"Fire of 1910" Waymark

Long Description:
This waymark is accessible only by biking the 15 mile Hiawatha Trail. There is a fee to ride the trail.

This is an overlook along the Hiawatha Trail with an interpretive sign detailing the fire of 1910. The plaque at this location reads:

The 1910 Fires
One of the largest forest fires in the history of the United States swept over Idaho and Montana on August 20 and 21, 1910 including the area where you now stand. The fire burned three million acres, destroyed eight billion board feet of timber and killed 86 people. Hurricane-force winds shot fireballs for miles across the mountains. The sky turned dark as far east as Colorado. An army on 10,000 firefighters made dramatic, but ultimately futile efforts to stop the blaze.....

Along the trail is the "Gandydancers Grave". The burial spot of one of the victims of the fire.

From idahoforests.org

Then, on Saturday afternoon, August 20, all hell broke loose. Hurricane-force winds, unlike anything seen since, roared across the rolling Palouse country of eastern Washington and on into Idaho and Montana forests so dry they crackled underfoot In a matter of hours, fires became firestorms, and trees by the millions became exploding candles. Millions more, sucked from the ground, roots and all, became flying blowtorches. It was dark by four in the afternoon, save for wind-powered fireballs that rolled from ridgetop to ridgetop at seventy miles an hour. They leaped canyons a half-mile wide in one fluid motion. Entire mountainsides ignited in an instant It was like nothing anyone had ever seen before.

Additional Links:

Big Burn of 1910

Eyewitness accounts from the 1910 fire

Big Burn - Popular Mechanics Article

Type of Structure: other Other: Large forest fire and many structures Construction Date: Fire Date: 08/20/1910 Structure status: Plaque Cause of Fire: There are many speculated causes but actual cause unknown. From the article entitled: The West is Burning Up! THE 1910 FIRE By Jim Petersen "No official cause was ever listed for the 1910 fire. A bad electrical storm the night of July 15 touched off more than 3,000 fires in District One, but by August 19 - the night before the big blowup - the worst seemed to be over. But 1910 was also the driest year in anyone's memory. Snows melted early and the spring rains never came. By August, normally swift running rivers had slowed to a crawl and many streams had simply disappeared into bedrock." Web Address: Documentation of the fire

Visit Instructions:
Give a narrative of your experience. Did you learn anything after reading about the fire in the waymark? Photos are always welcome too. Please no virtual visits.

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