“The Terror of the River”

“The Terror of the River”. . Before 1910 Box Canyon, barely half a mile long, intimidated every passing traveler on the Pend Oreille. It offered three choices. Turn Back, Portage around. Or try to run the Canyon., ”This was the terror of the river. All we met said don't try to run the Box Canyon...Chances are you will be wrecked.”, ...”A party of miners...gave us three cheers as we dashed into the seething waters. A moment later...the breakers full five feet high broke into the boat..." , -James Boyce Montgomery, August 15, 1888. , Box Canyon delayed until 1910 the tide of downriver development that might otherwise have begun in the early 1880s. Settlement stagnated. Valuable lead and silver claims lay idle. Many miners gave up hope that the transportation question would be solved in their lifetime. , The final solution broke upon the Pend Oreille valley as part of a maelstrom of development. Leading the advance came a new railroad, borne along by immigrant laborers. In 1910 it crossed Box Canyon, bound for Metaline Falls. , Miners rejoiced at their rail link to the outside world. Eager settlers flooded in as towns and industry flourished up and down the Pend Oreille. , And the "terror of the river” receded into the legends of local history.