Remember When?

HISTORY OF SANDERS COUNTY

BY J.H. BRAUER

Johann Heinrich ‘John’ Brauer was born February 5, 1870, in Hanover, Prussia, Germany. He came with his parents to the United States in 1879. He came to Missoula in September 1899 and moved to Thompson Falls in 1905. J.H. Brauer and his wife Mary had 13 children. Their home, which is still standing, now houses the Sunflower Gallery. Mr. Brauer, with the exception of two terms, served as the county surveyor from 1909 to 1954, when he retired.

Continued from last week.

By the way, the picture you see hanging above the Judges’ stand in the Courtroom, is that of Col. Sanders, which was presented by Mrs. Sanders to Attorney A.S. Ainsworth, who in turn presented it to Sanders County.

You will find the record of the creation of Sanders County in the 1905 Session Laws of the Ninth Assembly Chapter on Pages 18-24.

The following were the temporary officers appointed by the Assembly to serve until their successors were duly elected and qualified: W.R. Beamish, W.A. Beebe, C.H. Rittenour, commissioners; S.L. Vanderpool, Treasurer; C.E. Baker, Sheriff; D.W. Brown, Assessor; L.E. Smith, Clerk of District Court; H.R. Stephens, Clerk and Recorder; H.C. Schultz County Attorney; Miss Beulah Wheeler, Supt. of Schools; Frank Foster, Surveyor; L. Helterline, Public Administrator; Dr. C.B. Lebcher, Coroner; Thompson Falls Temporary County Seat.

The above named officers qualified on March 1, 1906, using for the temporary Courthouse Doenges Hall and the basement of the IOOF building for jail purposes.

In November, 1906, Sanders County held its first general election when county officers were elected and Thompson Falls won the permanent county seat. Elected commissioners were Charles Doenges, W.A. Beebe and Axel Shulstad.

Thompson Falls inherited its name from David Thompson, a geographer who built a cabin on the Clark Fork River below Thompson River called Salish House, and who mapped the Columbia River from its mouth to its source. You will find a monument erected beside the highway east of Thompson Falls to his memory by the people of Thompson Falls.

In July 1907 Edward Donlan and his wife deeded and donated Block 1 of Donlan’s Addition to Thompson Falls to Sanders County for public building purposes where the present building is now located.

In September, 1907 the Board of County Commissioners opened bids for the construction of a Courthouse, and accepted the bid of $9,995 plus $400 for a concrete basement floor.

In 1907 Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States, issued a Proclamation setting aside all public lands in Sanders County not occupied or subject to settlement at that time to be known as the Cabinet National Forest. Mr. F.A. Silcox was the first Forest Supervisor. Mr. Silcox and myself established the original boundaries of that forest.

I was first elected County Surveyor in November 1908 and have served in that office the largest part of the time to this day. Denver Laughlin was Surveyor for a number of years and Theodore Johnston during the 1920s. I surveyed and established over 80% of the roads in Sanders County including the first highway from Ravalli to the Idaho line.

In April 1910 the Board of County Commissioners, realizing a need and importance of river crossings asked the people of Sanders County to authorize the Board through a special bond election to issue bonds in the sum of $130,000 for bridges at Plains, Thompson Falls and Trout Creek. The people approved the bond issue. The bridges were constructed under the supervision of Commissioners, Doenges, Schulstad and Beebe. O.E. Peppard was awarded the contract and the bridges were constructed in 1911.

In 1944 The board of County Commissioners came to the conclusion that the Courthouse was inadequate and could no longer house the different county activities. The building was more or less a fire trap. The vaults were too small to store our valuable records, and they were not considered safe in case of fire. In October 1944 petitions were presented to the board, authorizing them to call an election to determine the question of a bond issue for the construction of a new Courthouse and a county hospital. The matter of the bond issue was decided at the general election in November 1944 and was carried by a substantial majority. $95,000 for a Courthouse and $40,000 for a hospital. Prices were rising so fast that for a number of years nothing could be done, the amount of money available being insufficient to construct the building as planned.

In 1949 the present board, H.E. Smith, M.C. Sutherland and Ed Hazelton decided to go ahead and build what they could with the money available and complete it as far as the money would permit.

The bid of W.L. Graham was accepted as being the best and lowest bid and a contract was awarded him in the sum of $84,866 to complete the building by August 31, 1950.

All the principal offices are now installed in the new building, and it stands as a monument to the progressive spirit of the people of Sanders County.