After a relaxing first day in the resort town, I began to head south down the panhandle of Idaho on Sunday. My first stop was the Coeur d’Alene Indian Reservation, which I had tried to see on Saturday but arrived after it closed. It was worth the return. Now Old Mission State Park, the site was originally the Mission of the Sacred Heart, which contains the oldest building in Idaho. The Jesuits located their mission on this bluff in 1848 following about eight years at a site that frequently flooded on the St. Joe River. The state park includes access to the mission church and house, which were constructed by Coeur d’Alene Indians using wattle and daub construction. Adjacent to it is Steptoe Butte, which is a sacred site for the Coeur d’Alene, and the highest peak in the area. It is also located in Washington state, so I’ll have to wait awhile to see it. We walked the site at our own pace, taking in the great interpretive markers, which include music, native language, and material items in addition to the written history. It was a real find and well worth the stop. We also walked the grounds a bit. It was a cool day for late summer, made more so because we were well elevated.
From there, we pressed on to Wallace, and old silver mining town that retains its Old West charm. There were two museums I hoped to visit, one that toured a silver mine and the other that featured a history of legalized prostitution, which existed there until 1988. Unfortunately, we arrived too late to experience either museum. Tamu and I walked around the charming town, taking in antiques and then stopping for food and my first huckleberry margarita. Delicious.
After walking the town with Tamu, I decided not to push to take in another museum but just enjoy the beautiful Sunday in Idaho late summer. It was only my second day, and I was still catching up on rest and moving through the leisurely Labor Day weekend. We spent the night in Moscow, Idaho as we continued to move southward down the panhandle.
