Boundary County, Idaho
GenWeb Project

Welcome!

Boundary County was established January 23, 1915 with the County Seat at Bonners Ferry. The name Boundary was chosen as the county has boundaries with Canada and two states -- Washington and Montana. It borders only one other Idaho County -- Bonner to the South.

We hope our website will assist you in your genealogy research and you will find information to help your family history come alive.

Historical Background

"Boundary County was first part of Kootenai County, and then was split from Bonner County. It's early history is part of that of the original Kootenai County. David Thompson who was the first known white man in what is now Boundary County, opened up the fur trade in Idaho in 1808. In 1864, E. L. Bonner established a ferry on the Kootenai River at what is now Bonners Ferry. Richard Fry bought out Bonner in about 1874, and for 10 years the Fry brothers and their families were the only white people in the county. The first post office was named Fry, but later the name was changed to Bonners Ferry. The Great Northern Railroad was built through the area inin the 1880's." -- "Idaho Almanac," published by the State of Idaho in 1977.

The tribal headquarters of the Kutenai Indians is a short distance from Bonners Ferry.

Geography

History and spectacular scenery abound here in Boundary County. The county is mountainous and forest covered terrain; the Selkirk and Cabinet Mountains being prominent ranges. The L-shaped Kootenai River Valley (approximately 30% of the county) is privately owned, the rest being either State or Federal property. Elevation ranges from 1740' in the valley to 7357' on Gunsight Peak in the Selkirks. The Ponderay National Forest became the Kaniksu National Forest in 1933, and is now known as the Panhandle National Forest. The Kootenai River rises in British Columbia, loops into NW Montana, circles through Boundary Co., then North into Kootenai Lake, in B.C., becoming the head waters of the Columbia River. The Moyie River starts in British Columbia, and joins the Kootenai River at Moyie Springs.

We wish to thank Ellie Grover who for several years was the County Coordinator and contributed considerably to this site and several others, ensuring free genealogy information from Idaho was available to everyone.