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Tchambliss, glad to see you're back! Your comment on my lilac painting meant more to me than I can say. I'm so glad my painting could make a little bit of the past come alive for you. I'm also sure that those days weren't all summer and lilacs. We'd love to read about the good times as well as the hard times if you feel like sharing.
Misty, thanks so much! One reason I feel so connected to Clark Fork is that there are motifs for paintings everywhere you turn, any time of year...
I’d love to see more of Clark Fork through your eyes and paintbrush if you have more of them.
I’d love to see more of Clark Fork through your eyes and paintbrush if you have more of them.
I appreciate that, Misty! I'll see if I can scan some more and post.
I just realized that it's been 10 years since I started this thread! We had just bought our property, and hadn't even spent one night there yet. Then came summers with the camper-trailer, trying to figure out where to put the cabin. Then we broke ground, and so forth. Clark Fork has been a wonderful addition to our lives, and our interest in the area has only increased over the years. It will still be a few years before I can retire, so hopefully the cabin will be completely done by then!
I appreciate that, Misty! I'll see if I can scan some more and post.
I just realized that it's been 10 years since I started this thread! We had just bought our property, and hadn't even spent one night there yet. Then came summers with the camper-trailer, trying to figure out where to put the cabin. Then we broke ground, and so forth. Clark Fork has been a wonderful addition to our lives, and our interest in the area has only increased over the years. It will still be a few years before I can retire, so hopefully the cabin will be completely done by then!
Hello - This thread is so interesting. My family was in Cabinet in the 1930's. We just found out that there was quite a remarkable incident. I have been doing some research through Sandpoint but am going to be coming out to the west coast from the east coast of Canada next week to do some experiencing. Would you have any additional information about Cabinet?
Hello Kjarvi, welcome to the forum! How interesting that your family was in Cabinet in the 1930s. Could you tell us what the remarkable incident was?
I'm not sure I can add anything to the thread that hasn't already been mentioned. We're only part-time Clark Fork residents so far. But I can tell you there is one original building still standing where Cabinet Wagon Road meets Cabinet Gorge Road, and if you go down the dirt road along the river toward the east you'll get to the fish hatchery. You can walk down to the river from the parking lot and see where the ferry landing used to be, and the iron rings that used to hold the suspension bridge (we were told). Personally I wish that bridge was still there. It would be incredibly cool to be able to walk out over the mighty Clark Fork at that point. The hatchery itself has a collection of B&W photos from the old days, and they welcome visitors.
As you can tell from posts in this thread, the old cemetery is being restored.
That is great information. We will definitely check out the building you mentioned. My grandfather was fostered to a family in Cabinet when his parents died. There was a dispute between two groups over water rights to their property (based on my research the land was near the intersection of River Road and Lone Cedar Lane). From what I have read my grandfather, his foster father and two other men were working on a spring to get water to their property, their neighbour was going to shoot them so my grandfather shot him first. He was in jail in Sandpoint for a year and then moved to Weed, California with his brother. I have been piecing this together through old newspaper articles. Here is a link to one of the articles about the incident: Digital Archives of the East Bonner County Library District ::
I look forward to visiting next week. It looks like you live in a beautiful area!
Kerry,
What an AMAZING story to read! Based on the various witness reports, it seems like your grandfather saved their lives against a mouthy aggressor. Thank you so much for sharing this! Reading it is like going back in time, with the diction and grammar, the coarse type... I even enjoyed the "Local Mention" articles about what the locals did and the places they went, like a 1930's Twitter feed.
For those of you who might have a hard time reading / accessing the article, I transcribed it below...
CHARLES SILTA, 18, KILLS WALTER LUND, 23, OVER A WATER DISPUTE
----
After Lund Had Held Gun on Group of Mean All Afternoon Young Silta Chances Two Shots With Fatal Resullts
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THREE WITNESSES ALL SAY SELF DEFENSE
----
Result of Long Standing Fued Will in All Probability be Heard at the Term of Court Which Opens on Monday
----
Charles Silta, 18, shot and almost instantly killed Walter Lund, 23, Friday on the mountain side, near Cabinet.
