Lolo Sporting Goods - Dying Breed

[Brians356]

I stopped in the Lolo Gunshop years ago on my way from Moscow. My first thought was "wow, a REAL gunshop"!
Took highway 12 to Missoula afterwards. That's one windy road, but a beautiful drive.

That Highway 12 route up the Clearwater and Lochsa rivers and Lolo Pass could be the most scenic drive in America. It's one of two branches of the Lewis and Clark Northwest Passage Scenic Byway:

https://visitidaho.org/things-to-do/scenic-byways-backcountry-drives/northwest-passage-scenic-byway/

Along the Lochsa you are likely to spot mountain goats high up in the canyon, and perhaps a moose along the road. (There's a natural salt lick near the Colgate rest stop.) In spring runoff, the Lochsa attracts kayakers from around the world.
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[Brians356]

I used to stop in Lolo Sporting Goods anytime I went through the area in the 70's an 80's, they had pans of Sierra seconds that you could buy by the pound, it made pretty cheap shooting. Once a friend and I stopped in and by the time we left there were enough bullets in the trunk that the rear end was sagging a bit. The last time I stopped there a few years ago it had changed ownership and they no longer sold the Sierra seconds.

There was a Buttreys Supermarket in Great Falls, Montana that had a nice selection of new rifles, reloading supplies, loaded ammo and camping gear - usually at very competitive prices. IIRC it seems to me that they dropped that part of the business around 1980.

Lots of drug stores and cafes and grocery stores in the smaller towns of Idaho and Montana quite often had guns, ammo and components for sale. In the 60's - 70's there was a cafe called Moon's in downtown Boise, Idaho that had a lunch counter and a great selection of sporting goods - it was always one of my favorite places. There are still a few around like that but it seems there are less every year - a sign of changing times.

drover

A few years ago they had a lot of bulk brass sitting out in tubs. I bought every 250 Savage case they had, around 350 Winchester brand, for 30 cents apiece.
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[IdahoSharpshooter]

Lolo Sporting Goods is the type of gun shop I used to hang out in growing up.
Those were the days...

 

[Ray B]

During the later 70's to late 80'a I was assigned the southeast corner of Washington. to go to Asotin from Pullman the most direct route involved driving through Lewiston. No trip was complete with out a stop at Lolo, then the Speers to see Dave Andrews, then up the hill to visit with Bill Steigers and talk/buy some bullets from him. Bill's gone now but I still have a cache of several hundred of his bullets- reminders of good days and time well spent.

 

[Zero333]

Love these threads about times gone by.

I wish to have grown up in the 60's and 70's in the USA or Canada. But I wasn't even born til 1980' in central Europe behind a invisible Iron curtain.

At least I've been in Canada for 26 years now and if I had to move to another country it would have to be Midwest or Northwest USA or Alaska.

 

[Brians356]

During the later 70's to late 80'a I was assigned the southeast corner of Washington. to go to Asotin from Pullman the most direct route involved driving through Lewiston. No trip was complete with out a stop at Lolo, then the Speers to see Dave Andrews, then up the hill to visit with Bill Steigers and talk/buy some bullets from him. Bill's gone now but I still have a cache of several hundred of his bullets- reminders of good days and time well spent.

Bill Steigers (Bitterroot Bonded Core Bullets) lived on the same street in the Lewiston Orchards as my parents, nine blocks away. I went to school with his kids. Bill had at one time worked for Vernon Speer, and was good friends with Jack O'Connor. Here is Bill's obituary in the Lewiston Morning Tribune:

http://lmtribune.com/obituaries/william-d-steigers/article_3c7447bf-1887-581d-9df0-059b74592c14.html
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[Brians356]

I need to add Rogue Rifle Company to the list of Lewiston manufacturers. Between 2001 and 2007 Rogue was located in North Lewiston (north side of the Clearwater River) and made the Chipmunk Rifle.
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[Brians356]

Love these threads about times gone by.

I wish to have grown up in the 60's and 70's in the USA or Canada. But I wasn't even born til 1980' in central Europe behind a invisible Iron curtain.

At least I've been in Canada for 26 years now and if I had to move to another country it would have to be Midwest or Northwest USA or Alaska.

This chap's grandson attended High School with me in the early '70s in Lewiston. The shoe shop was close by Lolo Sporting Goods. The Snake River ranches referred to were in or near what is now Hell's Canyon Nat. Rec. Area. As such, they were largely accessible only by riverboat, upstream from Lewiston.

