Frederick Post was born in Germany in 1821 and immigrated to the United States in 1848. Post was very industrious, inventing a riding scraper and constructing a grist and a lumber mill. In 1871, he moved to the Inland Northwest. He was interested in an area around the Spokane River that had a waterfall.
Coeur d’Alene Tribal Leader, Chief Andrew Seltice, owned the 200-acre plot. Chief Seltice as the representative of the tribe agreed to allow Post to use the area on June 1, 1871. Post paid $500 for the privilege. The written evidence of this transaction can be seen at Treaty Rock. It may be the only location of such a treaty between a person and a native tribe was signed on a rock in the United States.
Post went on to build a dam that was used as electric power. He built a sawmill and a first mill. The town that grew up around the mills and dam became known as Post Falls.
Treat Rock was added to the National Historic Register in 1992.
Historical Marker Inscription
On June 1, 1871, Frederick Post made a deal with Seltice — a prominent Coeur d’Alene Indian leader — to obtain more than 200 acres of Spokane River land to start a mill here.
They recorded this land cession on a prominent rock adjacent to Post Falls. This inscription can still be seen from here. Post’s sawmill located at an important hydroelectric site now used for a power plant, led to development of a townsite at Post Falls
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Location
47° 42’ 51.900” N, 116° 57’ 5.100” W
701 N Compton St, Post Falls, ID 83854, United States