According to the story told the officiers by Silta, a relative, Andrew Silta, and Matt Hakala had leased a portion of the forest reserve and had filed on the water rights and these two with Abion Koski and himself had gone to the reserve to clean out the springs so the water would fill their reservoir.
There were engages in this work when Walter Lund, who had been working as an operator at Heron, Mont., but laid off since Monday, an old-time resident of that section, came up the hill carrying a rifle in his hand.
Lund stopped and told the men they had no right on that land and no business working there; that Lund and his father had a lease on the land and the men were trespassing.
Andrew Silta spoke up and said: "If you will show me where you have a lease on this ground I will show you my papers."
Lund then threw his rifle to his shoulder and replied: "There is the papers and there is the law," according to Silta.
He then ordered the men to line up and get off the ground.
Fires Two Shots
Young Silta, who had been bending over clearing out a spring, then straightened up, grasping his rifle as he did so and bringing it to his shoulder, he fired two shots in rapid succession.
The first bullet entered Lund's breast on the right side, just below the collar bone and lodged in the back. The second bullet entered the neck below the Adams apple and ranged slightly downward, coming out at the arm pit, and Lund dropped before he was able to fire a shot from the .32 Winchester he carried. Silta's gun was also a .32 Winchester.
After the shooting Hakala went to Kootenai and got a message to Montana to have the operator call the Kootenai yards to have them notify the sheriff, which was done.
Depute Sheriff Allen Critchell and a representative of The News immediately hastened to the scene, but the four men waiting for the officers to come began to fear the message had not got through and Silta was on his way to notify them again when the officers approached.
He immediately gave himself up and told the story of the shooting, claiming it was in self defense.
Deputy Coronoer Ralph Wessen joined (the) party at Cabinet and brought the body back with him.
Hakala told the officers they had had trouble with Lund before and had posted the place with "No Trespassing" signs which he pointed out to the officers. He (said) Lund had previously threatened the men and ordered them off the ground.
A number of weeks previous Lund had severely beaten Hakala and there had been bad blood between the Lunds and the other parties for some time.
Lund had lived at Cabinet for the past 20 years and is survived by his parents Mr and Mrs Frank Lund and four sister Helia, Aili, Senja, and Inka. They own considerable land around Cabinet.
The Siltas have lived at Cabinet for the past nine years.
Trouble Over Road
The place where the shooting took place is just south of Cabinet. Not so very long ago Bonner county built a road along the township line to connect the three intersetiong roads, believing (at) the time the county had a deed to the right of way.
Later it developed that the county did not have a deed but the owners had signed up for the road and waived damages. Along this winter Walter Lund, the slain man, wrote to County Commissioner Franklin S. Bonner and told him he was going to fence the road.
Bonner paid no attention to the letter as fencing the road would have inconvenienced nobody except Lund himself. In February Lund came into the meeting of the county commissioners and asked Bonner what he was going to do about the road and Bonner said nothing until he had looked up the legal status of (road).
Lund replied that in that event he was going to fence the road. He then walked out but came back later and asked Bonner if he was not going to make him an offer for the right of way and Bonner told him no.
Lund whose place is on the south side of the road, bought from Charles Senft a place also on the west side of the road across from the Silta place and adjoining the land on which the springs are located.
He built a fence across the road diagonally crossing the pipe line that carried the water from the springs and the reservoir to the Silta and Hakala places but no action was taken by any of the parties on account of the building of the fence, although it did engender bad blood between them.
The corroner's inquest over the death was held yesterday and the jury found the following verdict:
"In the matter of the inquisition into the death of Walter Lund before L.G. Moon, coroner
We, the jury duly impanelled and sworn to inquire into the death of Walter Lund for our verdict, find the person killed was one Walter Lund; that he was killed on Friday afternoon, the 10th day of April, A.D. 1931, in Bonner county, state of Idaho; that he came to his death by means of a rifle fired by Charles Silta, that his death was occassioned by the criminal act of one Charles Silta."
The verdict was signed by all 11 of the jurymen. Caryl Wilson, Walter Leusch, William Hackett, Robert Hadley, Thornton Davis, Ralph Coleman, George Badgley, Congra Grant, E L Platz, L G Thomason and W H Moody.
