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Ray Norton is the winner!

Ahsahka is the answer for Week 343 of Orofino History Trivia a special feature to celebrate the history and heritage of Clearwater Country.

Join in the discovery!

Monday: In the shadow

Tuesday: Mixed cultures

Wednesday: A heritage of long standing

Thursday: Thousands have come there.

Friday: Water is an important feature.

Saturday: Crossing over in water crafts and then bridges

Monday: Fish come from two directions

Tuesday: A small place

Wednesday: Lots of changes over the years

Thursday: Had a school

Friday: 322 people in 1910

Saturday: Houses were moved to make space for a mill.

Monday: It had at least two hotels.

Ahsahka now stands in the shadow of Dworshak Dam, but the history goes back centuries. Nez Perce people lived in the confluence of the Clearwater and North Fork for centuries before the Lewis and Clark Expedition made their trek through the area.

The Oro Fino News records many of the happenings in Ahsahka including the building a new school in 1904. The 1910 census showed a population of 322. It was a part of the new county when Clearwater was formed in 1911.

Among the businesses in Ahsahka in 1912 were: Hotel Lamont, Clearwater Store, Ahsahka Post Office in the Clearwater Store, Ahsahka Hotel and the ferry across the North Fork.

In 1914 several homes were moved to make way for the construction of a mill for the Clearwater Timber Co. The Orofino Tribune records in 1914 that contractors were moving the church at Ahsahka to the east side of the railroad tracks and that the Indians felt it was due to dollars instead of justice.

The Orofino Tribune also talks about the progression of the bridge that was being built across the North Fork. Prior to that boats and ferries were used to cross.

Though in earlier years there were mills and businesses, most people now think of Ahsahka for the steelhead and salmon fishing in the North Fork and main stem of the Clearwater that are accessed from Ahsahka. Thousand of people have come to fish for these mighty anadromous fish that return each year to the federal and state hatcheries that spawn them. It is not unusual while looking at license plates in Ahsahka and up the North Fork to the dam to see those from a variety of states. There are also times that the Kokanee Salmon resident to Dworshak Reservoir are found in the North Fork around Ahsahka after coming through the dam.

It is not an incorporated city and doesn't have many permanent residents, but it does and has played a major role in the area.

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Window on the Clearwater
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