. As you can see Ladd’s Studio was located where later the Jaycees and currently Yalad Birthing Center are. Martzen-Kuther Insurance was located where In Touch Therapeutic Massage is now before moving one office over to what was then Hazel’s Apparel. 
Gus Seubert and John Willenborg show off their steelhead circa Jan. 1960. Remember When Remember When… You were put on a bus to go up on the Selway to a 4-H Camp? The first time you joined a 4-H Club? Remember some of the 4-H leaders teaching various courses in cooking, sewing, electricity as well as sheep, swine, beef and horses? Remember the Boys Scouts? And the overnight trips? Cooking wieners, marshmallows and even baking bread over a campfire on a stick? Mike Hilbert, Gus Seubert, Walt Torgeson, Carl Cosand and others took ten or more boys on a trip to Buffalo Hump? Twenty years later some of these same boys took ten or more new boys on the same trip? Don Hoene, Dick Schultz, Cletus Uhlorn, Ed Johnson, Willie Mader, Dick Seubert and others were the older men on this trip. Remember when Vic Lustig SR., Gus Hoene, John Jenny, Clarence Nau and other fishermen were trapped in a forest fire on Rainbow Ridge in the Buffalo Hump area? Remember the many times local men were called on to fight wild fires in this area? Among them the Great Forest Fire of 1910 which was never put out by men? It finally burned all the way to Canada before nature put it out with winter snow. Remember when the members of the local Rod & Gun Club helped clean creeks and plant pheasant in the local habitats? The large number of grain cars which made up wheat shipments on the railroad during the 50’s and 60’s?Also at this time there were lots of lumber cars and livestock shipments by rail leading the prairie. Remember the constant work on U.S. 95? Remember all the curves and dips in and out of draws? In the middle of winter U.S. 95 traffic slowed way down and the traffic would bunch up behind the snowplows? Through the years as the road improved, trucks hauled more and more of our exports and the railroad lost a big share of its previous business. Another big change was coming into our way of life. Because of the heavy inflow of stories coming in, deadlines have been extended. Response to this project has for the most part exceeded our projections. We will discuss this at the next meeting, this Thursday, Jan. 12, at the Library at 2 p.m. |
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