Hiking the Pulaski Tunnel Trail

Ed Pulaski is a friend of mine
When I'm cuttin out a firebreak line
He invented this thing like an axe I swing
and he never left a member of his crew behind.
When the fire jumped across the line
Took em down an abandoned mine
Then he drew his gun, said he'd shoot the first one
that got it in his head to try and step outside
Got everybody out alive
Cuttin' out a firebreak line.

- Steve Earle, "Cuttin' Out a Firebreak Line"

Edward Pulaski (1868–1931) was a U.S. Forest Service ranger based in Wallace, Idaho. He joined the fledgling Forest Service in the summer of 1908.  On August 20, 1910, Pulaski was credited with saving all but five of his 45-man crew during what is known as the "Great Idaho Fire," the "Great Fire of 1910" or the "Big Blowup." It had been unusually dry in 1910 and forest fires were rampant across the northern Rockies.

Pulaski was in charge of a crew of firefighters at a ridge dividing the watersheds of the St. Joe and Coeur d’Alene rivers, about five miles south of Wallace, when the fire suddenly broke out of control, overwhelming the crew.  He assembled about 45 men and advised them that they would have to try to make it to Wallace to save their lives.  He led them down the West Fork of Placer Creek.  As he approached Wallace, the band encountered flames coming up the canyon.  Ed revised his plan.  Drawing on his knowledge of the area and of the dynamics of forest fires, Pulaski led his men back uphill to safety in an abandoned Nicholson mine tunnel. After some of his men panicked and attempted to flee the mine tunnel into the raging fire, he threatened to shoot with his pistol any man who left. He never had to use his gun. Over the ensuing hours the raging fire’s smoke, heat, and fumes sent all the men into unconsciousness. Lying prone on the tunnel floor, all but five of the firefighters survived. The mine entrance, now known as the Pulaski Tunnel, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Pulaski Tunnel Trail (just a few miles from Wallace, ID) traces part of the route that Edward Pulaski’s crew followed during their escape from the 1910 fires. The trail’s two-mile course brings hikers to an overlook across the creek from the Pulaski Tunnel.  Today’s lush spruce and fir forest belies the damage and tragedy of that century-old fire but interpretive signs along the way tell the story of the fire and miraculous escape.

We started late in the morning because we had other obligations, so the sun was already high and getting hot.  Still, we were eager to trace the route of this historic odyssey.  Here, Kathy examined the trail map at the trailhead before we started:

We followed Placer Creek up the mountainside from just above Wallace.  The stream was beautiful and offered us many opportunities to see and hear its cascades:

There were several bridges along the trail.  Most of them were recently built.  Here, David examines one of the largest:

About halfway up the 2 mile trail, we encountered a sign explaining that we were looking at a "buffalo blower, a water-driven ventilator for a mineshaft.  As we examined it, we realized this meant that a mineshaft was directly under our feet somewhere.

About a half mile further, we came to a sign marking a cedar snag that was the remains of a huge cedar tree whose top was burned in the 1910 fire:

My gosh!  The trail was full of Thimbleberry bushes, although many of the berries weren't ripe yet, and most of those that had ripened had been picked.  But we found maybe a dozen berries each to taste:

Eventually, we reached the Pulaski Tunnel.  The trail took us to an overlook which allowed us to look at the mine entrance from above and across the stream.  A local Wallace artist had recreated the timbers that are used to protect the mine entrance from falling rocks:

David found an informal path down to the stream, and then he rock-hopped across it to the old mine entrance.  A grate has been installed on it to keep people from entering and desecrating the site of the five or six firefighter deaths, but to let bats fly in and out:

The trail had over a dozen historical markers along it to explain the story of Pulaski and his men.  We finished reading the markers at the top of the trail, and then returned along it.  At one of the bridges, we looked out and our shadows waved a solemn goodbye to "Big Ed" and his men:

If you're curious, here's a link to Steve Earle's song memorializing Ed Pulaski.