Gold rush era history surrounded Dana Lohrey as he grew up in the small town of Clearwater south of Kooskia, which was established in 1861 to supply miners and prospectors with the necessities. Though never very large in population, Clearwater had a good-sized business community.

As a youngster in the 50s, Dana was fascinated with stories of those gold rush days. “I used to sit on the porch with the old storekeeper at the general store and drink pop and he would tell me stories about Clearwater and the freight wagons and teams and passengers that came through town on their way to the goldfields,” he says. “Listening to the stories of old Fred Murphy just inspired me and I’ve always been interested in the local history.”

The population of Clearwater had dropped to about 50 at that time, roughly half what it was during its heyday. “During the gold rush era there were two general stores, a church, a log schoolhouse, livery stable, blacksmith shop, and a saloon for a short period of time,” he relates.

After high school, Dana took a job in a Lewiston bank for a couple of years until he received a draft notice.

“I was given a choice to enlist in some branch of the Navy or be drafted into the Army. I had 48 hours to make that decision.” His mother had been an aircraft controller as a Navy WAVE, and all five uncles had served in the Navy during World War II and the Korean War, so that helped Dana make the choice.

“I wanted to keep that tradition and went into the Navy for six years.” This was during the Viet Nam era.

He returned to the Lewiston bank for a year, then to a Kooskia bank until 1978.

That October he applied for a job at Washington State University in the Department of Applied Mathematics where he worked for nearly nine years, then transferred to the College of Pharmacy where he would become Director of Pharmacy Student Services, “an office that I created,” he adds.

He spent 21 years in the College of Pharmacy and retired in October, 2008.

But that local history bug never left him. In fact since 1991, he has been affiliated with the Friends of the Elk City Wagon Road, a volunteer historic preservation group. Dana began writing books about the history of the region.

“The first book was a mile by mile history of the Elk City Wagon Road itself,” he explains. “A person could purchase it and take a trip over the wagon road and just follow my mile markers. I did a history of each weigh station and stopping house along the way.”

Since that first book, fifteen more softbound books have followed. He self publishes them from his home.

“I’ve kept the prices low so I could get them into peoples’ hands so they could afford it and would be interested in it. My largest endeavor was The History of Clearwater, a 247 page book. I thought maybe I’d sell 50 copies but I’ve since sold over 300.”

Some other books include a history of the Chinese in the Clearwater Mountains during the gold rush era, and another about Elk City Wagon Road Pioneers. Dana has done community histories as well including History of Harpster, History of Stites, and Clearwater.

“Different families have asked me to put together books on their family histories associated with the wagon road era,” he added.

To research the various subjects Dana has read many early publications.

“I spent a lot of time in Grangeville looking through old copies of Idaho County Freepress and Kooskia Mountaineer and Stites Enterprises,” he explains. “I spent time in the Idaho County courthouse looking up public records. People have given me information from their records and bibles, and visiting with the old timers, many of whom are gone now. It’s a good thing I had this interest when I did because now it would be too late.”

“My goal was to bring back these histories so they could be passed on to future generations so the history would not be forgotten.”

Dana says that every year on the third weekend in July they hold an “Elk City Wagon Road Days” celebration in Clearwater to honor the gold rush era and the history of the area it serves.

He sells the books from his home in Lewiston and his sister runs the And Books Too bookstore in Clarkston that also carries the books.

Asked what the future holds, Dana says, “I am doing a short history on Kooskia, which was originally known as Stewart, Idaho. It’s not part of the wagon road but was in close proximity and the railroad came through there. That’s all right now but when I get enough stuff put together I might consider something else.”

Dana has another activity that also keeps him pretty busy. “I’m a honky-tonk piano player too," he says. “I play honky-tonk and ragtime piano, and sometimes southern gospel.”

He provided a short demonstration of his skills on his piano at home and I will vouch for his abilities. Seated at his old upright piano and dressed in white shirt with black sleeve bands, black bow tie, and black derby, he could have stepped right out of a 1880s photograph.

Dana plays throughout the general Lewiston area. “I did a southern Gospel program at Bovil recently. I play periodically at Lewiston Eagles for Friday evening sing-a-longs. We have an old time sing-a-long at the Lewiston Elks, plus nursing homes and retirement centers around the area.

Whether it is the pioneer history of the area or traditional honky-tonk piano, Dana Lohrey is thoroughly steeped in the culture and records of the people who have come before him and is working very hard to keep the stories alive for future generations.