Boundary County County
Established January 23, 1915 with its county seat at Bonners Ferry. It was so named because it borders Canada on the north, Washington on the west, and Montana on the east as well as Bonner County on the south.
Mapped Location
Boundary County: The mapped location is an approximation and should not be used for navigation or wayfinding.
Information
General information on Boundary County
- Feature Type: County
- County Seat: City of Bonners Ferry
- Established: Saturday, January 23, 1915
Official, historical, colloquial and alternative toponyms for Boundary County
A brief list of names that this geographic feature has been named
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Boundary County | Official |
Origin Notes and History of Boundary County
References to Boundary County that document the origin of its place name
BOUNDARY.—-This county was so named because it joined the boundaryline between the United States and Canada. When Captain Robert Gray discovered the Columbia River (q.v.) the United States claimed all the country which it drained and as far north as 54° 40', while England claimed this same country and as far south as the Columbia and Snake rivers (q.v.). The British endeavored to discourage and prevent settlement and colonization, and always antagonized the agricultural and mining interests, allowing the Hudson Bay Company (q.v.) to exercise absolute monopoly over this territory. They infested it with fur traders and trappers, and wanted it to remain forever in a primeval condition as a hunting and trapping ground, inhabited only by Indians, halfbreeds and fur-bearing animals. The people of the United States wanted to settle the country and make homes therein, and when the undaunted American pioneer (q.v.) settled down and began his home-building it brought the subject of the boundary forward at once, which was finally settled by making 49° north latitude that line, and thus the fur régime was ended. -BANCROFT, History of Oregon.
KUTENAI, Boundary County.—This tribe was the Lower Kutenais or Cootenais of the Kitunahan family (q.v.), and claimed all Idaho that drained into the Kootenai River, consisting of the larger part of Boundary County (q.v.). Kutenai is their own name for themselves and means "Water People," as they lived, virtually, in the water. The Canadian French called the Kootenai River, by reason of its resemblance, the "Flatbow" and these Indians were, at times, called the "Flatbows." In 1855 they entered into a treaty with the government by which the tribe accepted the Flathead Reservation, Montana, as their reserve. No extinguishment of their territorial rights was ever made, the United States simply taking possession of their country, but in 1872 their claims were given up by the scattered remnants who were placed on the Colville Reservation, Washington.
Related Catalog Titles
A Bibliography for Boundary County, County
The faces of history Portraits of the men and women who shaped life in Boundary County, Idaho by Stan DeHart
Authored by local historian Stan DeHart, The Faces of History: Portraits of the Men and Women Who Shaped Life in Boundary County, Idaho compiles a rich photographic and biographical archive of the pioneers, homesteaders, and laborers who carved a community out of the remote panhandle of northern Idaho. The book uses vintage portrait photography and detailed oral histories to resurrect the individual stories of those who braved isolation, harsh winters, and demanding resource industries near the Canadian border. Through these personal profiles, the text honors the human grit that transformed an untamed river valley into a permanent, functioning society. A keen insight drawn from the work is how frontier portraiture functioned as a deliberate act of civilizing permanence; by meticulously dressing up and sitting for traveling photographers, isolated homesteaders used visual self-representation to project dignity and social order onto an unforgiving wilderness that constantly threatened to swallow their hard-won achievements.
Oversized paperback
CIRC [ 0 ]
Boundary County
- Addie
- Allens Spur
- City of Bonners Ferry
- Boulder City (historical)
- Burns
- Copeland
- Crossport
- Deep Creek
- Eastport
- Eileen
- Good Grief
- Katka
- Kingsgate
- Leonia
- Mc Arthur
- Meadow Creek
- Moravia
- City of Moyie Springs
- Naples
- Porthill
- Ritz
- Schnoors
- Shiloh
- Sinclair
- Threemile Corner
Political Boundaries
Last updated: 2016-12-11