Wallace works hard, plays hard and minds its own business.

The same can’t be said, according to the locals, of the federal government, which invaded the Silver Valley mining town on three occasions over the course of a century.

First came the violent labor wars of the 1890s when angry miners and others were indiscriminately rounded up by U.S. soldiers, jailed for up to four months, deprived of due process and stigmatized.

Then came the 1929 North Idaho Whiskey Rebellion when the sheriff and other Shoshone County leaders were targeted by the feds for thumbing their collective nose at Prohibition (Volstead Act).

Finally, on June 23, 1991,150 federal, state and local agents confiscated some 200 video gambling machines and about $500,000 in cash in a raid on 58 Shoshone County bars.

Of the anti-gambling FBI blitz on “Black Sunday,” a Shoshone County resident said: “We may be hicks from the sticks, but we know what overkill looks like.”

Heather Branstetter, a Silver Valley native who sympathizes with this view, is writing a book about the federal attacks on her live-and-let-live town, tentatively titled: “Busted: A Century of Federal Intervention in America's Last Western Town."

“I have a personal bias because I’m a member of the community,” said Heather, the granddaughter of former, longtime Wallace councilwoman Joann Branstetter and daughter of retired Wallace attorney Mike Branstetter. “It’s important for an insider to tell the stories.”

A painstaking researcher and former councilwoman herself, Heather also has on her resume a riveting history of Wallace prostitution: “Selling Sex in the Silver Valley: A Business Doing Pleasure.” She estimates that “Selling Sex” has sold 7,000 to 10,000 copies since its release in May 2017.

“It has been successful beyond imagination,” she said.

Heather felt compelled to record the oral histories that she heard growing up, especially on the topic of Wallace’s infamous sex trade. Said she: “Oral histories fade away as people pass away.” A section of “Selling Sex” features verbatim interviews of those involved in prostitution.

“I couldn’t have done it if I hadn’t been born and raised here,” she told Huckleberries in a 2021 interview. “People were secretive and distrustful of the press, especially about the sex work. They didn’t want to talk to me much.”

As elsewhere in North Idaho, Heather said, Wallace and Shoshone County are attracting newcomers who don’t understand the events that formed the valley identity: mining, unions, snowstorms, avalanches, floods, forest fires, prostitution, gambling and violence.

Local histories offer a common ground between natives and newcomers, she said, adding: “We still have a very wild Old West atmosphere. There is a suspicion toward outsiders. We are protective of one another. It’s helpful for outsiders to be aware of this.”

From the ashes

You may know that the Rathskeller Inn was THE hangout venue of the 1960s to listen to live music, including bands like Paul Revere and the Raiders, The Cascades (“Rhythm of the Falling Rain”) and The Sandpipers (“Guantanamera”).

But did you know that the iconic nightclub, opened by Anna McIntyre and daughters Jacqueline and Lollie at 1323 E. Sherman Ave., burned down Jan. 15, 1965?

Patrol Deputy Virgil Anderson spotted the flames on the roof around 4:30 that Friday morning.

Local firemen tore off the roof to douse hot spots. But the interior was destroyed. While surveying the rubble with son-in-law Norman Goss later that day, “Momma Ann” promised to rebuild. And the family did.

Eventually, the Rathskeller was expanded to 6,000 square feet and attracted weekend night crowds of 800. Ultimately, according to local historian Stephen Shepperd, the family sold the Rathskeller in 1970 and opened another in Moscow.

What’s the fuss?

At 15, Martha Luella (Ella) Davis told her parents she was going to a nearby dance — and then eloped on horseback and married Civil War veteran William Alkire in Eugene, Ore.

Later, after moving to Walla Walla, Ella hid her children in a cornfield and guarded them with a rifle in hand when she heard that hostile Native Americans were nearby.

In her 30s, she moved to Coeur d’Alene, where her husband furnished meat for Fort Sherman.

She was 67 when her husband died.

As she approached her 103rd birthday Jan. 18, 1955, she’d outlived six of her seven children and grown tired of telling relatives about her adventures with her frontiersman husband.

