About 75 fire lookout enthusiasts came out for our talk and slideshow at the Coeur d’Alene Library in April 2025 hosted by the Museum of North Idaho.
After our half hour talk we had an open chat with the attendees and WOW! The combined experience in the room was incredible! Past lookout staffers, people with family history and amazing stories about our local North Idaho lookouts. It was amazing!
The biggest mind blowing comment came from an attendee who said they were family friends with Ivan Painter! Ivan was the lookout on Blacktail Mountain in the Kaniksu National Forest in 1934, he had inscribed his name into the rocks and we have been trying to track him down ever since our visit there!
You could hear me repeating “HE KNEW IVAN!” in awe, for the rest of the night!
A massive THANK YOU to Britt Thurman and the rest of the crew at the Museum of North Idaho for putting this together!
Leave a reply