Kootenai, Idaho: Mud Slough to Railroad Stop
Near Sandpoint, Idaho
The small town of Kootenai sits just outside Sandpoint along the old Northern Pacific line. The spot was known simply as Mud Slough, a train stop with no pretensions. It took its name from the Kootenai people who had lived along the lake and river country here for thousands of years. When Bonner County was carved out of the old Kootenai County territory in nineteen oh seven, Kootenai remained a quiet community on the water, overshadowed by Sandpoint nearby but holding on as a distinct place within Idaho's northern panhandle.
