Funny, I remember family crossings at Niagara Falls and North Idaho in them 50s and 60s that were very casual, low key and all you needed was a driver license for ID. I arrived in Montreal on a business trip in the early 90s expecting the same DL ID to suffice. I nearly got sent back home at the airport for arriving without a passport. They let me in with a stern reprimand.
We also went across the border at the small stations in NE Wash. and N Ida. for ski trips into Canada.
They really had plenty of time to check the junk in your trunk to see if you were hauling electronic chips or other contraband.
And, when traveling into Canada for work, never tell them you are going to work for a few days at one of the assembly plants. Nope, just going to observe. And don’t try to haul along drawings or prototype parts or tools.
I just got back from a vacation in Alaska. One of the tours we were on took use up a highway to the Yukon.
The border station for Canada is about 15 miles inside the Canadian border because the altitude at the border makes it impassable most of the winter.
I can imagine if you reached the Canadian border station on that highway with nothing but your driver’s license you would have been in for the same treatment this woman got.