For several months the Historical Society has been in discussion with the owners of the Historic Colville Indian Agency Cabin in Chewelah for the transfer of ownership of the cabin to the Historical Society.  It has been in their family since Dr. McPherson purchased it from the government in 1902. There aren’t any family members left in the area to care for and use the building and grounds so they contacted the Society about the possibility of assuming ownership.

The board voted at the January meeting to accept the property so we will be moving forward with the transfer and then the hard work begins.

It has been 108 years since it has had public access and use so there is no real history of what the possible uses would be. The ideas of the family are such things as restoring it to its previous condition inside and perhaps a library or museum or some other historic use. Preservation is high on everyone’s list.

The building has for many years been on the National Register of Historic Sites and has been documented and written about several times. Also in the possession of the family is a collection of papers dating back to the early 1900’s that would also be available to the Historical Society to copy and keep in its archives.

The task of changing it from private ownership to trying to make it somehow available to the public is huge and will be a long, time consuming and expensive task. The building is such a local as well as a national treasure that we must be very thoughtful and careful in its use. We are hoping for lots of community support and input and of course lots of helping hands to make this the premier facility we know it can be.