Before the construction of the Post Falls Dam in 1906, the lake stood lower than it does now, and Coeur d'Alene camps stood nearby at Ch'mi'wes, the land between Round and Benewah or Chatcolet Lakes. Plentiful birch trees supplied materials for heavy canoe traffic and winter fuel. The area offered protection from cold winter winds, springs on Pedee Creek, and, like other places on the lake, more temperate days and nights. On the higher level ground at Sq'wedusmn ("face paint"), near Indian Cliffs, families planted extensive gardens that preceded a later era's farm fields. After lake levels rose, tribal men sold cord wood to steamboats in winters between farm season. The frozen lakes provided shorter travel routes for visiting relatives, favored places for tribal women to ice fish, and open water areas for hunting ducks and geese.