Quote of the Month:
“Nature gives to every time and season some beauties of its own." - Charles Dickens
Population: 12,896
Area: 1,425 square miles
County Seat: Newport
OVERVIEW
Pend Oreille County is located in the northeast part of Washington State. To the north the county borders with Canada and to the east with Idaho. The population of the county is 13,001. The largest city is its’ county seat Newport.
There are 55 lakes on the territory of the county, thousands of acres of wonderful forest. Most of the county is dominated by the mountainous Colville National Forest. The Pend Oreille River is the main river in the county; it provides electricity and recreational possibilities. The Pend Oreille River and all the 55 lakes of the county are home for a variety of fish species and birds, such as bald eagles, geese, ospreys, ducks and herons.
HISTORY
Fist people who inhabited this land were Indian tribes. In 1809 the explorer David Thompson first came down to the Pend Oreille River. He found here the Kalispels Indians, which means “camas people” (a root that was their main food). Currently the Kalispels have a reservation near Usk. In 1809 David Thompson also met the Pend Oreilles here, currently they live in Montana. In 1950, the Kalispels and the rest of Washington Pend Oreilles were combined into one tribe by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
In the 1850s gold was discovered in the northern part of Pend Oreille County. Due to the gold rush this territories were largely populated. But gold was not the main mining rich that was found here, lead and zinc became the main mineral deposits of the county.
Once railroad was built, timber became one of the main industries. In the northern part of the country the main industry is cement manufacturing that developed after limestone and quartz were found here.
COUNTY SEAT
Pend Oreille County Seat is Newport. The population of the town is a little bit more than 2,000 people. The town received its’ name in 1890 when it was selected as a landing site for the first steamboat on the Pend Oreille River. Just to the east of Newport there is a town of Oldtown, Idaho. There are no boundaries between two towns, except a political division.
Newport was designed as a walkable town; there are lots of wide sidewalks, benches, etc.
ATTRACTIONS
Little Pend Oreille National Wildlife Refuge
The Little Pend Oreille National Wildlife Refuge is a 42,594-acre refuge that is located in the eastern part of Stevens County and the western part of Pend Oreille County. The refuge is located alonf the west slope of the Selkirk Mountain Range and is home for moose, white-tailed deer, elk, black bear, bald eagles and different kinds of song birds.
Salmo-Priest Wilderness
Salmo-Priest Wilderness is a 41,335 acre wilderness area which is located within the Kaniksu National Forest and the Colville National Forest. This wilderness is home for such endangered species as woodland caribou, grizzly bears and gray wolves. Common animals that inhabit the Salmo-Priest wilderness include moose, bighorn sheep, lynx, elk, mule deer, cougars, bobcats, black bears, badgers and pine martens. Douglas fir and Western hemlock as well as old-growth red cedar grow on the territory of the wilderness.
Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail
The Pacific Northwest nationla Scenic Trail is a magnificent pathway that runs through the most beautiful and stunning terrain of the US, it connects different communities of the Pacific Northwest. Part of the trail runs through the Colville National Forest and the Kaniksu National Forest in Pend Oreille County.
Crawford State Park
Crawford State Park is a 49-acre park located near the Canada in Pend Oreille County. The main feature of the park is Gardner Cave that is kown for its stalactites, stalagmites, flowstone and rimstone pools. This cave is the third longest natural limestone cave in Washington State.
Information: Marina Petrova
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