Historic Wallace Idaho and My Unforeseen Ties

Wallace, Idaho, now on the Register of Historic Places, was founded by Col. William R. Wallace. Like many other Civil War veterans, he followed the western mining booms and joined the 1883 gold rush in what became the world-renowned Coeur d?Alene Mining District. On May 1, 1884, recognizing the mineral wealth across the divide to the south, he filed a plat for the first town in the heart of the silver mining district, originally named Placer Center. It was nestled in a beautiful valley at the confluence of three creeks and the South Fork of the Coeur d?Alene River. Despite the town?s charm and tranquil setting, Wallace was typical of early mining towns. Alcohol flowed as freely as the wealth from the mines. Land and mining claims were jumped with wild abandon. Gambling and prostitution blatantly disregarded the laws. Federal raids to quash crime and vice were nearly as common as labor disputes between union miners and the wealthy mine owners. In an unforeseen series of events, during the author?s 26-year career in law enforcement in Washington State, three of his most serious cases, all of which made front-page news, tied back to Wallace, the place of his birth. One of the cases resulted in an egregious miscarriage of justice that, nearly 30 years later, still haunts him. Though Bamonte firmly believes most law enforcement officers are honorable, that case reflected horribly on his chosen profession. Injustices were also visited on Col. Wallace in life and in death, including the loss of the Wallace townsite and the desecration of his gravesite. In 2017, as a dedication celebration was being planned in Wallace to install Col. Wallace?s long-lost headstone in a permanent place of honor, Bamonte was urged to write this book. He seized the opportunity to help restore Col. Wallace?s reputation and to write the truth about a failure in the justice system that imprisoned an innocent young man until his death while a suspected serial murderer continued to roam free.