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The origin of the name Tobacco Valley has a variety of theories. The Story of the Tobacco Plains Country, written in 1950 by members of the community, states that the term was given to the area when the first Caucasian visitors noticed enough of the plant growing to dub the valley the Tobacco Prairie but the writers confess that no one knows for
sure.
| "Origin of the early tobacco raising habits which provided a name for the later Tobacco Prairie, Tobacco Plains, Tobacco River and Tobacco Valley is unknown. The native plant used, an annual grown from seed, apparently died out after it became easier to trade furs for white man's tobacco than to cultivate and cure the native plants. The Indian plant was said closely to resemble commercial tobacco, and almost always was mixed with kinnikinic leaves for smoking. It was used not for pleasure but as a religious ceremony, an offering to the spirits being made by each man at sunrise and again at sunset."
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A favorite resident of the valley and local historian Doc Smiley agreed that the Native Americans used the plant but documented in his writings that the plants were grown in small gardens along the stream. Today the only thing historians know for sure is that at one time there was a plant that may or may not have been a form of tobacco that was grown or was wild on the valley floor, thus the name of Tobacco Valley.
The first known Euro-Americans to enter the valley were with David Thompson expedition in 1808. Following Thompson's voyage was the movement of missionaries in 1842 led by Father Pierre-Jean De Smet. The Hudson Bay Company sent numerous expeditions into the Oregon Territory, which included northwest Montana, during the mid 1800's including those lead by James Sinclair the father of Colin Sinclair who would return to the Tobacco Valley in the 1880's to settle and become a founding father of the valley. In 1859 gold was reported to have been found along the bed of the Kootenai River and a short gold rush
began 2. Prospecting was done on the Kootenai River up until the Klondike Rush in the 1890's. Other minerals (silver, coal and coke) were mined on a small scale and for a limited time.
Similar to today, the valley was a corridor between Montana and Canada. The Fort Steele Trail (from Missoula, MT to Fort Steele, BC) was rough to cross but served the purpose of a passageway. One of the Tobacco Valley's most recognizable settlers was a woman named Sophie Morigeau of European and Native American descent. Sophie was originally a pack horse trader on the Fort Steel Trail, then later a tradeswomen and rancher. Sophie served all people who crossed over the trail and who settled in the valley. The Native Americans who traded with Sophie were the Salish and Kootenai. Beginning in 1855 through the 1880's, the Native Americans were slowly moved onto reservations to the north in Canada and to the southern Flathead Reservation of Montana. Shortly after, on November 8, 1889 Montana became a
state 3.
During the late 1800's through the early 1900's the valley was discovered by homesteaders, who settled throughout the valley. Joseph Peltier built the first home on the site of Eureka in 1893 beginning the Town of Eureka. In 1903, the town was incorporated as part of Flathead County then in 1909 the town was re-incorporated when Lincoln County was formed
4. Stock ranches and homesteads were littering the valley floor. Even though there were numerous lakes and creeks across the valley, irrigation was a complication for agriculture. In 1910, the Glen Lake Irrigation Company was formed and funded mostly by farmers and ranchers with hopes of relieving irrigation problems. The result was the construction of the "Big Ditch" in 1914 which has had ups and downs over the years with funding and management but is still an invaluable structure of the valley today.
The transportation of the valley relied at first on the water passages that twisted their way through the valley. Steamboats and riverboats along the Kootenai River were the main means of transportation to and from the valley until 1900 when the Great Northern Railroad extended their lines to Jennings (a town on the Kootenai River towards Libby) and Fort Steel, BC and a second branch from present day Whitefish, Montana to Fernie, British Columbia. The coming of the railways opened the valley to commerce and travel. Demands for services in the communities such as schools, churches and doctors were moved to the forefront.
With the addition of the railroad, the timber industry flourished. The demand for railroad ties plus the ease of hauling increased the production. At first logging was small scale operations done by individual homesteaders and small mills. The early 1900's marked the beginning of large scale timber extraction from the Tobacco Valley. Larger companies like the Eureka Lumber Company soon were replacing the smaller mills and setting up large remote logging camps. The timber industry thrived and with that the population increased. Christmas trees became a popular export and the town of Eureka was dubbed the "Christmas Tree Capitol of the World". Today, Highway 93 and large motorized trucks have impacted the usage of the railroads and the timber industry, including Christmas treeing, has been on a steady decline.
In 1900, Theodore Roosevelt became the President of the United States and with his inauguration came the movement of preservation. The Tobacco Valley's surrounding forests were encompassed as part of the Forest Reserves. Hunting and fishing became a sport, not just a necessity; and the popularity of outdoor recreation was on a rise and is still impacting the valley. By 1905, the National Forest Service was developed and in 1906 the Kootenai National Forest was created. Both continue to serve the valley today.
In 1966 to 1972, the Libby Dam was constructed and the flooding re-shaped the landscape of the valley. The towns of Gateway, Ural, Hayden, Jennings, and Warland were forever lost (except as street names in Rexford). Rexford was moved to higher ground before the Kootenai River became the Koocanusa (Kootenai, Canada and USA) Reservoir. The Tobacco Valley has a vibrant history and the life style that attracted settlers to the region is still apparent today. A quality of life and cultural traditions, bearing the mark of the early expeditions and logging are still being celebrated and embraced by the present
residents 5.
"The Story of the Tobacco Plains Country, the Autobiography of a Community." Published by "The Pioneers of the Tobacco Plains Country," 1950, editor: Olga Weydemeyer Johnson History and stories about pioneers who settled in the area around Eureka, Lincoln County, Montana
http://www.eurekaartsandhistory.org/boh_index.html
1The Story of Tobacco Plains, page 6-7
2Gold was found on the Canadian portion of the Kootenai River. The gold rush was on a much smaller scale than the large ones of California and Klondike.
3American's History, A-1
4There are controversies over the exact year of incorporation for Eureka. The dates used here were found in newspaper article collection and reference materials at the Tobacco Valley Historic Village, and in The Story of the Tobacco Plains Country.
5The sources used for the history section came from a variety of newspapers, journals and scrapbooks housed in the Tobacco Valley Historical Village, "The Story of the Tobacco Plains Country" and the "American's History". The last two are sited in Attachment C.
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