This is the history of the Hudson's Bay-Kalispel Trail. The Trail was an east-west trail that ran from Fort Colville on the Columbia near Kettle Falls and the Pend Oreille River near the present Cusick. Probably the first recorded history begins with the David Thompson journals and the history continues until about 1871 when it was all but abandoned due to other routes. The history includes the descriptions of Father Pierre-Jean de Smet's travels through the area when he was setting up missions for different Native American Tribes. Father de Smet traversed the trail for the first time about Nov. 13, 1841. In his continental travels, he crossed it several more times through the years. The trail's most active use coincided with the importance of the fur trade. Fort Colville was vacated on Jan. 8, 1871 and gradually the Trail reverted to Native American usage due to other routes that had been built.
From the description of Hudson's Bay--Kalispel [sic] Trail / by Flossie Libra. (Washington State Library, Office of Secretary of State). WorldCat record id: 180879208
