2019 Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness Quarter

The Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness is one of the largest contiguous wilderness areas, nearly 2.36 million acres, in the United States. The 2019 Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness quarter was released on November 4^th to honor this pristine wilderness land named after Senator Frank Church. This is the 5^th quarter of the 5 quarters planned this year by the U.S. mint.

Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness

Though the name ‘River of No Return’ sounds very ominous, the reason for it is quite simple. In the early days, boats could go downstream but the Main Salmon river current was so swift that they couldn’t travel back upstream. ‘The Frank’ as it is fondly called by most Idaho folks, the ‘Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness’ is larger than some states. As early as 1930’s around a million acres around the ‘Middle Fork’ Salmon River was designated the ‘Idaho Primitive Area’ to slowdown development and preserve its natural state. This worked quite well as the next four decades there wasn’t much disruption in the area.

In the 1970’s a group of conservationists led by outdoor writer Ted Trueblood advocated for the formation of a ‘River of No Return Wilderness’ with an enlarged area of 2.3 million acres. It was thought to be too much by the timber and mining interest groups, the forest department and probably even by some politicians. The conservationists formed a ‘River of No Return Wilderness’ council in order to defend their plea for extending the boundaries of the wilderness. They initiated a ‘Save Idaho’s River of No Return Wilderness’ education campaign.

Frank Church was the floor manager in the United States Senate in 1964 for the Original Wilderness act. From 1978, as the Idaho representative he worked to establish the 2.3 million acres around Central Idaho as the ‘River of No Return Wilderness’. He had to compromise on motorized jet-boats usage in the river, use of aircrafts in existing airstrips and the mining of Cobalt in some areas. The bill was then passed in the Senate and the house in 1980. In 1984, the wilderness was renamed ‘Frank Church River of No Return’ to honor the man who lobbied for it tirelessly. Frank Church who had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer died just 4 weeks after the wilderness was named after him.

2019 Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness Quarter

The ‘Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness’ has three dramatic mountain ranges–the Salmon River Mountains, Clearwater Mountains, and Bighorn Crags. They surround 14 beautiful clear water lakes. The Salmon River Canyon is one of the deepest gorges in North America. Within this canyon, salmon participate in the largest inland migration in the continental U.S.

The 5^th America the Beautiful quarter this year honors this wilderness. The reverse design depicts a piloted drift boat on the rushing river encompassed by the trees and rock formations of the wilderness. Inscriptions are “RIVER OF NO RETURN,” “WILDERNESS,” “IDAHO,” “2019,” and “E PLURIBUS UNUM.”

The obverse of the 2019 quarters will continue to feature the restored 1932 portrait of George Washington by sculptor John Flanagan. Required obverse inscriptions are “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,” “LIBERTY,” “IN GOD WE TRUST,” and “QUARTER DOLLAR.”