"The Big Burn" in NID 100 years ago (Sandpoint: for sale, homes)

[gonzo3165]

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

Hey CFF! Thanks for the additional references!! I will definitely check them out as I plow through the backlog of books sitting on my shelves right now. I typically prefer non-fiction to fiction so these are right up my alley.

In the meantime I am biding my time until spring arrives and I can hit the road to visit northern Idaho. I am enjoying the rare opportunities to snowshoe here as most winters don't present the abundant snowfall we have had this year. Record setting accumulations all around here!

[Trace_Rinaldi]

Originally Posted by gonzo3165

Hey CFF! Thanks for the additional references!! I will definitely check them out as I plow through the backlog of books sitting on my shelves right now. I typically prefer non-fiction to fiction so these are right up my alley.

In the meantime I am biding my time until spring arrives and I can hit the road to visit northern Idaho. I am enjoying the rare opportunities to snowshoe here as most winters don't present the abundant snowfall we have had this year. Record setting accumulations all around here!

Spring has pretty much sprung here.. I think they delivered all our snow to other places this year...LOL...

[banjomike]

A real good book to accompany the Big Burn is Norman McClaine's 'Young Men & Fire'.
McClaine wrote 'A River Runs Through It', and Young Men was his last, published after his death at age 82. It's an account of the fire in Montana that killed the first smoke jumpers to die in a forest fire, and the author re-traced the event on the site, walking it through as an old man. It's gripping and tragic.

As a young man, still really a kid, he fought the Big Burn in the Lolo Pass. The first chapters of Young Men is his account of his experiences in that fire.

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Thanks, Mike! I'll look for a copy of McClaine's book--didn't know about it. Of course Egan's "Big Burn" has a lot of Montana history, too, and the stories from across the border are just as heartbreaking. All the best of human nature comes out under those trying conditions--and all the worst!

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Originally Posted by Toyman at Jewel Lake

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.

I just read about the Hiawatha Trail in the new Northwest Travel Magazine! It includes a mile-and-a-half long tunnel, the Taft Tunnel. You go across seven high trestle bridges along the old Milwaukee railroad line, and there are plaques along the way telling about the early mining communities, and in particular the fire of 1910. It goes from Pearson to Lookout Pass and beyond into Montana, but (like Toyman says) you can also travel the trail to Avery and St. Maries (which the article misspells). And they plan to extend it all the way over to St. Regis. The article isn't exactly clear about where to start, and how to get a trail pass and/or rent bikes, but fortunately there's a phone number and a website: 208-744-1301; www.ridethehiawatha.com.

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Originally Posted by Toyman at Jewel Lake

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.

I noticed the Spokesman-Review has a series about local history, and an article about the Milwaukee Road and Johnson's book was posted today.
Local History - Topic page at Spokesman.com
It looks as if it's an update of an article from 2007, but I can't access the S-R archive.
Anyway, while trying to access it, I found this other article from February this year that I apparently missed (ironically at the same time I was reading Egan's book), about the Big Burn, and the events planned for August this year:
Forest Van Dorn - Spokesman.com - Feb. 22, 2010
You need to be a S-R subscriber to access the full text, though. But it does show a pic of the mass grave marker by Nine Mile Cemetery. It looks as if the article talks about upcoming events marking the 100th anniversary of the fire.
Since we already have this thread, let's use it for updates on commemorative events in August!

[ejay]

http://i646.photobucket.com/albums/uu181/efrommphoto/_DSC0302-1.jpg (broken link)
Pulaski tunnel...
http://i646.photobucket.com/albums/uu181/efrommphoto/_DSC0246-1.jpg (broken link)
Placer Creek...
http://i646.photobucket.com/albums/uu181/efrommphoto/_DSC00452.jpg (broken link)
Placer creek trail.
I hiked the trail last weekend, it was nice. Give it a few weeks and everything will be growing and green.

[Toyman at Jewel Lake]

ejay, thanks for posting that. How long did the hike take?

[wanttoretire]

From reading all these posts I purchased the Big Burn and put it on my Kindle. I can hardly put it down, it is a really good read. I'm going to sort through all the other recommendations as well to add to my collection. I absolutely love North Idaho and reading about it's history and people is fascinating to me.
Thanks for sharing.

[ejay]

It took me a little over two and a half hours but I was stopping taking photos of everything. Its up hill for quite a ways but not steep or anything just a gentle slope. Coming back was easier it's only a two mile hike. They fixed the trail up real nice now. The last time I had been in there it was a goat trail and in need of repair. It's really nice now.