Town file
Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
Coeur d'Alene, Idaho (Kootenai County, Idaho) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 306, "The Zombie Apocalypse Has Begun" (4 August 2022). Eldon Gale Samuel Jr., known to his family as Junior, married Tina McCurdy in 1998 at the Alpine Meadows wedding chapel and settled in Modesto, California.
- Town
- Coeur d'Alene
- County
- Kootenai County
- State
- Idaho
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 306
- Approximate location
- 47.703, -116.796
Episode 306 / 4 August 2022 / 158 min / full
The Zombie Apocalypse Has Begun
"James says they are going to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, in northern Idaho, right in the heart of the panhandle, in Coutinai County." about 0:04:59
The case: Murders of Eldon Samuel Jr. and Jonathan Samuel (March 24, 2014). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2022
- Population
- 53,354
- Median household income
- $41,000 a year
- Median home value
- $476,800
- Two-bedroom rent
- $959 a month
- Cost of living
- 106
- Religious
- 59%
- Property crime
- ▲ about a third higher
- Violent crime
- ▲ about one quarter more
History, in brief
- Started as a mining and prospecting town; gold and silver were discovered in the mountains in the 1860s. about 0:06:44
- The Northern Pacific Railroad came through in 1883, which moved the ore and the town along. about 0:06:44
- Officially incorporated in 1887. about 0:07:05
- By the 1890s there were two big miners' uprisings over high risk and low pay. about 0:07:05
- In 1892 the miners' union discovered a spy among them, Charlie Sereno, described as a sometime cowboy and Pinkerton agent. about 0:07:41
- In 1892 mine owners planned to cut wages, the miners struck, and the dispute became a shooting war; the governor declared martial law, federal troops were sent in, six people died and 600 miners were held in bullpens without hearings or charges. about 0:08:08
- In 1899 the union launched an organising drive because miners were paid 50 cents to a dollar less than other miners; miners took 3,000 pounds of dynamite into the mill on the Dynamite Express and destroyed it, then burned the company office, the boarding house and the mine manager's home, and martial law was declared again. about 0:09:02
The reviews read out
5 stars
"Coeur d'Alene is perfect, with no complaints at all and dreamy weather, although it does get cold."about 0:11:15
4 stars
"A Pacific Northwest dream surrounded by towering mountains and open skies, with a lake at the centre of town, though diversity is lacking."about 0:11:27
3 stars
"The reviewer thought it was the best place on earth when they moved there; people are extremely nice and protective of citizens, coming out with guns when outsiders arrive, and the reviewer was proud to live in a red conservative state until Californians started moving in."about 0:12:06
2 stars
"The nature is breathtaking, but there is an incredible energy of intolerance to difference and many men with assault-style rifles walk around downtown day and night."about 0:13:08
1 star
"A terrible place, home of the skinheads and unsafe for children and young adults, with no permit needed to carry a concealed weapon, brutal winters, a contaminated aquifer and dying fish."about 0:13:44
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Post Falls, Idaho7.1 miles
- Kellogg, Idaho33 miles
- Deer Park, Washington35 miles
- Sandpoint, Idaho41 miles
- Addy, Washington66 miles
- Moscow, Idaho68 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.