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| Rural
towns at the crossroads |
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Cottonwood,
on central Idaho's Camas Prairie, is home to canola fields,
show at left, a monastery and a minimum security prison.
– photos by
Ann M. Colford |
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Cottonwood's hospital
and prison help sustain the economy,
and a sense of community eases the town over rough spots |
By Ann
M. Colford
for Headwaters News
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History rests easy on
the north-central Idaho city of Cottonwood, high on the
Camas Prairie. The bones of downtown reflect a consistency
of architecture born of tragedy; only one building on
Main Street predates the massive fire that consumed Cottonwood's
commercial center in 1908. The buildings that arose in
the years following the disaster are sturdy structures,
built to last.
"The town went from an old wooden town, like you
see in the movies, to all brick and concrete," said
Deb Clark, a fourth-generation resident of Cottonwood
and co-owner of Hoene Hardware. "The buildings here
now were mostly built between 1908 and 1910."
Businesses like Hoene Hardware still welcome neighbors
and visitors alike to this community of just under 1,000.
In the shadow of nearby grain elevators and a towering
railroad trestle, a steady stream of cars and people move
along the streets and sidewalks.
"My dad's grandfather, John Hoene, came to Cottonwood
in 1899 from Greencreek, Ill.," Clark explained.
"He bought a sawmill and threshing machine, then
in 1907 he decided to build the hardware store on lots
across the street. He opened for business in April 1908,
and on July 20, 1908, fire destroyed downtown Cottonwood."
Her great-grandfather lost nearly everything, Clark said,
but he bounced back selling building materials and hardware
to help rebuild the town. In 1912, he moved the store
to its current location, and Hoene Hardware has been a
fixture on Main Street ever since. Visitors often comment
as much on the building as on the inventory.
"We have a pressed tin ceiling and we always get
people from the East who come in and want to buy the ceiling,"
Clark said.
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Population:
1970: 867
1980: 941
1990: 822
2000: 944
Elevation:
3,950 feet
County:
Idaho
Zip code:
83522
Median household income:
$34,167
(year 2000)
Median house value:
$79,500
(year 2000)
Incorporated:
1901
Major Employers:
St. Mary’s Hospital and Clinic
Cottonwood Joint School District 242
Seubert’s Excavators
North Idaho Correctional Institution
Militec Defense Systems
Pacific Cabinets
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With the recent addition of Old West-style wood awnings,
the storefronts along the south side of Main Street have
regained some of their frontier-town flavor. Shoppers
can browse under cover from Arnzen Drug at one end to
the Royale Cafe at the other, with a quick stop at Coffee
Mill Creations in the middle.
At The Camas Bloom, a floral and gift shop, Starla Schumacher
says business along Main Street is steady, although she's
glad to have a delivery service to supplement the walk-ins.
Between the retail outlets, residents can find accounting
and insurance services, a real estate brokerage and even
a tanning salon.
The Camas Prairie has long been part of the traditional
and customary lands of the Nez Perce people, and much
of the prairie lies within the Nez Perce reservation;
Cottonwood sits just south of the tribal boundary. A small
settlement on Cottonwood Creek grew up around a stage
stop in 1862; in 1877 the town was used as a supply station
for U.S. soldiers as they followed Chief Joseph and his
people eastward. Cottonwood received its first post office
in 1878, although the town didn't incorporate until 1901.
Starting in the 1890s, German Catholic immigrants flocked
to the area, drawn by the rich farmland and surrounding
mountains, and names like Uhlenkott, Seubert and Schumacher
remain prominent in town even today.
In 1906, the Benedictine sisters of St. Scholastica in
Colton, Wash., moved their convent to Cottonwood and eventually
established the Monastery of St. Gertrude. The sisters
established the first local hospital (now St. Mary's Hospital
and Clinics) and high school, and their retreat ministry
continues to draw visitors to Cottonwood year-round.
"The sisters are a big part of the success of the
hospital," says City Clerk Carol Altman. "The
monastery is a real asset to the community."
In fact, one can argue that the presence of the monastery
saved Cottonwood from the slow decline that plagues so
many rural communities. The hospital, now part of the
Benedictine Health System, employs 170 people and serves
residents from Craigmont to Kamiah with a 28-bed hospital
in Cottonwood and four satellite clinics.
