Shoshone News-Press, Friday, June 4, 2004, p. 3Stories from the Pulaski Project
The Oscar Weigart Mystery
by Ron Roizen and Jim See
There are many forgotten or unfinished stories, and loose ends, associated with the Big Blowup that scorched North Idaho and Montana in August of 1910.
This is one.
A young man named Oscar Weigart was one of more than 80 firefighters who perished in the Great 1910 Fire.
Weigart died in the Setser Creek fire, near Avery, Idaho.
Weigart did not, however, die by burning, suffocation, or any of the other direct effects of fire.
According to the Forest Service's account, Weigart committed suicide -- specifically, by shooting himself twice in the chest -- when he became separated from his firefighting crew and panicked at the oncoming blaze.
But Oscar Weigart's mother, Mrs. Antoine Weigart, vigorously disputed the Forest Service's account. She claimed instead that her son had been shot by Forest Service personnel "...because he flinched in the face of danger."
Forest Supervisor W.G. Weigle called Mrs. Weigart's claim "absolute madness" and was quoted as asserting: "I don't see that there is the least chance in the world for her to prove anything that is charged."
Mrs. Weigart, on the other hand, was equally resolute. She declared that "a bundle of affidavits" supported her claim.
A November 26, 1910 article in THE WALLACE TIMES (available on microfilm at the Wallace Public Library) colors in some of the elements of Mrs. Weigart's angry and anguished charge.
"According to Mrs. Weigert's [sic] own statement, ever since the death of her son she has been haunted by a strong conviction that the young man did not meet death by an act of his own. So strongly had this feeling prevailed that two weeks ago she called upon some of the county officials and explained her conviction; the result being that a week ago last Monday the body of Oscar Weigert [sic] was exhumed and examined by Coroner Kendrick, Dr. E. F. Pease and Dr. J. J. Flynn.
"The examination showed that two .30-caliber bullets had entered the body in the region of the heart, one, believed to have been the first, striking slightly higher and to the side of the heart, coursing somewhat downward and striking directly against the fifth rib, which was shattered. The bone deflected the ball which found final lodgment in the left lung. The second bullet struck just above the heart, passing through the main artery and then finding a resting place in the tissues of the back, immediately opposite the point where it entered the body.
"When questioned concerning the position of the wounds and the course of the bullets, Dr. Pease declared that in his opinion Weigert did not commit suicide. He said that it was practically impossible for a self-murderer to hold a pistol in such a position that the projectile could pass straight though the body. The bullet which shattered the rib might have been fire by Weigert [sic], but were that a fact, the shock would have produced a paralysis which would have rendered the wounded man utterly unable to repeat the shot. the bullet which severed the artery produced instant death.
"Asked for his opinion regarding the manner of Weigert's death, Coroner W. D. Kendrick said there was not even a small chance that the young man killed himself, but believed that the shots which ended his life were fired by another person."
The WALLACE TIMES quoted another newspaper's account as follows:
"Mrs. Weigart claims it was the practice of the forestry officials to enforce obedience during stress of great fires at point of the pistol and Weigart was shot down when he showed cowardice."
The contested story of Oscar Weigart's unfortunate death throws new historical light on Ranger Ed Pulaski's famous rescue of most of his crew in the Nicholson mine (AKA "Pulaski Tunnel").
Pulaski drew his pistol to keep his men in the mine.
Mrs. Weigart's claim suggests that fire crews were not entirely unfamiliar with stern discipline -- even the threat of deadly force -- especially in the battle-like conditions of a raging fire.
It follows that when Pulaski drew his revolver, his men may have regarded the act as no mere theatrical gesture.
On the other hand, if Oscar Weigart actually did shoot himself with his own pistol -- incidentally, a pistol was included among his post-mortem effects -- then it follows that other frontline firefighters may also have carried sidearms.
And in that case, when Pulaski drew his pistol he might not have been entirely sure that someone in his 45-man crew wasn't going to draw another pistol in reply.
Who can say if this possibility crossed the 40-year-old ranger's mind in the excitement and terror of the situation?
It is another of the historical loose end in the complex drama that was the Great 1910 Fire.
Thanks are due to librarian Bernie Ludwig, at the Wallace Public Library, for her generous help.Pulaski Project web page at www.pulaski-project.org.