"The picture was weird, grand and awful as block after block yielded to the demon of destruction. The sky was over cast with black clouds and the wind grew stronger, fanning the flames furiously... the terrifying shrieks of a dozen locomotives mingled with the roar of flames, the bursting of cartridges, the booming of giant powder, the hoarse shouts of men, and the pitiful shrieks of women and children. Looking upward, a broad and mighty river of flame was seen against a jet black sky. Occasionally two opposing currents of wind met, causing a whirlwind of fire that seemed to penetrate the clouds."

Images courtesy of the Northwest Museum of Art & Culture, and the Spokane Public Library's Northwest Room.

Read by Anna Harbine