Back to MissoulaMay 21, 2011
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Last Look at Lake Coeur D'Alene
Miner Statue in Wallace Idaho
Historic Wallace
Beginning Mileage 116823 Ending Mileage 116994
Jim and Mary's RV Park 9800 Hwy 93 N Missoula, Mt 59808 406-549-4416 8.5/10/9 $32/nt
We were up really early and at a tire store to have a tire replace on the RV at 7:10am. By 8:00am we were on the road and passed by Lake Coeur D'Alene on our was out of town. After about an hour we stopped at historic Wallace, ID. The entire town, including the residences are on the National Historic Registry. In 1890 there was a fire that burned the entire town which was rebuilt with masonry instead of wood so most of the structures date between the 1890's and 1910's. Wallace was and is a silver mining town. In the last century, more than six billion dollars in ore (silver, lead, copper, zinc and gold) have come from this area. There are still more than thirty four major mines. We arrived too early for the first mine tour so we went to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. The special was huckleberry waffles and they were delicious. After breakfast we went on the mine tour which was given by a retire miner. It was very interesting. He told us all about the work he did in dark, hot and humid environment. He demonstrated how the equipment worked. It is very noisy. The work was both strenuous and dangerous and he described some of the injuries he had received. Outside the mine, dozens of chipmunks and ground squirrels scurried about. After the tour, the trolley took us back to town and the driver told us about the history of the town and showed us some of the historic homes. Lana Turner was born in Wallace and lived there until she was seven. Wallace is a very interesting town. When we left, we drove on to Missoula arriving mid-afternoon. After setting up, we settled in for the night.
