 In the early 1900s, Traunik developed as the center of a large Slovenian community, who settled on land that at the time had been recently logged.In 1922 William J. Kehoe, a logging camp operator and former teacher, purchased 2.6 acres in Traunik for $75.Kehoe hired a local Native American carpenter known as "Wild Bill" Copeland (or Coplin) to build a store on the site; construction took place in 1922-23.