East Shoshone Park To Close For Repairs

A favorite Shoshone County picnic spot will close Monday to give workers a chance to redo its water system.

“We can’t deliver safe drinking water, so we’re going to be digging a new well and running a new line to the faucets,” said Wallace District Ranger Steve Williams.

East Shoshone Park, four miles east of Mullan, is an unusual piece of property for the Forest Service to own, Williams said. Its eight acres sport a manicured lawn, a baseball diamond and two covered pavilions.

But Carl Ritchie, archaeologist for the district, said the park has a history worth preserving.

“John Mullan’s military road went right past that field in 1862. Over the years, it was a wayside stop for travelers before the highway bypassed it,” Ritchie said.

A former mineral claim, the property was owned by the Shoshone County Sportsmen’s Association early in the century. A Civilian Conservation Corps crew constructed the park in 1935, and the sportsmen later passed the property along to the government.

Williams said the park will reopen June 16. , DataTimes