That's the Buckley Campground, and it's on land once owned by the Buckley family, who lived there from 1940 until they were forced to leave by the construction of the Seven Mile Dam and the forming of the Pend d'Oreille Reservoir behind it in 1979.
This sign commemorates the Buckley family who lived on this Land before the building of Seven Mile Dam. In 1979, many privately owned parcels of land around the Pend d'Oreille river were acquired by BC Hydro for the construction of the Seven Mile Dam. One of these farms belonged to the Buckley family, whom the campsite at this recreation site is named for, and a major part of their land was included in these grounds.
The Buckley family moved to their farm on Bunker Hill, north of the river in the Pend d'Oreille Valley, in 1940. Arthur, the father of the family, was a logger, gold miner and cattle rancher, which were common occupations for men who settled this region. While many hopeful individuals would try their hand at panning for gold after it was discovered in 1854 on the Pend d'Oreille River, where it met the Columbia, it was logging that was much more dependable, successful and lucrative as a local industry. Arthur's wife Marion, who had come out west from Prince Edward Island, tended to their flock of 200 sheep during the day while homeschooling their children. The Buckley property was a large parcel of land that served them well, their nearest neighbor was 1.5 miles away.
The family lived and worked in this area until their fourth child, Hugh, reached school age. At this point there were 6 children to raise while managing the farm, so in 1947 the family packed up and moved to Trail to go to school.
Twenty years later, in 1967, the children had grown older and had finished school, so Arthur and Marion moved back to the area of the farm where this campsite is today. Their land was acquired by BC Hydro in 1979, at which point the couple moved to the bench area above this campsite where they lived for several more years. During that time, the Buckley family still used this area to raise their cattle.
The campground that you stand in today was first developed in the early 1990s as a way to ensure safe public access to the reservoir and is named after the Buckley family.