The former Academy of St. Gertrude, a Catholic school
that educated the children of immigrants, is now the public
high school for the Cottonwood Joint School District and
draws students from neighboring Ferdinand, Greencreek
and Keuterville. When schools consolidated several years
ago, the newly formed school district chose Cottonwood
as the site of the high school, largely because the school
building was there already. The hospital and the school
have helped keep Cottonwood vital and alive.
Cottonwood's other major employer – North Idaho
Correctional Institution, a minimum security prison up
on Cottonwood Butte – doesn't trace its lineage
to the monastery, although perhaps the two groups would
have a thing to two to discuss about forgiveness. Still,
incarceration is definitely a growth industry these days,
and Altman says the prison has been a good fit for the
area.
"A few local folks have jobs there," she says.
"And it's a plus when they bring the prisoners down
and do community service for the community."
Among the quirkier additions to Cottonwood is Dog Bark
Park, the studio-shop-lodging establishment owned by wood
artist Dennis Sullivan and his wife, Frances Conklin.
Sitting at the entrance to Cottonwood from Highway 95,
the 12-foot-tall beagle announcing their gift shop has
become the city's most recognized landmark. The first
monumental carving was joined this year by a 35-foot-tall
companion who serves as a bed-and-breakfast.
"My husband's been carving dogs for more than 20
years, and the beagle has become his signature,"
says Conklin. "Because we have our gift shop and
carving shop here, we also function as a travel information
center for people traveling along Highway 95."
Last year, Sullivan and Conklin won the governor's "Take
Pride In Idaho" cultural tourism award for their
work interpreting the travels of Lewis and Clark through
the story of Lewis' dog, Seaman.
"We think we have the best job in the world,"
Conklin says. "We're always working but it's okay.
Mostly the people who come here are adventuresome and
have a great sense of humor. One of the benefits of our
work is that we're always around joyful people. We touch
people in their hearts through their pets."Although
the non-farm employment picture in Cottonwood is relatively
rosy, the city is not without its struggles. In the past
three years, city voters approved two bonds for long-needed
upgrades to the city water system. The first improved
the water distribution system and added a reservoir while
the second covered the cost of a new well. The aging infrastructure
could not keep up with rising demands, Altman explains,
but with the improvements, residents should see their
first summer in many years without rationing.
"Rising utility costs hit small towns hard,"
she says. "We still have to do all the basic work
(to provide services) but we have fewer people to share
the costs. The base rate (residents) pay went up from
$12 to $21 per month. But the water system hadn't been
upgraded on a regular schedule – there were no real
improvements for about 20 years. The sewer system is the
same way. So when you look at catching up all at once,
it can seem like a lot."
Public safety also presents challenges for the city. Cottonwood's
only full-time officer, police chief Terry Cochran, headed
off to Iraq earlier this year with his U.S. Army Reserve
unit, forcing city officials to come up with a creative
solution. A sheriff's deputy from neighboring Lewis County
now spends three days a week as Cottonwood's part-time
police chief and the city relies on patrols from Idaho
County officers the rest of the time.
"The (Idaho County Sheriff's office) has been great,"
says Altman. "The county has always been good to
us, whether we have a full-time person or not. It's a
mutual thing – they respond for us and we respond
for them. There was one incident a couple of weeks ago
where people felt the response time wasn't as good as
it should have been, but I doubt it would have been faster
if we had someone locally. I think we get really good
coverage."Despite the long roots of many Cottonwood
residents, a few new faces can be seen on Main Street.
Most newcomers are retired couples who come to Cottonwood
for its reasonable property values and proximity to outdoor
recreation. The draw of the great outdoors keeps lifelong
residents around, too, and pulls back those who have wandered
away to the city.
"We've got the Salmon River close by, so fishing
is a big thing," says Altman. "And the view
from up on the butte is awesome."
"This weekend we rode the four-wheeler from Pittsburgh
Landing on the Snake River up to some old homesteads and
camps," says Clark. "On the trip we saw bighorn
sheep – another privilege of living in the area."
To newcomers seeking to meet people, Clark recommends
a healthy dose of volunteerism.
