Fall Hike in Idaho with Unexpected Story of Heroism

Winter is rapidly approaching here, so this past weekend Greg and I took a final opportunity to go for a fall hike. We went to Wallace, Idaho, a small historic silver mining town not two hours away from Spokane. All of the buildings in downtown Wallace are on the national historic register, but after strolling around for an hour, one has seen what there is to see. However, the surrounding area is a beautiful valley full of evergreens and aspen, trickling streams and wide rivers. A hike was in order.

Just outside of Wallace is the Pulaski Trail, a well-maintained hiking path that leads to the Pulaski Mine, where in 1910, during the Great Fires, a forest ranger named Edward Pulaski led 45 of his men to safety. These were apparently the worst forest fires the United States has ever had, raging all across the West. Pulaski and his men were sent to try to get the fires under control, but it was impossible because they were so huge and gale force winds were turning the whole area into an inferno.

On horseback Pulaski rounded up his men and commanded them to follow him to safety into the mine, some two miles from where they were. The men were panicked, and it took him a long time and a lot of shouting to get them to follow him. When Pulaski finally got them into the mine, one wanted to leave, but he said he would shoot whoever tried to go. He ordered them to lie on their stomachs on the ground while he staved off the flames with wet blankets at the opening to the mine. Miraculously, this worked, and all but one of the men survived.

We hiked the trail that Pulaski and his men took and saw the opening of the mine. All along the way signs tell the story. It was a glorious fall day, cool but mostly sunny; following story of Pulaski's heroism made it seem like we were experiencing history.

Click to enlarge if you'd like to read the text.