Exploration and Settlement

As in much of the West, explorers and fur traders were the first non-Indians to set foot in the area that became Pend Oreille County. David Thompson, aided by Kalispel Indians, made his way down the Pend Oreille. Fur posts were established and operated in the region for a time and later missionaries established a lasting presence. Over time, the region’s natural resources brought miners and loggers, mines and mills, and Pend Oreille County as it exists today began to take shape.