MOVING HISTORY FORWARD: Family of Forests

Wallace (Wally) L. Forest was born in September 1911 in Isanti, Minn. He was the third of four brothers. His father was the owner of three successful dairy farms, two of which were lost during the Great Depression.

Wally worked hard for his father, but at age 17, with $5 in his pocket, he hopped a train in Minneapolis and headed west. His lean and hard 6-foot 4-inch body was used to hard work and with only an eighth grade education he sought work as a day-laborer. His first stop was Spokane. He got into an altercation, which resulted in a short jail term for assault. The sheriff was so impressed with his conduct while jailed that he brought him home to stay until Wally could sort things out. He was soon on the road to Central California, where he worked picking prunes.

Still restless, he came back to Spokane and worked in a café and from there he moved on to Idaho, where he worked stacking white pine lumber to dry. The days were long and hard with small pay. In this environment, he became acutely aware of the terrible conditions of the labor camps.

While working on a ranch in Mica Flats he met his future wife, Jean. They married in 1935. They would have one son, Jack, who was born in Coeur d’Alene and continues to live locally.

While working at the ranch, Wally sustained a fracture of his right arm. The pinning of his elbow would cause a lifelong loss of range of motion for his arm.

During WWII, Wally served as a law enforcement officer with the Coeur d’Alene City Police. There are many stories of his actions while enforcing the law, including the DUI arrest of a federal congressman who tried to avoid the arrest with the standard, “… you don’t know who you are dealing with.” A compromise was reached when the official agreed to make a $20 contribution to the local Red Cross.

Because of his previous work in the logging industry and his dismay at the conditions at the work camps, Wally became involved with social work aimed at improving work and living conditions in the camps and improving the pay scales of the worker. His imposing physical appearance and police uniform helped settle on-site disputes in the camps, including conflicts between union and management over unfair working conditions.

He continued his work in law enforcement as an Idaho State Police officer. In this capacity, he became aware of the increasing numbers of wrecked cars on North Idaho highways.

Thinking this could represent a good business opportunity, he started a wrecking yard that cut up the wrecked cars and sold the steel. The logical extension of the business would be a way to get the cars to the wrecking yard. So, the Forest Bros. started towing services in Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls, Sandpoint and beyond. Business boomed.

As the years passed, Wally actively bought up land throughout the Coeur d’Alene area, notably near Blue Creek. He and his family were good stewards of the land. After his death, son Jack sold a sizable amount of land to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management with the understanding that it would become a conservancy dedicated to public use and recreation. Thus, the Wallace Forest Conservation Area occupies much of the land around the east end of Lake Coeur d’Alene and affords citizens a small-watercraft launch, biking and hiking trails, and picnicking areas.

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Richard Sheldon is on the Museum of North Idaho board of directors. For this article, Sheldon interviewed Jack Forest at Forest's Coeur d'Alene residence.

The Museum of North Idaho has a cataloged collection of 36,000 photos available for research. We are working hard to fulfill our responsibility to be the keepers of the amazing history of North Idaho. We are eager for the public to visit often and be immersed in this grand story.