Cooper Pass from Montana to the Ghost Town of Burke and historic Wallace, Idaho

Join me as I travel Cooper Pass from Montana Secondary Highway 471 to the Ghost Town of Burke and historic Wallace, Idaho. This was an easy ride in my Polaris General David Lee SidebySide.

In Burke, Silver, lead, and zinc were the precious metals extracted from the Star mine, owned by the Hecla Mining Company. The mine opened in the 1890s, but fire destroyed all aboveground structures in 1923. The brick and concrete structures you see today were built in the 1920s after the devastating fire.

The 8,100footdeep Star Mine was the deepest mine in North America. It closed in 1982 but saw brief activity in the 1990s. In 2011 Hecla Mining Company studied reopening the mine due to rising silver prices.

Founded in 1884, Wallace sits in the Silver Valley mining district of northern Idaho, the world’s largest silver producer. In 2004 the mayor made a proclamation: “I, Ron Garitone, Mayor of Wallace, Idaho, and all of its subjects, and being of sound body and mind, do hereby solemnly declare and proclaim Wallace to be the Center of the Universe.”

You can see the Center of the Universe in this video at 5:30. It is marked by a purple manhole cover in the middle of Bank Street and Sixth Street. Now you know!

Captured with a GoPro Hero11 action camera, two Garmin mini dashcams, and a DJI Phantom 3 Advanced drone. Editing was accomplished with Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve Studio.

Music: Perspectives by Kevin MacLeod
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/4207perspe...
Licensed under CC BY 4.0: https://filmmusic.io/standardlicense