His story or mine?

I've got to write quickly this morning because the Bonner County Historical Society Board of Directors is meeting at 8 a.m. Bill told me about some of the topics we're going to discuss this morning because he's serving on the Bonner County Centennial Committee, which met yesterday. Our county will be celebrating its first century of existence in 2007, so a committee has been formed to plan the celebration.

Yesterday's discussion involved setting up a website and possibly organizing a blog to open up avenues of information flow from throughout the county. There is some concern, however, that maybe not all the information shared will be accurate, which is a problem any time you're dealing with history. As a person who writes a lot of stories based on historical events, I can relate to these concerns.

For example, Sam Wormington, our friend and the first manager of Schweitzer Mountain Resort, came to our house recently to show us an article written in a new regional magazine. The slick-looking, full-color periodical included several features about North Idaho culture---from Coeur d'Alene to Bonners Ferry. One article focused on Schweitzer. In a segment detailing the resort's early history, several major mistakes appeared within just a few paragraphs.

One included a misspelling of Sam's name. These days he's known as "Worthington." Until the magazine was published, he's been known by himself and everyone else as Sam Wormington. Another sentence told of how preliminary construction began in 1961, two years before Schweitzer opened. Sam disputes that and says 1963 was the correct year.

It further states that Spokane's Dr. Jack Fowler and architect Grant Grosbeck (incorrectly named "Jerry") stopped on their way home from a skiing vacation to stretch their legs and "while staring up at the snow-covered peaks, as ski buffs are wont to do, their eyes fell upon a large natural bowl nestled high in the mountains above. It struck them like a bolt of lightning . . . ."

When I wrote my history of Schweitzer in an article for Sandpoint Magazine, I found a different perspective offered by Jack Fowler. My notes taken from an interview with Dr. Fowler and Spokane radio personality Ross Woodward tell of the same situation indicated above. The realization occurred in April, 1960, without Mr. Grosbeck. In Fowler's words: I made a stop just beyond Hope. While the family stretched, I took in the scene. By then, the weather was clear. There it was, in all its shimmering white splendor. It was cradled in a protective bowl, which had preserved it into the change of season, while the pack on the adjoining ridges had melted away.

In reality, Jack Fowler later discussed his ideas about this potential ski area to his friend Grant Grosbeck over dinner. They visited the mountain a few weeks later over Memorial Day weekend in 1960. Fowler's detailing of that event appear in these notes from my museum research: We drove to the base of the mountain, took backpacks and sleeping bags and headed out for the eight-mile hike following a logging road for six hours. Wore our ski boots.

"When we finally reached the basin, the blisters on our feet were the size of silver dollars! We made camp below the Basin on a ridge we named Pea Soup Ridge. The name referred to the dried material we reconstituted and heated over a charcoal fire that night. The label called it pea soup. The taste bore no resemblance. It was terrible!"

The next morning we explored the basin. Hiked to the top of the South Ridge. Elevation at the highest part is 6,389 feet. Fowler and Grosbeck reached about 6,000 feet and then descended. Strapped on their skis and for the first time actually skied Schweitzer Basin. It was mushy snow, but it was the end of May. "That was important to our dream of establishing a ski area."

Disputing the mistaken items appearing in the recently published magazine may appear trivial or much ado about nothing, but when we're trying to chronicle "accurate" history for generations to come, each succeeding dilution or slight distortion of facts is critical. The original event gradually modifies to the point that the real story is barely recognizable. It works much like the old kid game of "gossip."

Therefore, it is essential that anyone recording or sharing history take time to check and double check every fact and especially ensure that their information is not taken out of context. That involves a lot of reading and careful research. The blog has great potential, but, as indicated in yesterday's meeting, let's hope information shared comes from credible sources, that names are spelled correctly and that dates, place names, perspectives etc. are accurate.

We owe this meticulous approach to the people who make the history and to those of future generations who will read the history. If everyone participating on the blog adheres to those basics, we've can have a lot of fun with the blog and dramatically expand on our county's history bank.