"By giving time to build a better community, you
meet lifelong residents and people new to the area,"
she says. "The local paper is full of groups that
have regular meetings – the Lions Club, the Chamber
(of Commerce), the 4-H group, church groups, school groups
– and I have yet to see any volunteer turned away."
Altman echoes the call to get involved, especially with
the local churches and schools. She and Clark agree that
the best part of living in Cottonwood is the feeling of
closeness and the relationships that develop in a small
community.
"I am proud of the way the history and stories seem
to be passed on here," says Clark. "It's especially
evident on Memorial Day, when you can walk the cemetery
with the older community members who recall who almost
everyone was. People who live here are seldom forgotten." |
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Ann
M. Colford is the writer-at-large for the Pacific Northwest
Inlander, Spokane's premiere alternative newsweekly. |
Small
towns loom large in the American imagination, and we continue
to yearn for small town life.
Inside the most urbanized American, you're likely to find
dreams of a little home in the country lurking just below
the surface.
Here in the West, we also live with the legacy of the rugged
individual pioneer hacking a civilized life out of the howling
wilderness. Most Americans – including those who've
never set foot west of the Mississippi – share a common
vision of the West as a place of escape from the overcrowded
and corrupted East.
Vestiges of frontier imagery overlay our views of the region,
despite statistics showing that more Westerners live in cities
than in the hinterlands.
But what about the reality of small towns? How is daily life
along Main Street USA in the first decade of a new century
different from the nostalgia-laden images we carry in our
hearts and minds?
Is there really such a place as rural America, with concerns
distinct from those faced by city-dwellers? Since most media
is centered in cities, how can people who live in small towns
get their voices heard? And what would they say if they did?
This series will take a closer look at life in the rural communities
of our region. Each month, we'll visit a town, talk with residents,
and try to see the place through the eyes of those who live
there.
We'll see what's working and what's not. Are these communities
thriving?
Are these towns the way we'd imagine them, all quaint and
neighborly? Or are big-city problems creeping into their streets,
too?
Throughout the West, rural communities face challenges related
to growth and the lack of growth, proximity to cities and
excessive distance, transportation, water, and declining municipal
revenues.
Ongoing agricultural consolidation affects not just family
farmers but the market towns that depend on their business.
As our cities grow, new development puts pressure on formerly
isolated communities that suddenly find themselves in the
bulldozer's path.
Suburban lifestyles often clash with traditional land uses,
leaving both sides bitter and disillusioned. And the lure
of economic opportunity draws young people to the cities,
leaving an aging population behind.
And the rural West is not isolated from the challenges and
pressures afflicting the more urbanized parts of the region,
either.
The movement of people from urban centers to the country –
their escape from urban ills – squeezes the resources
of smaller communities. The newcomers bring in money, along
with an expectation of services; the money may be welcome,
but the pressures on property values, town budgets, environmental
quality and open space can change irrevocably the character
of a small community.
Towns with recreational amenities may boom with the growth
delivered by tourism, but at what cost to the lives of long-time
residents?
Those of us who live in the city may ask why we should care
about what happens in some little town 50 or 100 miles away.
Here in Spokane, we received an answer a while ago from Daniel
Kemmis, the director of the Center for the Rocky Mountain
West at the University of Montana.
In his address at the Spokane City Forum, Kemmis urged city-dwellers
to think regionally. Regions that learn how to think, act
and work together as a region will gain competitive advantage
over those who don't, he insists, and Spokane needs healthy
and vibrant communities around it in order to thrive as a
regional hub.
Having logical business reasons to care about our small towns
is an important plus, of course, but those reasons should
be peripheral, we think.
Since so much of our national identity is tied up in images
of picket-fence towns, we need to care about our rural communities
whether we live in one or not.
It's just the right thing to do. After all, if our small towns
wither away, what will happen to our vision of ourselves?
Without a little crossroads out there somewhere over the horizon,
what will happen to our dreams?
Ann Colford is the writer-at-large
for the Pacific Northwest Inlander, Spokane's premiere
alternative newsweekly, and serves on the paper's editorial
team.
Her work has appeared on Spokane Public Radio and she was selected
recently by the state of Washington as one of four writers to
document the restoration of the state's historic Legislative
Building in Olympia. |
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