Clark Fork (Idaho)

Bonner County

16-14950

Clark Fork is a city in Idaho Panhandle in the north of the U.S. state of Idaho. It is part of Bonner County, whose county seat holds the city Sandpoint. The population was reported to U.S. census in 2010 at 536 Clark Fork is located at an altitude of 640 m ( 2,090 feet) above sea level on an area of 2.6 km ².

Location

Clark Fork is located in the eastern part of the Bonner County near the border of Montana and the Cabinet Range of the Rocky Mountains. The same Clark Fork River empties into Lake Pend Oreille. The Cabinet Gorge Dam dams the river near the village and provides the area with energy. Further upstream there is a fish farm. The farm land north of the river is considered to be particularly fruitful.

Clark Fork is located approximately 40 km east of Sandpoint, it is the first town on Highway 200 after crossing the border from Montana to Idaho. The city lies on the banks of the Clark Fork River, was established in the late 1800s, after the Northern Pacific Railway had built here a siding beside the river.

The city was named after the famous William Clark, who with Meriwether Lewis in 1804 led an expedition to the development of this area. Probably discovered Lewis and Clark the Clark Fork River near Missoula in October 1805. Nowadays located in the " Wilderness Area" in the shadow of the Cabinet Mountains, Clark Fork offers much of the charm of the old American West. There are numerous opportunities for hunting and fishing within the Clark Fork Valley. The river is a preferred spawning area for fish species Rainbow, Cutthroat, Mackinaw and the endangered bull trout that use its pristine mountain tributaries for spawning.

History

When in 1916 the construction of a bridge over the Clark Fork River neared completion, a reporter said something like: " In this simple way the catchment area of ​​the Clark Fork River is at the end of the thoroughfare in the northern part of that State. It is the only possible passage to the north. " To this end, the reporter had come due to the fact, as Lewis and Clark had found this way to the west a century ago and, despite intensive search by a growing community no better way had been found, as to cross the river by ferry.

The topography of the area offered few opportunities to cross the river when traveling east or west. This was well into the 20th century, until the people had learned to handle the rock walls of the Cabinet Mountains with machines. Even today show up on a trip from Heron (Montana ) to Clark Fork ( Idaho) clearly shows the formations Clark Fork gave his role in the history of the region and was a reason for the original ferry service.

Lalia Moore wrote in her dictionary of place names of Idaho that the locality ( Clark Fork ) was apparently in 1809 referred to by trappers so. With them, the early ferry service began, although this was only made ​​out of logs and provided with a temporary platform. It is assumed that there is a private or a paid ferry was operated in Clark Fork.

The first indications of the ferry service provide records from the year 1893. Since these at least 10 years took place after the arrival of the railway line of the Northern Pacific Railways, it is very likely that the construction of the railway bridge and the railway tracks a considerable number of river crossings was necessary. An essential factor in the operation of the ferry was the considerable amount of water and the flow rate. The " Pend d' Oreille Review" reported on 29 December 1916 that "the Clark Fork River larger volume of water than having the Snake River. At times, amounts to the flow during floods up to 94,000 cubic meters per second. The average width of the river is about 400 meters. " On May 13, 1904 John Lloyd and John Hagbo was made ​​an offer for a ferry, which cost $ 275.00.

Demography

According to the Census of 2000 living in Clark Fork 530 residents, 138 families in a total of 238 households. The population density was 208.8 inhabitants per square kilometer. There were a total of 286 residential units on a site of 112.7 km ², which includes the actual location and the surrounding community property belonging to the land with.

Personalities

• Compton I. White lived and worked in Clark Fork.
• Compton I. White Jr. attended school there, was 1947-1950 School Board and 1958-1962 Mayor of Clark Fork.