Bayview Historical Society
BAYVIEW, ID
dedicated to preserving the history of Bayview, Lakeview and other locations on Lake Pend Oreille
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dedicated to preserving the history of Bayview, Lakeview and other locations on Lake Pend Oreille
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Ed and Lillian Hall - Whiskey Rock Ed Hall's mother, Ellen M. Hall, homesteaded at Whiskey Rock in 1907, but her name doesn't appear on census records until 1920, when she was 48 years old. Ed and his wife Lillian began operating Whiskey Rock Lodge about 1931 when the only way in and out was by boat. It wasn't until later years that a gravel road connected Whiskey Rock to the outside world through Clark Fork or Athol. Gradually Ed built a main resort/tavern building plus six
furnished log cabins. The couple advertised around the area attracting
both fishermen and hunters for weekend or week long stays. Besides the log
cabins, their facilities included boats, motors, saddle horses, pack horses,
bathing beach, home cooked meals, groceries and supplies. Ed manned the bar
while Lillian cooked the food and tended to the cabins. In the Fall either
Ed or a
His advertisement looked like this: FURNISHED CABINS FOR HUNTING PARTIES We have to offer the best deer hunting in Idaho. This is a deer hunting trip De Luxe. HERE’S THE DEAL We meet you at Bayview by boat in the evening, bring you across the lake, furnish bed, breakfast, saddle and pack horses, lunch, pack out your deer, dinner at the Lodge, take you back across the lake to Bayview. Total Cost of the Trip
$10.00 For the 2nd day or more $7.50 per day. All you have to furnish is your gun. We are able to handle parties from 1 to 10 per day. Arrangements for all trips must be made in advance. The hunting grounds are all open country; do not bring small guns, and by all means have plenty of shells. See that your licenses and deer tags are all in order. We are checked very closely and do not want any confusion. If you must wear caulked shoes bring a pair of camp shoes as chalked shoes will not be allowed on boat or in cabins. The only hunters that you will see are your own party. This is a very large area and can only be reached by horses. Competent guides are in charge, and are with the party at all times. Drinking is not allowed in the field, and intoxicated persons will not be taken from the Lodge. Remember: You can not kill a deer if you don’t shoot. There is not much more to tell you, only that we have plenty of deer, the finest open country to hunt in, the best of accommodations and the best Chef to go with the best deer hunting in Idaho. From where I am sitting in the $5.00 seats, it looks as if we had the best of everything. Ed. M. Hall Write Ed Hall, Whiskey Rock Lodge, Lake Pend d’Oreille, via Bayview, Idaho According to one of Ed’s brochure for the resort, the “Legend of Whiskey Rock” goes like this: In the early 1870’s Lake Pend Oreille was the highway trail from the plains of Montana to the lower Columbia River country. The trail entered at Cabinet Gorge and followed the lake south, leaving at Steamboat Landing. The poling of rafts and rowboats of whipsawed construction were common means of water transportation. Two hardy pioneers, making the trail up the lake, were forced by darkness to make camp for the night eleven miles short of their goal. Landing, they took with them only bed rolls and a gallon jug of whiskey, leaving their supplies in the boat, which had been partially pulled up on the shore. The next morning, upon awakening, they found they had landed on a small rock island and that during the night their boat had drifted away. Unable to swim to shore, they were stranded for three days on this small island – with only a jug of whiskey – until rescue came.
Other folks believe that Whiskey Rock got its name during the Prohibition era when “Rum Runners” took boats from Bayview north and met men coming from Canada hauling whiskey and rum. The exchange point was near Whiskey Rock. The illicit liquor was secreted onto a Spokane International train and taken to Spokane where it ended up at the Ridpath Hotel. About a mile south of Whiskey Rock is the old site of Cunningham’s Castle. Rumored to be a former bordello and the headquarters for whiskey runs during Prohibition, the place was burned down in later years.
Ed was quite an entrepreneur buying many parcels of land around Whiskey Rock, Granite Creek and Kilroy. He laid out streets in Whiskey Heights which he aptly named Bourbon, Rye, etc. The tavern burned to the ground in an overnight fire on New Year's night in 1947. Ed and Lillian went to sleep in the cabin next to the tavern and their two daughters were sleeping in the round house above the hill where their uncle lived. Everyone was safe but the building was a complete loss including all the proceeds from the holiday visitors. The Halls decided to leave Whiskey Rock and rebuild at Kilroy Bay, which they did. Ed had always bragged that he couldn't drown because he had a wooden leg but that was precisely what happened to him. in 1954 or '55 he and a friend were fishing when the boat capsized and the two men drown. Lillian watched frantically from shore but could do nothing to help. Several couples have operated Whiskey Rock Lodge over the years since the Halls sold out including Paul and Harriet Bloom, Les and Florence Graves, Wally and Hattie Wickel and Dale and Jeannette Gulliford.
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by
boat from Bayview. The resort was a popular stopping place for fishermen and
residents up and down the lake. 
Whiskey
Rock Lodge was a popular place for sailors stationed at Farragut Training Center
during World War II. Ed had a 28' wooden boat called Swish powered
by a 12 cylinder Liberty airplane engine. By all accounts it could go 60
mph and used a gallon of gas a minute! Ed would load up sailors in Bayview
and bring them to the resort. The popular activities were drinking and
playing the slots. Sometimes business was so brisk that they would take
the back off the slot machines so that the coins could fall directly into a nail
keg positioned behind each machine!