Editing McCall, Idaho (section)

==History==
[[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] were the first inhabitants of the McCall area. Three tribes, the [[Tukudika]] (a sub-band of the [[Shoshone]] known as the "[[Sheepeaters]]"), the Shoshone, and the [[Nez Perce tribe|Nez Perce]], inhabited the land primarily in the summer and migrated during the harsh winter months.

In the early 19th century, mountain men including the nomadic [[French Canadian]] fur trapper [[François Payette]], [[Jim Bridger]], [[Peter Skene Ogden]], and [[Jedediah Smith]] passed through the area.

During the 1860s, [[mining|miners]] temporarily named the settlement "Lake City", but only [[alluvium|alluvial]] gold was discovered, so the temporary establishment was abandoned as most mining activity moved north to the town of [[Warren, Idaho|Warren]].

The settlement of McCall was established by Thomas and Louisa McCall in 1889. For a cabin and assumed rights to the {{convert|160|acre|km2}} of land, they traded a team of horses with Sam Dever, who held the [[squatter rights]]. Tom, his wife, four sons and a daughter lived in the cabin located on the shore of the lake, near present-day Hotel McCall. He established a school, hotel, saloon, and post office, and named himself postmaster. McCall purchased a sawmill from the Warren Dredging company and later sold it to the Hoff & Brown Lumber Company, which would become a major employer until its closure in 1977.<ref name=VMC>{{cite web|url=https://visitmccall.org/about/historic-information/|title=Historic Information|publisher=Visit McCall|access-date=28 November 2020}}</ref>

During this time Anneas "Jews Harp Jack" Wyatte provided the first recreational sailboat rides around the lake for tourists and advertised in Boise's ''[[Idaho Statesman]]'' a "30-foot sailing yacht for the use of parties who might visit the lake". ''The Statesman'' referred to McCall as a "pleasure resort."

Tourism continued in the early 20th century. In June 1902, the Boydstun Hotel in nearby Lardo opened as a "place to stay and camp on Payette Lake". In 1906, Charlie Nelson opened a tented camping area known as Sylvan Beach Resort along the west side of Payette Lake. In 1907, Lardo Inn opened for business. The arrival of the [[Oregon Short Line Railroad]] (a subsidiary of the [[Union Pacific Railroad]]) in 1914 secured McCall as a viable community and tourist destination. The Town of McCall was officially incorporated on 19 July 1911.<ref name=VMC/>
{{wide image|Payette lake panorama.jpg|928px|Panorama of Payette Lake}}

The town's annual winter carnival started in 1923–24. Reports vary between hundreds to thousands of tourists visiting the festivities.

The beauty of McCall and Payette Lake drew attention from [[Hollywood (film industry)|Hollywood]] in 1938 when it was selected as the filming location for the [[Academy Award]]-nominated [[Northwest Passage (1940 film)|''Northwest Passage'']], starring [[Spencer Tracy]], [[Robert Young (actor)|Robert Young]], and [[Walter Brennan]]. The film, released in 1940, was set during the [[French and Indian War]] of 1755–63 in eastern North America, Idaho's forests substituting for the woods of New England and the Upper Midwest.

In 1943, the [[United States Forest Service|U.S. Forest Service]] opened the McCall [[smokejumper]] base, one of eight smokejumper training bases in the nation. The site includes a smokejumper training unit, paraloft, dispatch office, and the McCall air tanker base at the [[McCall Municipal Airport|airport]].

After [[World War II]], a consortium of businessmen and doctors from [[Lewiston, Idaho|Lewiston]], {{convert|150|mi|-1}} to the north, decided that McCall and the lake were an ideal recreation site and thus the town was transformed from lumber to tourism. The iconic Shore Lodge opened on 3 July 1948, at Shellworth Beach on Payette Lake. The lodge became McCall's centerpiece for the next 51 years. Shore Lodge management and shareholders intentionally created a resort-style lodge that was a cozy and intimate place for locals and tourists, contrasting with the glamor and glitz of the other famous Idaho lodge in [[Sun Valley, Idaho|Sun Valley]]. It was turned into a private club in 1999, then it re-opened to the public in 2008. One of Shore Lodge's first summer employees was [[University of Idaho]] student John Ascuaga of [[Notus, Idaho|Notus]], who worked as a [[bellhop]] learning the business from the bottom up and was to go on to found the [[John Ascuaga's Nugget Casino Resort|Nugget]] hotel, convention center, and casino in [[Sparks, Nevada]], one of the largest and most successful in the [[Reno, Nevada]] area.<ref name=nevbhof>{{cite news|url=http://business.unlv.edu/nbhof/John-Ascuaga/ |publisher=Nevada Business Hall of Fame |title=John Ascuaga |access-date=August 16, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.livestockweekly.com/papers/97/09/18/whlnugget.html|journal=Livestock Weekly|last=Schreiber|first=Colleen|title=Hard work and family key to John Ascuaga's Nugget|date=September 18, 1997|access-date=August 16, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304062605/http://www.livestockweekly.com/papers/97/09/18/whlnugget.html|archive-date=March 4, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.basque.unr.edu/oralhistory/ascuaga_john/JohnAscuaga.html|publisher=University of Nevada|title=John Ascuaga|agency=Basque oral history project|date=1992|access-date=August 16, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://archive.rgj.com/article/20091011/BIZ/910110324/John-Ascuaga-doesn-t-look-back|newspaper=Reno Gazette-Journal|title=John Ascuaga doesn't look back|date=October 10, 2009|access-date=August 16, 2014}}</ref>

In 1965, a {{convert|1,000|acre|km2}} peninsula {{convert|2|mi|0}} outside of McCall became [[Ponderosa State Park]], home to large [[Old-growth forest|old-growth]] trees.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://parksandrecreation.idaho.gov/parks/ponderosa/ponderosa-projects/|title=Ponderosa Pine Restoration Project|publisher=Idaho State Parks & Recreation|access-date=28 November 2020}}</ref>