The mined portion of the stratigraphic column in the Silver Valley, known as the Belt series, can be divided into six main formations, three of which have upper and lower parts.

[3] The Lewis and Clark line – a series of strike-slip faults running across the Pacific Northwest – crosses this anticline, generally trending in an east-west direction.

[4] A party of twelve miners led by Elias Davidson Pierce found gold in Orofino Creek, a tributary of the Clearwater River, in 1860.

[7] In the 1890s, two significant miners' uprisings took place in the Coeur d'Alene Mining District, where the workers struggled with high risk and low pay.

[9] To restore order to the state of rebellion in Shoshone County, Governor N. B. Willey declared martial law and sent federal troops to arrest and detain the union miners, but not before dozens of casualties including six deaths and the destruction of the Frisco Mill.

[11] With no success in the effort, on April 29, 250 union members seized a train in Burke at gunpoint, according to the engineer, Levi "Al" Hutton.

Like in the 1892 strike, martial law was declared by Governor Frank Steunenberg and wholesale arrests and mass incarcerations were done to bring back order.

A devastating wildfire swept through the area in August 1910 as lightning- and human-caused fires, fanned by strong winds and dry conditions, consumed three million acres and damaged or destroyed Wallace, Kellogg, Osburn, Burke and Murray.

[14] During the fire, Ed Pulaski, a U.S. Forest Service ranger led a crew of forty-five men into an abandoned prospect mine near Wallace, saving thirty-nine lives.

[15] Although miners were originally lured to the general area by the promise of gold, the primary metals mined in the valley were silver, zinc, and lead.

After nearly a century of vigorous mining and smelting activity, operations were severely curtailed in the early 1980s, resulting in massive unemployment and a significant loss of population.

Bicycling is fast becoming a key recreational pursuit for both locals and tourists in the Silver Valley, with trails and paths ranging from easy to extreme.

In addition to the challenging lift-served mountain-bike trails at Silver Mountain, there are two new major bike paths in the vicinity that use old railroad grades.

When completed, the Route of The Hiawatha will stretch from St. Regis, Montana to the very remote Pearson, Idaho, several miles north of Avery, (equidistantly south of Mullan).