When the Coeur d’Alene Press asked about her birthday, she said: “So, I’m nearly 103 — what’s all the fuss about!”

Huckleberries

• Poet’s Corner: When I was a lad, the nuns told us, “Boys, the emptiest barrels make the most noise” — The Bard of Sherman Avenue (“On TV Pundits”).

• Dammarell Days: On three successive days in January 1970 at Kootenai Memorial Hospital, three women who married Dammarell brothers gave birth to sons. The sisters-in-law were: Mrs. Richard Dammarell (who birthed Shawn Michael on Jan. 15), Mrs. Marlin Dammarell (Darren Blaine on Jan. 16) and Mrs. Terry Lee Dammerell (Cary Lee on Jan. 17). What are the odds?

• Off and Running: Evalyn Adams was so eager to start her job as the county’s first female commissioner that she began early. She worked an unpaid week before her January 1985 swearing-in. And discovered how cramped the courthouse was. For example, she shared a room and a single long desk with fellow commissioners. In search of a quiet place for her first media interview, with Press reporter Susan Toft, she commandeered the women’s lounge.

• Wedding Bells: A change in direction in 1987 breathed life into the historic Jewett House on Sanders Beach. The 1915 building, gifted to the city by the Potlatch Corp in 1978 for sole use by seniors, was opened to weddings, family reunions and other activities. And that action generated enough money to spruce the old place up.

• Public Servants: After its regular meeting Jan. 17, 1955, the City Council surprised City Attorney William B. McFarland with a cake. The dessert celebrated his 68th birthday six days earlier and anticipated his 34th anniversary as city attorney eight days later. In 1921, William B. was appointed to replace his recently deceased father, Robert, the town’s first city attorney. And on May 1, 1921, his son and eventual successor as city attorney, William D. McFarland, was born.

Parting shot

In 1969, Congress wasn’t worried about much blowback when it gave itself a 42% pay raise. But then representatives began receiving boxes of beans, peanuts, teabags and sarcastic letters — from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, of all places. Mrs. George Cook of Coeur d’Alene gained national attention when she launched “Beans for Congress” after U.S. Sen. Everett Dirksen said: “All I need is beans and bacon to get by.” And Mrs. Cook wasn’t a one-and-done woman. A year later, still upset about the pay raise, Mrs. Cook gave Congress the worthless shirt off her back for Valentine’s Day. On Jan. 21, 1970, she and other local women shipped House Speaker John McCormack 35 packages of shirts, socks and other unusable clothes. “We haven’t forgotten the salary grab of last Valentine’s Day, and all the other raids on our treasury that followed,” Mrs. Cook said. Today, of course, partisans of all stripes blindly follow their leaders no matter what they say or do.

• • •

D.F. (Dave) Oliveria can be contacted at dfo@cdapress.com.

    In 1965, “Momma Ann” McIntyre and her son-in-law, Norman Goss, (second from left) survey fire damage at the Rathskeller Inn.
  

    In 1966, the Rathskeller Inn, 1323 E. Sherman Ave., is shown during its glory days.
  

    In 1955, pioneer Ella Alkire wonders why everyone is making a fuss.
  

    In 1970, three sisters-in-law admire their newborns, from left: Mrs. Richard Dammarell (Shawn Michael, born Jan. 15), Mrs. Terry Lee Dammarell (Cary Lee, Jan. 17) and Mrs. Marlin Dammarell (Darren Blaine, Jan. 16).
  

    In 1985, County Clerk Carol Dietz swears in Evalyn Adams.
  

    In 1990, Director Steve Anthony of the Recreation Department poses in front of the Jewett House.
  

    In 1955, City Attorney William B. McFarland slices a birthday cake for wife Ferne while Councilman Steve Field, left, and Mayor L.L. Gardner watch.
  

    In 1970, Mrs. George Cook, right, prepares packages of unusable clothes with, from left: Mrs. Wayne Kies, Veronica Johnson, Mrs. Ed Heller and Mrs. Jack Buhrer.