The old mine at Wallace

Idaho · United States · Mine

A rock fall in 1890 killed seventy eight men. The miners have always said it was not an accident.

In 1890 there was a major fall of rock in the old mine at Wallace, Idaho. Seventy eight miners died.

The mine closed for about a year afterwards, and then reopened on the reasoning that it would not happen again.

What miners in this district have always said, and what the account records, is that the fall was caused deliberately, by a man who took dynamite underground to settle something with somebody else in the mine.

No evidence supports that and it should not be repeated as fact. What it does show is what the men working there believed about the place, and the Coeur d'Alene mining district in the 1890s was a genuinely violent one, with mine wars, dynamited mills and federal troops brought in.

Wallace itself survived and the whole downtown is on the National Register.

The workings are closed. The town is open and has a mining museum worth the visit.

FAQ

Where is The old mine at Wallace located?

The old mine at Wallace is in Idaho, United States.