By Dan Friesen, Guide for Walking Adventures International
The following article details a day spent exploring the town of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. The original route for this walk was put together by a local walking club, the Lilac City Volkssport Association, and you can check out more details on this walk and others on their website at www.lilaccityvolks.com.
You can meander along this walk route on your own, or you can book a 1 ½ hour walking tour with local expert Robert Singletary. Contact the Museum of North Idaho for more details at 208-664-3448 or check online at www.museumni.org.
As we began our walk along the shores of Lake Coeur d’Alene accompanied by Robert Singletary, Bob shared how General William Tecumseh Sherman had come west in 1877, a year after the overwhelming defeat of General George Custer at the Battle of Little Bighorn in present day Montana. Sherman’s mission was to establish a fort in the region as a defense against tribal uprisings, to enforce treaties and reservation boundaries, and as it turned out, to occasionally enforce the breaking of treaties by settlers and American business interests. Sherman decided to build a fort at the west end of the lake along the shores of the Spokane River, marking the beginning of what became the town of Coeur d’Alene.
Bob showed us the chapel built in 1880, used as a school and a non-denominational house of worship, where Sherman himself attended services when he returned a few years later on an inspection tour. The chapel is one of only three original buildings remaining from the fort, along with a home on officer’s row, and the power magazine.
As we strolled through what is now the campus of North Idaho College, Bob shared how mining shaped the region, starting in the 1880s, when first gold, then massive deposits of silver were discovered in the valleys to the east. A transcontinental railroad was punched through the Rockies north of here at Sandpoint in the early 1880s. Big mining interests soon showed up and funded the establishment of transportation industries in this area, including spur rail lines from the mining communities east of Lake Coeur d’Alene, a steamship line to bring ore across the lake, and another spur rail line north from Coeur d’Alene to the main rail lines in Sandpoint. These transportation links facilitated extraction of the ore and have led to the Silver Valley east of Coeur d’Alene becoming the most prolific producer of silver in the world! Both the largest mine in the world and the mine producing the most silver are located in Silver Valley!
If you’re in the area and would like a chance to explore Coeur d’Alene further, this trail through the historic district of Coeur d’Alene and along nature paths featuring the splendid lake and forest vistas of Tubbs Hill provides a great introduction to the city of Coeur d’Alene!
This article was submitted by Walking Adventures International, a small travel company based in Vancouver, Washington offering tours with walks and sightseeing throughout the world. For information, call 800.779.0353 or go to www.walkingadventures.com.
