WELCOME!
Established December 22, 1864 by the Second Territorial Legislature with Seneaquoteen, a trading post below Lake Pend Oreille, as the county seat. Rathdrum replaced Seneaquoteen as county seat in 1881 and Coeur d'Alene replaced Rathdrum in 1908. Named for the Kutenai Indians who inhabited the area when the white man arrived. The word "Kootenai" is derived from the Kutenai word meaning "water people."
THIS COUNTY IS AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION. To discuss voluntering for the position of County Coordinator, please contact the IDGenWeb State Coordinator, Kerry Hairston kerry.hairston@gmail.com
Additional Historical Background
"Kootenai County is named for a local Indian tribe. Mountain men and trappers were in the area in the early 1880's. The Sacred Heart Mission, first established near St. Maries, was moved to a site 10 miles east of Coeur d'Alene Lake in 1846 at Cataldo, where the mission building still exists and was repaired and strengthened in 1976 as a Bicentennial project. Captain John Mullan, who built the Mullan Road through the Fourth of July Canyon, surveyed the Coeur d'Alene Lake shore in 1859. In the 1860's the Wild Horse Trail from Spokane through Rathdrum Prairie was used by prospectors to get to the gold diggings in British Columbia. Traffic to the Montana mines at Helena was routed over a portion of that rail. Agriculture, lumbering, and tourism are the chief industries of the county, which attracts hundreds of Canadians each summer." - The Idaho Almanac, 1977 Edition, State of Idaho.
Communities
Larger Cities and Towns
Coeur d'Alene, Dalton Gardens, Hayden Lake and Spirit Lake.
County Government Contacts
Idaho State Historical Society - Kootenai Register
Coeur d'Alene Tribe
Neighbors
North: Bonner County
East: Shoshone County
South: Benewah County
West: Spokane County, WA
Thanks
Thanks to Laury Kenton, Vikki Gray, Lucinda VanLandingham, Judy White, and Sharon McConnel, for all the work they did earlier on this site.