Tells of Going to Scene
The first witness at the inquest was Deputy Sheriff Allane Critchell who said he received a call at 4:45 from Cabinet telling there was a murder and that he left at 6 p.m. in company with a News man for the scene of the shooting, arriving there at 8 p.m.
He said they first went to the Silta ranch and then went to the springs where the murder occurred. He found Andrew Silta, Charles Silta, Matt Hakala, Charles Kjander and Abrom Koeti.
The found the body about ten feet from the spring, 50 feet from one fence and 150 feet from the other. He said he talked with Matt Hakala, Kjander and the Siltas about the shooting. That Charles Silta said it was murder but done in self defense and detailed his conversations.
He said the men said the shooting had taken place at about a quarter to three. He examined the body and found no blood on the ground under the body. He could not find the shells from Silta's gun but judged it 140 feet from where Silta stood when he fired at Lurd to where Lund's body was found.
Position of Body
Deputy Coroner R E Wessa who answered the call told of his going to the scene and finding the body lying on a side hill with arms stretched above the head and he noticed there was but little if any blood under the body. The clothing, however was saturated with blood but not as much as was to be expected.
Wessa said Charles Silta told them there had been trouble regarding the spring and the four men had been working cleaning out the three springs when Lund came up and told them to leave and when asked to show his papers he said his gun was his papers and the law. Wessa said he did not believe the body had been moved.
Dr F G Wendle, who performed the autopsy on Lund, said there was a wound in the base of the throat about four inches long and two inches wide and that the bullet entering here had shattered the surum and taken a slight downward course to near the armpit where he found a fragment and the base of the shell. The bullet has also shattered the first rib.
Wendle said he removed five fragments from this wound and described the location. The second wound was about four inches up from the right nipple and was a hole about half an inch in diameter clean cut. He found the bullet had passed through the upper lobe of the lung and struck the spinal column, shattering it and the seventh rib.
In answer to a question, he said Lund might have recovered from the first wound but the second was immediately fatal. He said there was considerable blood in the lung cavity.
Eye-witness Tells of Shooting
Matt Hakala said he was present from the shot was fired and with him were Andrew Silta, stepfather of Charles Silta, Charles Silta, and Abrom Koeti.
The party had left the Hakala house that morning at 9 to go to the spring to work and had got there about 10:30 as they went almost to the Montana line to avoid crossing the Lund property. At a quarter to 12 they stopped and ate their lunch and at a quarter after 12 resumed their digging.
"Won't Get Out Alive."
At about this time, while working, he noticed Walter Lund inside the fence coming toward them with a rifle in his hand. As Lund came near he leveled his rifle at them and said, "You ---- -- here again? I told you if you ever came here again you would not go away alive."
At this time, according to Hakala, Lund was about five or six feet away. Hakala said he replied to Lund saying: "Say, Walter, let's go through the courts and leave it to the law as to who has the water rights here."
Lund then pulled up his gun and leveled it at the men, saying: "Here is the papers and here is the law," but did not fire. The men continued working and Lund told them they had no right there, but he sat down on a log and watched them.
Hakala said that Andrew Silta asked Lund if he knew where the tools were the men had left there a few days ago while working and Lund told him he did but they would never see them again.
The men worked until 3:15 and then got ready to go home. Charles Silta went to the end of the overflow pipe to get a driunk and Lund jumped up from the log and, pointing his gun at the ment told them to line up as they were not going home.
Hears Fatal Shots
Hakala said Lund then thanke the men for the good work they had done for him on the spring. When he told them to line up Koeti was facing Lund while Hakala was facing slightly away from Lund. He heard a shot and, thinking Lund had fired it and shot Koeti, turned to look in his direction and heard another shot and saw Lund fall over on his back.
Hakala said when he first turned toward Lund that Lund was waving and had his gun out in position to shoot but the second shot was fired before he could do so, this shot killing him.
He said he left immediately afterward to call the sheriff; had gone to Cabinet and put in the call an then had returned. He said the gun that Silta used was his gung and he had put it on the sleight that morning when they left his house. The sleigh was off to one side from where they were working.
