BONNER COUNTY
BUTLER (BIMETALLIC RIDGE)
Coeur d'Alene National Forest
55N-2W-11
55N-2W-11
1926: Camp. (Kresek)
1927: 10 x 10 cabin 1/2 mile east. (Kresek)
June 23, 1931: "Death leaped from the sky some time during a thunderstorm Sunday afternoon and struck down Ben Butler, a young forest lookout keeping vigil on a lonely mountain peak southeast of here. Only his dog saw him die.
'Don't call me till after the storm.'
With these words over the improvised telephone line which straggles down the valleys to Bayview, Idaho, young Butler closed his accounts with forestry headquarters. Officials called him Monday but he did not answer.
Half way up the mountain Monday afternoon Ranger S.O. Lake of Sandpoint met Butler's dog on the trail, and the two hastened to the cabin where they found their comrade in the stillness which only one of them understood.
The body was brought out by the sheriff last night. Butler was 23 years of age and was the son of Mr. And Mrs. Edward Butler of Athol, Idaho." (Spokane Daily Chronicle)
'Don't call me till after the storm.'
With these words over the improvised telephone line which straggles down the valleys to Bayview, Idaho, young Butler closed his accounts with forestry headquarters. Officials called him Monday but he did not answer.
Half way up the mountain Monday afternoon Ranger S.O. Lake of Sandpoint met Butler's dog on the trail, and the two hastened to the cabin where they found their comrade in the stillness which only one of them understood.
The body was brought out by the sheriff last night. Butler was 23 years of age and was the son of Mr. And Mrs. Edward Butler of Athol, Idaho." (Spokane Daily Chronicle)
June 23, 1931: "Some time after 5 O'clock Sunday evening a bolt of lightning instantly killed James Butler in the lookout house on the top of Blacktail mountain. The body was discovered about 6 o'clock yesterday afternoon by forest service officials who went there to investigate why he did not answer the telephone.
His body was found in the corner of the lookout where he had evidently been standing looking at the storm. The bolt of lightning struck him on the right temple and the main part came out of his foot just below the ankle leaving a good sized hole indicating terrific voltage. Part of the electricity escaped through the other leg just above the knee.
He had evidently been washing some clothes as there was a tub on the stove partially filled with water and the clothes were in a basin on the other side of the room. The floor near where he had stood was covered with water.
Butler was about 19 years old and lived between Belmont and Athol. He was the lookout for the forestry department and about 4:30 had called the Sandpoint office and talked to them. He called again about 4:45 and said there was a gad storm brewing and for them not to call him again.
Coroner Moon and a party of forest officials went to Blacktail mountain and brought the body back to Sandpoint.
Butler's funeral will be held tomorrow morning at Athol from the Catholic church." (Northern Idaho News)
His body was found in the corner of the lookout where he had evidently been standing looking at the storm. The bolt of lightning struck him on the right temple and the main part came out of his foot just below the ankle leaving a good sized hole indicating terrific voltage. Part of the electricity escaped through the other leg just above the knee.
He had evidently been washing some clothes as there was a tub on the stove partially filled with water and the clothes were in a basin on the other side of the room. The floor near where he had stood was covered with water.
Butler was about 19 years old and lived between Belmont and Athol. He was the lookout for the forestry department and about 4:30 had called the Sandpoint office and talked to them. He called again about 4:45 and said there was a gad storm brewing and for them not to call him again.
Coroner Moon and a party of forest officials went to Blacktail mountain and brought the body back to Sandpoint.
Butler's funeral will be held tomorrow morning at Athol from the Catholic church." (Northern Idaho News)
June 24, 1931: "Glen Butler, 23, Athol, Idaho, was struck by lightning and instantly killed Sunday evening. Butler, employed as a lookout by the forest service, on Blacktail mountain, 15 miles southeast of here, apparently was standing by a window, watching the storm. The lightning passed along a guy wire anchoring the cabin, through Butler, to a wet spot on the floor, which served as a ground.
Stanley Lake, an employee of the forest service, had talked to Butler at 4:45 p.m. Sunday, when Butler said not to call again as there was a storm coming. Not being able to get him by phone Monday, Lake went to the station." (The Spokesman-Review)
June 24, 1931: "Glen Butler, 23, Athol, Idaho, was struck by lightning and instantly killed Sunday evening. Butler, employed as a lookout by the forest service, on Blacktail mountain, 15 miles southeast of here, apparently was standing by a window, watching the storm. The lightning passed along a guy wire anchoring the cabin, through Butler, to a wet spot on the floor, which served as a ground.
Stanley Lake, an employee of the forest service, had talked to Butler at 4:45 p.m. Sunday, when Butler said not to call again as there was a storm coming. Not being able to get him by phone Monday, Lake went to the station." (The Spokesman-Review)
Removed
