Singletary to discuss military in North Idaho
Courtesy of MUSEUM of NORTH IDAHO Navy trainees stand next to a signal light at Farragut Naval Training Station. From left: J.H. Castren and Richard Lamprecht.
The history of the U.S. military in North Idaho will be the subject of a talk by Robert Singletary at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library.
Singletary will discuss and share images detailing the military’s role in the region from the time of the Lewis and Clark expedition to the establishment of Farragut Naval Training Station in the early 1940s.
He will also talk about the historical significance of the Pacific Railroad Surveys in the 1850s, which brought Gen. Isaac Stevens and his survey crew into the area. Lt. John Mullan, a member of the crew, was later assigned the task of developing a military road from Fort Benton on the Missouri River to Fort Walla Walla on the Columbia. The building of that road caused major conflict with some of the native people in the area, including members of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe. The military campaign to punish the tribes, which was led by Col. George Wright, extended into North Idaho.
A good portion of the program will be devoted to the influence the building of Fort Sherman and Farragut Naval Training Station had on the region, which was extensive. The city of Coeur d’Alene came into existence when Fort Sherman was built. The construction of Farragut helped bring the entire area out of the Great Depression.
Singletary will also talk about local guard units and their participation in military conflicts from Poncho Villa on the Texas border to the present troubles around the world.
The program is part of the lecture series called the Inland Northwest Milestones and is sponsored by the Museum of North Idaho and the Coeur d’Alene Public Library.
The lecture is free to the public and will be held in the Community Room at the library.