Small farms have sustained many families in the Pend Oreille region. Those not lucky enough to have natural meadow lands along the rivers or lake took “stump ranches” — cutover lands sold by the lumber companies. These, of course, required lots of hard work — and dynamite — before the lands were productive.
Most farms in the Pend Oreille region concentrated on hay and livestock. Dairies flourished during the 1940s when Farragut Naval Base on Lake Pend Oreille purchased all the milk farmers could produce. The region continued to support several creameries during the 1950s, and the Pend Oreille Cheese Company started operations in 1962. By the 1990s, few dairies remained as farmers retired or turned to work that offered better pay and shorter hours.
