Wallace Idaho and the Sunshine Mine

After he graduated in chemistry from the University of Idaho, Dad went to work at the Sunshine Mine located between Wallace and Kellogg in Northern Idaho. There were other mines in the area and, together with the Sunshine mine, produced more silver than any other part of the world. Silver is generally found with lead and lead was needed in the war effort. This may be why dad's job as a chemist in the mine kept him out of the war until 1944.

Carol and I drove up the West coast, stayed with friends in Palo Alto, with Carol's brother in Spokane, and then over to Moscow. We visited our daughter, her husband Preston (a law student at U of I), and their cute daughter Allison. After a week in Moscow, Melanie and Allison got in the car with us and we then drove to Wallace, Idaho, where my sister Susan and I were born while dad worked at the mine.

There is a "Sunshine Mine" exit off the I-90. We took it and drove to the mine. We went into a building and talked to an employee of the mine, who told us that the amazing silver deposits had run out and they are now exploring for more. I told the employee that dad worked there as a chemist in the mid-1940's. The employee showed us the building that contained the lab but, because the mine was not producing, the building was closed.

The photo immediately above is a sign describing Wallace as a mining center. Exactly above that is an overview of many of the buildings at the mine. The top left is me standing by a sign reading "Sunshine." The top right above is the building in which dad worked.