he was pardoned and released two years later. But, again, there was a tragic aftermath. In 1905, union assassin Harry Orchard murdered ex-Governor Steunenberg. Wallace grows In 1893, Wallace went from governance by a board of trustees to a city charter. The first official mayor was William S. Haskins, who would shortly thereafter be appointed as Idaho's first State Mining Inspector. Haskins was succeeded by Oscar Wallace, son of Colonel Wallace. By that year, Wallace could also boast of the Providence Hospital, "an institution which has no equal of its kind in the state of Idaho, and no superior of its size in the United States." In 1898, having experienced explosive growth, the city implemented a campaign to become the county seat for Shoshone County. A similar attempt six years earlier had left Wallace a distant third to Murray. This time around, Wallace garnered about three-quarters of the votes cast. The year 1900 saw Wallace residents looking forward to even more growth from its population of over two thousand. They were proud of their extensive electric light system, substantial amounts of paved streets and the most building activity the city had ever seen. However, one third of the town of Wallace was destroyed by the Great Fire of 1910, which burned about in Washington, Idaho, and Montana. Although set back by the devastation, the city soon resumed its growth, aided by strong demand for lead during World War I. After a post-war lull, the industry resumed its growth in the 1920s. Famous for vice A mining community with a "work hard, play hard" attitude, Wallace became well known for a permissive approach toward drinking, gambling and decriminalized prostitution. From 1884 to 1991, illegal yet regulated brothel-based sex work openly flourished because locals believed that sex work prevented rape and bolstered the economy, so long as it was regulated and confined to the northeastern part of town. Throughout the rest of the country, progressive era politics drove red-light districts underground, but madams in Wallace enjoyed unprecedented status as influential businesswomen, community leaders, and philanthropists. Between 1940 and 1960, for example, an average of 30 to 60 women came into town to work in one of the five well-established brothels. Pollution versus jobs By around 1930, residents downstream from the Coeur d'Alene mines were complaining about water and air pollution. Operators downplayed the issue, but did make a few process concessions. Then