"The Big Burn" in NID 100 years ago (Coeur d'Alene: rent, rail)

[MeInIdaho]

Thanks for the heads up Clark Fork Fantast. Good thread.

About Egan's book, Terry Gross of NPR's Fresh Air, recently did an interview with Egan where he discusses his book. It's a good interview and nice to hear the author's voice.

Teddy Roosevelt And The Fire That Saved The Forests : NPR

[MeInIdaho]

I forgot to add that, yeah, you can't get into Perkins during the winter unless you go by snowmobile. Even then, I think it might be sketchy.

There's a wooden cattle gate at the entrance so to get in there you'd have to get through that. No one should ever take any motorized vehicle in there, ever!, but getting from the parking area to that gate may require walking in really deep snow, probably not so much this year, but in years past. Last year for instance, the snow would have been a couple of feet deep. We tried getting up there last spring and on May 24th we couldn't get within a mile of the road heading up to the grove. It's about another three miles from the main road up to the grove, and another quarter mile from the parking lot to the entrance.

It is a fabulous easy little hike and I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys big trees. It's especially lovely on a hot summer day. Inside the grove the temperature is quite cool. The giant cedar isn't in that same grove, but a couple of miles further up the basin road. Anyone in town will be happy to give you directions. Both cedar groves are well worth the trip!

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Originally Posted by Toyman at Jewel Lake

I'm trying to organize a "Big Burn" ATV ride out of Wallace this summer. Wallace/Avery area was pretty key to the story of the Big Burn. The Pulaski Tunnel ttp://www.idahoforests.org/pulanski.htm (http://www.idahoforests.org/pulanski.htm - broken link) is just out of Wallace, and I've never stopped to hike in. Lake Elsie/Big Creek were supposed to be were a group of firefighters were killed, and I understand "Cemetery Ridge" was named for firefighters killed back then. I'm going to look for someone to lead it that has knowledge of the history, we'll see how it goes.

BTW, I need to pick up that book, sounds like a good one to add to my library.

Well, I finished the book while I've been out sick (bad cold), and it is a truly heartbreaking story. Pulaski is a new hero of mine--not only did he invent the Pulaski tool, he also saved most of his crew, suffered permanent health damage, and never received any real compensation or appreciation for his heroism. I had no idea the tunnel is still there. Toyman, once you read the book, I'll bet you can lead the ride yourself!

MeInIdaho, thanks for the link!

I'll post some more details from the book later.

[Toyman at Jewel Lake]

Originally Posted by Clark Fork Fantast

Well, I finished the book while I've been out sick (bad cold), and it is a truly heartbreaking story. Pulaski is a new hero of mine--not only did he invent the Pulaski tool, he also saved most of his crew, suffered permanent health damage, and never received any real compensation or appreciation for his heroism. I had no idea the tunnel is still there. Toyman, once you read the book, I'll bet you can lead the ride yourself!

MeInIdaho, thanks for the link!

I'll post some more details from the book later.

I picked up the book last week, about 1/2 way through now. First 100 pages or so is mostly a "business bad, conservation good" mantra, I'm just really into the stories about the fire now. I'm going to take a drive to Wallace one of these weekends and talk with some people at the mining museum, they are supposed to have some people that know about the fire. I phoned them last week, sounds like Wallace will have some kind of celebration, but details are still fuzzy.

There is a fair amount of discussion about Placer Creek in the book, it's along the road that runs south from Wallace over to Avery (Moon Pass Road). The tunnel memorial is just a couple miles south of Wallace, so it's not hard to get to. If you're looking for a nice Sunday drive and don't mind a dirt road, Wallace to Avery via this road and back down the Joe to St. Maries is a nice drive. Much of the Moon Pass Road is an old railroad grade (probably one of those mentioned in the book), it's kind of interesting with a number of old tunnels to go through.

I'm hoping to pick up a map that correlates some of the stories in the book to the actual locations.

Another book about the fire is "Year of the Fires", it's a little dryer read. I have it in my library, need to read it again one of these days.

[Toyman at Jewel Lake]

Oh yeah, I came across this site while doing some digging, you might like it:

http://1910fire.com/

and some more:
http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/projects/191...nial/home.html

http://firecoop.org/1910FireCommemoration.aspx (broken link)

[Toyman at Jewel Lake]

Another interesting link:

Could the 1910 fire happen again?

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Toyman, thanks for the research! That's great info. The link above is a real eye-opener...

I agree, the first 100 pages of the book reads like a PBS companion book--good info, and/but from a specific viewpoint. But the story of the fire leaves you breathless! The story of "Pinkie" Adair is unbelievable, what a woman!

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Originally Posted by gonzo3165

Lastly, do you have any other book recommendations about the NW to offer up? I enjoy history, especially nature related stories, or anything related to outdoor pursuits.

Gonzo, here are a couple of books you might enjoy:
Timothy Egan's Breaking Blue, about former sheriff Tony Bamonte solving a cold murder case from early in the 20th century over in Spokane. That's another fascinating read.

Jerry Dolph and Arthur Randall, Wyatt Earp and Coeur d'Alene Gold! Stampede to Idaho Territory
Not terribly well-written, but a lot of fun facts about the surviving Earp brothers and their post-Tombstone exploits in NID.

And check out Tony Bamonte's own books--he's now a writer of NW local history:
http://tornadocreekpublications.com/index.htm

[Toyman at Jewel Lake]

There is a committe over in the Wallace/Kellogg area working on a number of events to commerate the fire and lives lost. A lot of the details are not finalized at this time. I talked with the head of the committe and he's putting me on their mailing list. THey are going to put out some maps with points of historical significance, and are encouraging the ATV ride thing. They are also publishing some directions for self-guided auto tours. I'll post as I learn more.

Here is another book that has some interesting history of that area:
Amazon.com: Milwaukee Road in Idaho: A Guide to Sites and Locations Revised and Expanded Second Edition (9780972335607): Stanley W. Johnson: Books

It's about the Milwaukee rail line as it goes thorugh Idaho. It's abandoned now, the eastern part in ID is now a bike route (Trail of the Hiawatha), much of the rest is roadway, it runs down to Avery and East along the St. Joe River. I spent some time looking it over at the library, it's more about a modern day driving/biking/hiking tour than all the history. Great pictures. I've been on some if it, but saw plenty new in the book that I want to check out.

[Toyman at Jewel Lake]

Originally Posted by Clark Fork Fantast

Gonzo, here are a couple of books you might enjoy:
Timothy Egan's Breaking Blue, about former sheriff Tony Bamonte solving a cold murder case from early in the 20th century over in Spokane. That's another fascinating read.

Jerry Dolph and Arthur Randall, Wyatt Earp and Coeur d'Alene Gold! Stampede to Idaho Territory
Not terribly well-written, but a lot of fun facts about the surviving Earp brothers and their post-Tombstone exploits in NID.

And check out Tony Bamonte's own books--he's now a writer of NW local history:
http://tornadocreekpublications.com/index.htm

CFF, that looks like another great one to add to the library. I really would like to learn more about the Pritchard/Murry area. At one point Murry or Eagle (now a ghost town pretty much) were the largest towns in the state, after the discovery of gold. I know Earp was supposed to have spent time there.