Bonner County History - July 19, 2026

BONNER Brought to you by the

Bonner County Historical

Society and Museum

611 S. Ella Ave., Sandpoint, Idaho, 83864

208-263-2344

50 Years Ago

Sandpoint News-Bulletin

and Sandpoint Bee

 July 19, 1976 – GTE HONORS EMPLOYEES 

General Telephone Co. recently honored Sandpoint employees for service without lost time accidents. Recipients, representing 308 safe years, include District Manager Bill Watkins, 29 yrs.; Installation & Repair Techs Garland Newton, 27 yrs., Samuel Roos, 16, Frank Hebert, 12, William Hutzler, 10, and Lyle Anderson, 8; Service Reps Lucille Bottcher, 21 yrs., and Linda Hunt, 6; Special Apparatus Tech Lloyd Pritchett, 20 yrs.; Engineer & Construction Supervisor Bob Steffens, 20 yrs.; Field Engineers Harold Rusho, 19 yrs., and Jon Lind, 7; Equipment Techs Bernard Pederson, 14 yrs. and William Hagemann, 8; Field Technician James Joseph, 12 yrs.; Service Foreman – I & M, Vern Imholte, 10 yrs.; Cable Splicers Roger Munson, 10 yrs., Dale Kitt, 7, and Gary Porath, 5; Service Foreman – George Pinsonneault, 8 yrs.; former Service Center Foreman Robert Larimer, 9; Cable Tech John Bottcher, 6 yrs.; Service Asst. Barbara Camster, 6 yrs.; Engineer Asst. Elsie Monroe, 6 yrs.; Testboard Operator Leland Johnson, 5 yrs. and Cable Technician Ronald Collison, 5 yrs. 

•••

PRATT-ZUANICH TO WED 

Mrs. John L. [Emma] Pratt, Cocolalla, announces the engagement of her daughter, Patricia Ann and John Vincent Zuanich. Both Miss Pratt and Mr. Zuanich are teachers at Mariner High School, Everett, Wash.  A July 24 wedding at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Spirit Lake, Idaho, is planned. 

75 Years Ago

Sandpoint News-Bulletin

July 19, 1951 – HAGADONE IS NEW AUDITOR 

Wayne Hagadone was sworn in Saturday as chief deputy county auditor, succeeding Alex T. Russell, resigned. He was given the oath of office by county commission chairman M.D. Hart. Hagadone named Mrs. Alice Nelson, tax roll clerk, as his chief deputy.  

•••

EARLY DAY PIONEER CALLED BY DEATH 

Final rites for Herman “Fritz” Vogel of Clark Fork were held Friday in Clark Fork’s Sacred Heart Catholic church. Born in Switzerland, Mr. Vogel came to the U.S. at age 17, coming to northern Idaho by way of an Indian trail from Montana in 1882. The railroads had not yet arrived in this wilderness and there was nothing at the site of Clark Fork to foretell the coming village. Two stores and a saloon on the lakeshore were all that marked the village of Sandpoint. Fritz worked two years in Sandpoint, and, when the “gold excitement” flared up in the St. Maries country, went there for a time, finally returning to Clark Fork where he has been since, engaged in farming and cattle raising. In the early years, Vogel became an American citizen. Fritz witnessed an astonishing amount of progress in this county in his lifetime. He saw the arrival of the Northern Pacific railroad, the red letter flood of 1894, the raging forest fires of 1910, the coming of transcontinental highways, and this year, the beginnings of a dam on the Clark Fork river to harness that surging stream’s water power.

For more information, visit the museum online at bonnercountyhistory.org.