Previous Kootenai Canvas: Post Falls bison

Meg Kuplack of Post Falls wrote the winning essay that best described the last photo, which was a picture of a small herd of bison in a pasture at the corner of Millsap Loop and West Riverview Drive.

When I saw this picture on a chilly morning I was warmed by the sight of the familiar face of Jake staring at me. Noticing the paper, my 3- and 5-year-old boys recognized him immediately. Jake, the imposing figure in the foreground of the photo, and his group of cows graze contentedly in their pasture at the corner of West Riverview Drive and Milsap Loop, Post Falls, only a half mile from the Washington border.

I have been driving West Riverview for years taking my girls, and countless others in the carpool, to St. Dominic’s School just up the road. When the bison arrived about four years ago excitement filled our familiar journey. My captive audience was thrilled as the creatures they had previously only seen in books came to life before their eyes – literally. The preschool boys often demand a closer look. As weather and time permit, I pull my 15 passenger van off the road on Millsap Loop so the little guys can stand by the fence and coax the massive animals closer.

Owned by a family that we know, the bison provide a glimpse into the past for both the young and the young at heart. Seeing these fabulous animals helps to paint a vivid picture of yesteryear when giant herds roamed free – probably even where we live and work today. Our family enjoys Riverview Drive because it transports us from the fast moving freeway world of our daily lives to a serene winding path that allows us to drive slower and soak in what nature has to offer.