Quite a number of people lived on Big Island on the North Fork of the Clearwater River at different times prior to the construction of Dworshak Dam. It is at the mouth of Big Creek which was named for the island, according to Wendell Stark's book, North Fork of the Clearwater River: The Almost Forgotten History.

At one time, there was a cattle ranch that supplied the logging camps up that direction. There was also a small, primitive airstrip. A dynamite box nailed to a stump served as a post office for those that lived in the area on both sides of the sides of the river. The mail was deposited in the box for them to pick up. It was also a favorite steelhead fishing spot for a lot of anglers, according to the book.

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