J.B. Starnes pauses while resoling a pair of logging boots during his morning shift at the Idaho Shoe Shop in downtown Lewiston, Idaho, for this photo taken by John H. Killen and published in the July 30, 1978, Lewiston Tribune. Starnes was the subject of one in the series of Elders columns written by longtime Trib reporter Thomas W. Campbell, and in the story Starnes described how he was running a harness shop in Colton before World War I when he also began repairing shoes for the farmers, and during a stint in the U.S. Army serving in that war in Europe, he was made the cobbler of Battery F. After the war, he eventually moved to Lewiston to work in a shoe repair shop, and then bought his own shop downtown. At the time of this photo, that shop was operated by his son, David. In the story, Starnes talked a bit about his early life in North Carolina, and how the cost of good footwear had gone up, as well as how the cost of the items used in repairing that same footwear — such as nails and thread — also had increased. He recounted a time years before when “the Snake River ranchers and their employees used to send a bag full of boots to him on the mail boat: ‘I’d resole them and they’d go back up the river with the groceries.’ “


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[Bill K]

Went into it years ago. Reminded me of the old Sportsman shop here in susanville, ran by the Robert's, father/son. A good old fashioned gun shop. Wood floors and all. And the smell of Hoppe's #9, anyone remember those type of shops ?

 

[ronsatspokane]

Sure, they built the new Lewiston Grade just as I was leaving for good, to college. I had grandparents living in Moscow, so many a trip on "The Spiral Highway". It had old wooden posts and cables for "guardrails" back then, and on days like today (freezing rain) there were white knuckles. My dad worked with a guy at the paper mill who moved out from Kansas, and he could not bear to drive on the hairiest grades around Lewiston, including Greer, Rattlesnake, Old Winchester, Harpster, and Whitebird grades.
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I know those grades very well. Probably some of the greatest motorcycle roads in the US. I have ridden them all many times over the years. On more sporting oriented bikes... at more sporting oriented speeds... I ride to Missoula via Hwy 12 once or twice a year. The ride officially starts at the top of The Spiral Highway. And you are correct, Hwy 12 IS one of the most scenic roads in the lower 48.

Sadly, in all the times I've been through Lewiston I have never been to Lolo Sporting Goods. I'll correct that oversight.

 

[Brians356]

I know those grades very well. Probably some of the greatest motorcycle roads in the US. I have ridden them all many times over the years. On more sporting oriented bikes... at more sporting oriented speeds... I ride to Missoula via Hwy 12 once or twice a year. The ride officially starts at the top of The Spiral Highway. And you are correct, Hwy 12 IS one of the most scenic roads in the lower 48.

Sadly, in all the times I've been through Lewiston I have never been to Lolo Sporting Goods. I'll correct that oversight.

My dad grew up in Elk River, and spent his life between 1925 and 1955 in the Clearwater forests. He told me you can't imagine what the Lochsa was like before they extended US 12 up it to Lolo. He fought fires in that canyon using horses, mules, and backpacks to carry everything. Sometimes they'd hike to a fire on such short notice, they got their food and sleeping bags dropped on them out of an airplane. Powell Ranger Station on the Lochsa River was maintained entirely via pack trains.
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[ND shooter]

I know those grades very well. Probably some of the greatest motorcycle roads in the US. I have ridden them all many times over the years. On more sporting oriented bikes... at more sporting oriented speeds... I ride to Missoula via Hwy 12 once or twice a year. The ride officially starts at the top of The Spiral Highway. And you are correct, Hwy 12 IS one of the most scenic roads in the lower 48.

Sadly, in all the times I've been through Lewiston I have never been to Lolo Sporting Goods. I'll correct that oversight.

Been on 12 maybe 3 times. Your description is spot on. Isn't there a stream that runs uphill (or so it seems) alongside part of the highway? Yea got to go back soon.

 

[Brians356]

Been on 12 maybe 3 times. Your description is spot on. Isn't there a stream that runs uphill (or so it seems) alongside part of the highway? Yea got to go back soon.

That's an optical illusion on the Lochsa, due to the terrain, and the relative slopes of the road and river, something also seemingly apparent on the Little Salmon River south of Riggins, and on other rivers.
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[ND shooter]

That's an optical illusion on the Lochsa, due to the terrain, and the relative slopes of the road and river, something also seemingly apparent on the Little Salmon River south of Riggins, and on other rivers.
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Yea kinda knew that. It just messes with the mind when driving it.

 

[bobm]

I was in that store five years ago headed home from the Deep Creek range. Had plans on a Speer bullet plant tour, the O'Conner museum. Hit Speer first and was told by a nice lady up front no more plant tours. She was kind enough to give me one of the last ball point Speer pens, though it did not work. Spent that allocated Speer tour time at Lolo. I have never seen that many boxes of Speer bullets under one roof. Yeah, I brought some home.

 

[snert]

Elmer. Was actually from Stanley Idaho, and up until 2 yearsago all of his firearms, trophy mounts,writing desk were all in the Boise Cabela’s I used to spend quite a bit of time looking at all those beautiful firearms he owned. Then the family decided to auction off everything, sad loss for people that loved looking at all things Elmer Keith. I too grew up read Jack O’Conner’s articles, Would have loved to have met him. I have been fortunate enough to meet Patrick McMannus, and Jim Carmichael.

Patrick Macmanus. Even the name makes me laugh! His stories of Retch Sweeney ...omgosh, hilarious.

