Willow Creek Slide

Shoshone County · dedicated 2025 · I-90, milepost 71.4

On February 10, 1903, a spectacular avalanche swept down a narrow gorge near here, destroying a 300-foot-long Northern Pacific Railway trestle and wrecking a train. The engine plunged 80 feet, sinking into 30 feet of snow. A passenger car dangled precariously over the open gap. The caboose tumbled into a deep snowbank. Though it took 11 hours to free injured workers, everyone aboard the train miraculously survived the terror-stricken trip. A new, less hazardous grade replaced the demolished trestle.

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