[John Fahey book cover]
Three books written exclusively about the Kalispel nation can be found: Robert Carriker; O. J. Cotes; and John Fahey.
Cotes writes, "The lands did not produce well, spring floods each year hampered the planting, starvation threatened and the Kalispels grew restless. Kalispel Chief Alexander led the missionaries to the more suitable and fertile ."
Carriker summarizes, "Recurring floods, poor quality of soil near the village on the bay, and the harsh winters were all factors in the decision by Father Hoecken to move the reduction. Sometime during the spring, Victor joined with Chief Alexander of the Upper Kalispel and together they searched for a new location. None was found in Kalispel country, most probably because Hoecken required the new site to be more central to more tribes than just the Lower and Upper Kalispel."
Fahey explains that missionary letters quote the Kalispels as clamoring to move to a place where they can live and not starve, and this prompted the missionaries to seek and find a new location.