 

[Kittitas George]

I stop in at Lolo every time I'm in Lewiston. Thirty six years ago I needed butt plates for a couple of Ithaca Mod 37's, I'd bought for my nephews. He had nail kegs full, we poured them out on the floor and sorted thru them. Found 2, for your nephews eh, just take 'em, no charge. I haven't been there for quite a few years but still have Speer bullets I bought there. Fifty some years ago some friends floated the Salmon River and spent a few days with Sylvan Hart, the mountain man. A wonderful vacation is to take a jet boat up the Snake River, we have gone twice, I'd love to go again. It's a full day trip, 200 miles, you know you've been on a boat ride. May is high water, September is low water, almost 2 different trips. Not scary, learn some geography, geology, and history. 'Buck' Buckner' was a friend of Jack O'Conner. He wrote a book about Jack. O'Conner and Keith went back and forth about .270 Win and big stuff. Elmer was a believer in the .375 H&H or guns that size. It sold a lot of magazines and formed lasting opinions. BUT, Buckner told me "truth be known, Jack shot more game with a 30-06". That Snake, Salmon, Grande Rhonde country is to steep at my age, but absolutely one of the most beautiful places I've been. I can certainly understand why Chief Joseph didn't want to leave. It truly is God's Country.

 

[ronsatspokane]

My dad grew up in Elk River, and spent his life between 1925 and 1955 in the Clearwater forests. He told me you can't imagine what the Lochsa was like before they extended US 12 up it to Lolo. He fought fires in that canyon using horses, mules, and backpacks to carry everything. Sometimes they'd hike to a fire on such short notice, they got their food and sleeping bags dropped on them out of an airplane. Powell Ranger Station on the Lochsa River was maintained entirely via pack trains.
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You have some deep roots in that area. Most people do not appreciate what that means and how it makes a person appreciate what they are surrounded by. While many countries around the world and other parts of this country have been 'developed" for centuries, some for a millennia or more, your family carved a living out of the wilderness in relatively recent times.

My father was born in Kamiah. He told me stories of when he was young. One of them involved his father and uncles hunting to feed the town folk during a particularly hard winter. One time the game warden stopped their horse drawn sled. There were several deer on the sled covered in blankets. It was not hunting season. The game warden knew what was under the blankets but never asked. They shot the shit for a bit and went their separate ways. Such acts are how civilization was built. Those days are the days when people built their shooting irons in their back shed with hand tools.

Got a lot of stories about the early days from my father, grandfather and my grandfathers brothers and sisters and even their mother (my great grandmother). Sometime we cant swap stories over a bottle of Wild Turkey and a roaring fire.

 

[ronsatspokane]

I stop in at Lolo every time I'm in Lewiston. Thirty six years ago I needed butt plates for a couple of Ithaca Mod 37's, I'd bought for my nephews. He had nail kegs full, we poured them out on the floor and sorted thru them. Found 2, for your nephews eh, just take 'em, no charge. I haven't been there for quite a few years but still have Speer bullets I bought there. Fifty some years ago some friends floated the Salmon River and spent a few days with Sylvan Hart, the mountain man. A wonderful vacation is to take a jet boat up the Snake River, we have gone twice, I'd love to go again. It's a full day trip, 200 miles, you know you've been on a boat ride. May is high water, September is low water, almost 2 different trips. Not scary, learn some geography, geology, and history. 'Buck' Buckner' was a friend of Jack O'Conner. He wrote a book about Jack. O'Conner and Keith went back and forth about .270 Win and big stuff. Elmer was a believer in the .375 H&H or guns that size. It sold a lot of magazines and formed lasting opinions. BUT, Buckner told me "truth be known, Jack shot more game with a 30-06". That Snake, Salmon, Grande Rhonde country is to steep at my age, but absolutely one of the most beautiful places I've been. I can certainly understand why Chief Joseph didn't want to leave. It truly is God's Country.

So down at the bottom of the Rattle Snake grade is a little store at a place called Boggan's Oasis. I worked with a guy whose last name was Boggan. It was his family that owned that property and the store.

 

[Brians356]

You have some deep roots in that area. Most people do not appreciate what that means and how it makes a person appreciate what they are surrounded by. While many countries around the world and other parts of this country have been 'developed" for centuries, some for a millennia or more, your family carved a living out of the wilderness in relatively recent times.

My father was born in Kamiah. He told me stories of when he was young. One of them involved his father and uncles hunting to feed the town folk during a particularly hard winter. One time the game warden stopped their horse drawn sled. There were several deer on the sled covered in blankets. It was not hunting season. The game warden knew what was under the blankets but never asked. They shot the shit for a bit and went their separate ways. Such acts are how civilization was built. Those days are the days when people built their shooting irons in their back shed with hand tools.

Got a lot of stories about the early days from my father, grandfather and my grandfathers brothers and sisters and even their mother (my great grandmother). Sometime we cant swap stories over a bottle of Wild Turkey and a roaring fire.

That was my dad's side of the family, working in timber and sawmills. My mom was raised on a farm near Troy, in the Dry Creek district, just about the eastern extent of the Palouse prairie. We'll have to take this offline, I'll bet my dad new your predecessors from Kamiah. That Wild Turkey 101 sure sounds fine!
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