Hakala said they had had trouble with Lund before and were afraid something might happen and that was the reason they took the gun along. He said Lund had threatened to kill them several times. All during the time Lund sat on the log, Hakala said, he kept the gun pointed at the men.
In answer to a question, Jakala said it was 4:20 when he put the call in at Cabinet and he admitted he had blood on his hands and face but accounted for that by saying he scratched himself going through the barb wire fence.
At this point the proceedings were halted for an hour for dinner.
Lund Had Gun at Shoulder
Matt Hakala resumed the stand after adjournment and said the place Silta stood was higher than the place Lund was standing, accounting for the downward trend of the bullet.
He said Lund was holding the gun at his shoulder pointed directly at Koeti when the first shot was fired and Lund turned a little as the second shot was fired.
County Attorney McFarland showed Hakala a letter and asked him if he had written the letter or knew anything about it, and after looking at it Hakala said he did not know anything about the letter.
Silta on the Stand
Andrew Silta was the next witness and as he spoke only Finnish Mrs. Hanna Brackett was called on to act as an interpreter. He said he was the stepfather of Andrew, that he had adpoted him when he was nine years old and that Charles was now a little past 18.
Silta detailed the trip to the spring from Hakala's house and told of Hakala putting the gun in the sleigh. He said when the party got to the spring they started to cutting and piling brush and set fire to it and it was about a quarter past 12 when he first saw Lund coming toward them from the west with a gun in his hand. Lund was about 50 or 60 feet away when he first noticed him. He told the others of seeing Lund and Lund cmae up to where they were and told them in Finnish to get out.
He said he answered Lund by saying "How could we go away from the place where we are working?" and Lund threw the gun to his shoulder and pointed it at them. Silta said he was afraid and said nothing but continued working until a quarter after 3. Lund stood around part of the time and then sat on a log keeping the gun pointed at them.
The men worked around in a small space in front of Lund and in answer to a question said that at no time did one of the men go behind Lund but all the men stood in front of Lund.
Said He Was Scared
He said once he had asked Lund if he knew where the tools the men had left the other day were and Lund replied he knew where they were but they would not need them as they were not going to leave the place alive. That scared him and he did not remember much more.
He said when Lund ordered the men to line up Koeti was just ahead of him, nearer to Lund, and Hakala was back of him and he did not know where Charles Silta was.
Asked if he saw Lund when the first shot was fired, he said he did and that he was standing with the gun raised ot his shoulder pointed directly at Abrom Koeti and himself. He heard the shot but was too scared to know who fired it but he saw Lund fall at the second shot.
He told of seeing Lund sitting on a stump on the Lund place the previous Thursday about 300 feet from the Silta barn. At the time he was working sawing wood and his wife also saw Lund sitting on the stump. Nothing was said at the time but it scared him.
Kjander Appears on Scene
Silta said he left as soon as he could after the shooting to go home and later Charles Kjander came to his home to wait for the officers, saying he had been up to the springs and saw Lund lying dead near one of them. He said he wasted no time in leaving the scene of the murder.
Abrom Koeti, the next witness, said he lived at Cabinet for the past four years and told of the trip to the spring and the work the men were doing. Part of his testimony was given in English and part in Finnish, as he said he could nto understand all that was said in English.
Coming down to the appearnce of Lund on the scene, he said he first saw Lund after Silta had called attention to his approach. He said nothing but kept on working. Lund came up to them, Koeti said, and said in English, "Get out, you ---- ----."
He said he heard Silta ask about the tools and then started working again and continued to do so until about a quarter to three. All the time Lund was in front of the men with a gun pointing at them. He said he also heard Hakala ask Lund to let the matter be taken to the courts and settled by law.
Asked as to where he was when the first shot was fired, he said about 20 feet from Lund and when he was asked if he saw who shot Lund, replied no, he was looking at Lund and the shot came from behind him. As the second shot was fired he turned and saw Charles Silta shoot.
Didn't Drop at First Shot
He said Lund did not drop at the first shot but turned a little sideways but dropped over backwards at the second shot. He said no one of the party touched Lund after he fell.
Asked if anywayone told young Silta to get the gun out of the sleigh he said he did not hear any one say anything like that.
