The casings for the grenades were simply empty aluminum soda cans. The main igniting compound was road flare igniter, in conjunction with magnesium ribbon. A quiet call went out to the community, and road flares of all descriptions started arriving at the retreat in the next few days. A few had gotten wet at one time and were swollen. These were discarded. Mike was also disappointed to find that in response to the request for “flare igniter” a few neighbors were confused and sent the plastic caps and friction pads from road flares. What they needed instead was the black tar-like substance that protruded from the end of a flare. That was the actual igniter. It took some clarification before more of the correct material started to arrive. The flare igniter was moistened with alcohol to a putty-like consistency and molded around both the fuse and a two-inch long strip of magnesium ribbon. The tail end of the ribbon extended into the thermite mixture.
Mike, Della, and Doug used a hand crank concrete mixer from the Andersen’s farm to combine the aluminum powder and iron oxide powder.
They used a ratio of three parts aluminum powder to eight parts iron oxide powder. A blob of flare igniter, bisected by lengths of one-eighth-inch cannon fuse and the magnesium ribbon, was taped into the opening of each can on top of the thermite mixture.
The first of the finished products were declared “crude but effective.” Only two of them were used for tests. When the first was lit, it worked as planned.
The fuse ignited the flare igniter, which ignited the magnesium ribbon, which in turn ignited the thermite mixture. The large molten blob from the grenade burned through a piece of three-quarter-inch plate steel, then dropped a few inches and hit a half-inch plate. It went through that one too, and dropped again to hit another half-inch thick piece. It went nearly all the way through it too, before it finally burned out. Della Carlton was impressed. She shouted,
“Wow! It reminds me of that scene in the movie Alien, where the acidic blood from the face hugger kept going through deck after deck of the ship!”
The second test was on a scrap piece of one-and-one-half-inch plate steel. It was set up at a slight angle. Despite the angle, the glob of furiously burning thermite went through with ease. All of the rest of the thermite grenades were saved for “operational tests.” They had only nineteen pull-ring fuse igniters so most would have to be lit with a match or lighter.
Rose and Doug worked for part of several days, filling the soda cans with a small-mouthed kitchen funnel until they ran out of the thermite mixture. The cans were sealed shut with duct tape over the igniter plug. Then, while laying in neat rows on newspapers in the shop, the grenades were spray painted flat olive drab. There were seventy-seven of them.
CHAPTER 22
Infrastructure
“Put your trust in God, my boys, and keep your powder dry.”
Order was gradually restored throughout the inland Northwest region by the fifth year after the Crunch began. Lewiston, Moscow, and Grangeville established sheriff’s offices. Each were staffed by men who were either police officers or sheriff’s deputies before the Crunch. With the success of the trading post in Moscow, other trading centers were soon established at Troy, Potlatch, Juliaetta, Orofino, Kamiah, Kooskia, Grangeville, and Lewiston. In Moscow, additional businesses began to open up in proximity to the original trading post. These included a boot and saddle maker, a barbershop, a bakery called the “YREKABAKERY” (which read the same way from either end), and a competing trading post, called the Moscow Emporium. Moscow was the first town in the area to restore its civic water system. By the end of the year it even boasted a trash and manure hauling company.
The first county offices to reopen in Latah, Nez Perce, and Clearwater counties were tax assessor’s offices. Staffed by volunteers, they straightened out the tangle of deeds for the numerous land transactions since the Crunch. Ironically, since there was no official currency, there was no taxation. The newly reestablished Latah County Board of Supervisors declared an indefinite tax moratorium, and a retroactive and universal amnesty on unpaid property taxes.
A three-man arbitrating panel was set up, deciding the disposition of abandoned lands—some of it now occupied by squatters—and land that was not held free and clear when the Crunch hit. In most cases, mortgage holders—if they could be located—settled for final payment in silver coin at the ratio of one dollar in silver coin for each thousand dollars in Federal Reserve Notes outstanding on their mortgages. In a few cases where less than half of the mortgage principal had been paid before the Crunch, mortgagees were evicted, and full title was returned to the note holders. In the summer of the fifth year, the Latah County Board passed a motion that allowed existing colorable “warranty” deeds to be transferred into true deeds of allodial title. Most other counties in northern Idaho and eastern Washington followed suit.
Once the full implications of this change became known, the majority of landowners filed for allodial deeds. Allodial title-holders began referring to each other as “freeholders.”
In May of the fourth year, word came from acquaintances, who lived near Bovill, that regular Sunday and Wednesday church services would be resuming at the town’s Reformed church.
The first Sunday service brought a large turnout. Most of the militia members decided to go. Because it was only a few miles, they, of course, walked. Ken remarked that it seemed strange to be carrying rifles and pistols and walking at five-yard intervals while en route to a church service.
By then, with the help of daily physical therapy with Mary, Terry Layton’s knee had healed and nearly her full strength and flexibility was regained. Terry had no problem with the weekly hike to church.
The Reformed church in Bovill was reestablished by Pastor David Karcherberg. Everyone called him “Pastor Dave.” Many of his sermons stressed the need to work together to rebuild the community and the regional economy. Within days, the church was reestablished as the social hub for the community. The church building was soon put to use for other functions such as bazaars. It also doubled as the town’s schoolhouse. Before the Crunch, the local schoolchildren went by bus to Troy each day for school. Since this was no longer possible, a new school was established at the church building.
Lon Porter, the militia’s only agnostic, and Kevin, who was Jewish, volunteered to provide security back at the retreat during the church services. The day after they went to the second church service, Doug announced at dinner, “I’ve talked this over with Dell, and Jeff and Rose. We feel that our weddings were rather rushed and informal. Not to take away from the covenant over which T.K. officiated, but we are planning another service to recommit ourselves to each other and to Christ. It’s going to be a double June wedding.
Pastor Dave is doing the honors.” There was applause around the dinner table.
Rose chimed in, “This’ll be a great joy. But what are we going to wear?”
Mary answered, “Don’t worry, I’m sure we can find something nice enough in my closet.”