ENGL 102 - Local Historical Research

1. Create a timeline of your research topic. The Information Age has conditioned us to search using keywords. Many historical documents online are not text-searchable, but are often organized by date. If you know a date range, you can browse documents for relevant information.
2. Follow the clues left by others before you and expand on their research. Look at authors' reference lists to discover publications or collections you may not have considered.
3. If at first you don't succeed, try again. Not every lead is successful, and you may meet several dead ends during your search. Try thinking about your search in a new way with different keywords. Sometimes broadening or narrowing your original topic opens up more possibilities.
4. Remember you are part of a community. Face to face interaction still works! Consulting your local librarians, meeting with the local historical society, or visiting local museums is a great way to find people who can share their expertise and knowledge.

View text-searchable images of select state historic newspapers from 1863-1922. Click on the "Browse Issue" link on the light blue bar to access full-text.

Coeur d'Alene Evening Press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1907-1910. Daily newspaper.

Coeur d'Alene Press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1892-1906. Weekly newspaper.

Coeur d'Alene Press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1906-1907. Daily newspaper.

Colville Examiner. (Colville, Washington) 1907-1948. Weekly newspaper.

Kootenai County Republican. (Rathdrum, Idaho) 1899-1903.  Weekly newspaper.

Newport Miner. (Newport, Washington: Pend Oreille Valley) 1907-1912. Weekly newspaper.

Rathdrum Tribune. (Rathdrum, Idaho) 1903-1924. Weekly newspaper.

The Silver Blade. (Rathdrum, Idaho) 1895-1903. Weekly newspaper.

Spokane Press. (Spokane, Washington) 1902-1910. Daily newspaper.

Wallace Miner. (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-1924. Weekly newspaper.

Bonner County Daily Bee (Sandpoint): Access stories from 2004-current.

Bonners Ferry Herald: Access stories from 2006-current.

Coeur d'Alene Press: Access stories from 2003-current.

Priest River Times: Access stories from 2006-current.

Shoshone News-Press (Kellogg): Access stories from 2007-current.

Spokesman Review: Access stories from 1994-current.

Google News Archive (text search not reliable)

Spokesman Review: June 16, 1889 - December 31, 2007 

Spokane Chronicle: Jan 16, 1982 - Jul 31, 1992

Spokane Daily Chronicle: Nov. 12, 1884 - Jan 15, 1982

Lewiston Daily Tribune: May 9, 1898 - December 31, 1898

Lewiston Morning Tribune: Jan 2, 1900 - September 30, 2004

The Lewiston Tribune: December 16, 2004 - December 31, 2008

Coeur d'Alene Digital Archives

Coeur d'Alene Press: 1892-1959

Is the issue you want unavailable digitally? Molstead Library has most back issues (1892+) on microfilm at the Library.  Come in and ask a librarian for more information.

Newspapers

Coeur d’Alene, ID

• The Coeur d’Alene Press v.1 , no. 1 - v. 14 , no. 52 (Feb 20, 1892 - Jan 27, 1906)
• The Coeur d’Alene Press v. 1 , no. 1 - v. 2 , no. 87 (Aug 6, 1906 - Nov 16, 1907)
• The Coeur d’Alene Evening Press v. 2 , no. 88 - v. 23 , no. 128 (Nov 18, 1907 - Jan 4, 1929)
• The Coeur d’Alene Press v. 23 , no. 129 - (Jan 5, 1929 - Current)

Lewiston, ID

• The Golden Age v. 1 , no. 1 - v. 3 , no. 27 (Aug 2, 1862 - Nov 19, 1864)

Rathdrum/Post Falls, ID

• The Rathdrum Tribune v. 9 , no. 4 - v. 68 , no. 40 (May 8, 1903 - Feb 28, 1963)
• The Tribune v. 68 , no. 40 - v. 69 , no. 21 (Mar 7 - Oct 24, 1963)
• The Post Falls Tribune v. 69 , no. 22 - 29 (Oct 31 - Dec 26 , 1963)

Sandpoint, ID

• Kootenai County Republican v. 1 , no. 2 - v. 5 , no. 50 (May 26, 1899 - Oct 31, 1903)
• Northern Idaho News v. 5 , no. 51 - v. 7 , no. 34 (Nov 6, 1903 - June 30, 1905)

Wallace, ID

• The Idaho Press Jun 25, 1904 - Dec 28, 1911

• Journal of Northwest Anthropology (formerly Northwest Anthropological Research Notes):
  • Search keywords in the publisher's index.
  • Read full-text articles from 2010-current in the Academic Search Complete database.
  • Read full-text articles in print at Molstead Library. Most recent 5 years on periodical shelf. Older issues from Vol. 24 (1990) in Special Collections.  If you would like to access articles not owned by Molstead Library, please submit an InterLibrary Loan request.
• Journal of the West:
  • ​Search keywords and read full-text articles in the index (1962-current) in the America: History and Life database.
  • Read full-text articles in print at Molstead Library.  Most recent 5 years on periodical shelf. Older issues from Vol. 1 (1962) in Special Collections.
• Pacific Northwest Quarterly: 
  • ​Search keywords in the index (1955-current) in the America: History and Life database.
  • Read full-text articles in print at Molstead Library. Most recent 3 years on periodical shelf.   If you would like to access articles not owned by Molstead Library, please submit an InterLibrary Loan request.
• Pacific Northwesterner:
  • Search keywords in the selective index (1973-current) in the America: History and Life database.
  • Read full-text articles in print at Molstead Library.  Most recent 10 years on periodical shelf. If you would like to access articles not owned by Molstead Library, please submit an InterLibrary Loan request.
• Columbia:The Magazine of Northwest History:
  • Search keywords and read full-text articles in the selective index (1993-current) in the America: History and Life database.
  • If you would like to access articles not owned by Molstead Library, please submit an InterLibrary Loan request.
• Wild West
  • ​Search keywords and read full-text articles in the index (1996-current) in the History Reference Center database

Idaho Yesterdays: Peer-reviewed journal devoted to history and culture of Idaho and its region.

Idaho Geological Survey:  Recent publications and historical documents from a University of Idaho research center.  Strong coverage of mining history in North Idaho.

​Kootenai County

Kootenai County Public Meeting Minutes: Minutes from 2007-current.

City of Coeur d'Alene Municipal Code: Complete set of ordinances governing the city.  Updated periodically by the City Council.

City of Coeur d'Alene Council Meeting Minutes and Agenda Packets:

• Digitized minutes archives from Fall 2002-Present.  
• Digitized agenda packets are available from 2006-Present.  
• If you are looking for older documents, contact the City Clerk's office.

City of Post Falls Meeting Minutes and Agenda Packets:

Bonner County

Bonner County government website

Boundary County

Boundary County government website

Board of Commissioners minutes

Boundary County Historical Society

Shoshone County

Shoshone County government website

Search equations are strings of terms connected by relationship signifiers called Boolean operators.  There are three Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT.

You don't have to use search equations, but they will often improve the quality and quantity of your results.

You can create complex search equations to combine many different relationships. Use parentheses to isolate some searches before applying them to the whole search.