Koeti said when the men were ready to leave Lund thanked them for the good job they had done for him and then ordered them to line up and told them they were not going to leave the place alive.
Expected Trouble
Charles Kjander was the next witness and he said he had lived at Cabinet for the past 14 years and spent the entire morning at home. At noon his hired man came in and told him he had seen Lund carrying a rifle and leaving the house.
He said his house was about 500 feet from the Lund house. He did not know the men were working at the spring but when he saw smoke arising from that direction he thought they were and as he has lung trouble and takes a walk every day thought he would go and warn them of Lund being out with a rifle.
About 2 o'clock he started for the springs, using an old cattle trail on the mountain above the Lund place, being very careful not to cross the Lund place as it was posted with no trespassing signs. When about two-thirds of the way he sat down on a log to rest and heard the two shots.
He then made his way up above the springs so he could look down on them and then called down: "Who is doing the shooting?" Receiving no answer, he called again and Silta replied: "Is that you, Charley Kjander?" and when he answered in the affirmative was told to come on down to the springs.
When he got to the springs Lund was lying on the ground and the men told him their story. He looked at the body from a distance of about six or seven feet and saw the hole in the throat. He said when he arrived at the springs he asked the time and was told it was 25 minutes to 4. He stayed until the officers came.
McFarland showed Kjander the mysterious letter and asked him if he ever saw it and Kjander said he had not and did not know who had written the letter.
Shots 20 Seconds Apart
Milke Mulvihill said he was home all day. That in the afternoon he had heard two shots 20 to 30 seconds apart but did not know who shot them. Later Charles Silta came to his place and said he had been to Cabinet to get the officers and then told Mulvihill Wlakter Lund had been killed but did not say who had done the shooting.
Dr Wendle was recalled and identified Lund's shirt and explained the wounds in the arm might have been made by going through the fence, as the shirt was torn in these places.
Matt Hakala was recalled and when asked who he was looking at when the first shot was fired, replied no one. Lund, he said, was back of him, as he was facing the other way and when the first shot was fired turned to see Lund weaving.
The jury was out about half an hour before bringing in the verdict.
Silta will now be on the charge of the district court on the charge of first degree murder and case may come to trial the latter part of the month. He was not placed on the stand during the inquest but his defense in the court will be that he killed Lund in self-defense. A P Asher is representing Silta.
Kerry, thanks so much for sharing that story! A genuine trip back in time to the Old West. And Aiden_is, thank you for transcribing the article! I have copied it and printed it out, and it goes into our file of stories from Old Cabinet and Old Clark Fork.
I'm curious where the "mountains above the Lund place" are. South of Cabinet would mean up into the Green Monarchs (= the Coeur d'Alenes). But if it happened at the intersection of River Road and Lone Cedar Lane, that's not exactly "in the mountains," it's just up from the level of the river by approx. 250 ft.
Kerry, when you're exploring the area around Cabinet Gorge Road and River Road, just keep in mind than some of the dirt roads are private driveways, and there will be "No Trespassing" signs. People take those signs very seriously. There are actually springs and lakes in that area, and not much water up the Green Monarchs, so you're probably right about it being in the River Road/Lone Cedar Lane area.
Enjoy your visit! Yes, the area is gorgeous--and it's also interesting, obviously!
Oh wow aiden_is! Thank you so much for that transcript. Far more robust than my cut and paste from newspaper articles. We arrived in Sandpoint today and will be at the Bonner County museum tomorrow morning to get more info. I am really hoping to pinpoint the land in question. I have had a very helpful person at the museum so I am hoping to be successful. I will update you when I have more info and hopefully some pics. We will plead Canadian ignorance if we get caught trespassing
My apologies for the delay in responding to this thread....had to get lots of work done before vacation. Your feedback on this is heartwarming and very much appreciated.
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We had just bought our property, and hadn't even spent one night there yet. Then came summers with the camper-trailer, trying to figure out where to put the cabin. Then we broke ground, and so forth. Clark Fork has been a wonderful addition to our lives, and our interest in the area has only increased over the years. It will still be a few years before I can retire, so hopefully the cabin will be completely done by then! 
