All Stories: 687
Stories
Chief Garry's Last Campsite
Spokane Garry, whose Spokane name was Sough-Keetcha, lived a long life. Born in 1811 at the confluence of the Spokane and Little Spokane Rivers, he was sent while still a boy to a missionary school at Red River. The idea is that he would be…
St. Michael's Mission Marker
The Reverend Joseph Cataldo opened the St. Michael’s Mission in the 1860s. The simple log structure of that time was intended to be a school for both white and Indian pupils.
Born Giuseppe Cataldo in Sicily in 1837, this Jesuit missionary is…
The Spokane Mountaineers: From Walking to Summiting
For over one hundred years now, the Spokane Mountaineers club has had a sizable impact on recreational sports and environmental stewardship in Eastern Washington and beyond. Founded on September 19th, 1915, by well-known public librarian Ora…
A Devil, Coyote, Bowl and Pitcher
Ice Skating in the Little Spokane River Valley
Before Wandermere Golf Course was even in existence, the lake on the property was known for its winter pastime of ice skating. As far back as the late 1800s when Francis H. Cook owned the property and continuing through the ownership of Benjamin…
Whistalks Way
In 1858, tensions between the white settlers and the native population grew in the Palouse. In May of 1858, Col. Edward Steptoe led an expedition meant to end at Fort Colvile. His plan was to suppress Indian resistance. Steptoe and his men were ill…
Susan Crump Glover: First Wife of James Nettle Glover
In 1846, three-year-old Susan Tabitha Crump (1843-1921) and her family moved westward. The family arrived in the Oregon Territory near Salem. Susan lived with her family until marrying James Nettle Glover on September 1, 1868.
In 1873, Susan’s…
Airway Heights, Washington’s Unknown Sundown Town
Airway Heights was incorporated in 1955, but fourteen years before the small town became ingrained the Geiger Air Force Base was formed. The Geiger Air Force Base established in 1941, during the Second World War was used as a training base for…
The Segregated South Hill
One of the most prominent families in Spokane’s history is that of the Cowles. William H. Cowles, Sr. came to Spokane in 1891 with a vision of starting his own news company. By 1894 he was the majority owner of the Spokesman-Review, which is still…
Fast Times at the Hotel Emery
One of the early hostelries for visitors to Spokane Falls was the Hotel Emery, a two-story brick building on Riverside between Washington and Bernard that opened in 1892. The building's first owner is generally given as F. Lewis Clark, although the…
The Origins of Segregated Neighborhoods in Spokane
Discrimination and segregation were common in Spokane much of the early-mid 20th Century. Segregated neighborhoods and even cemeteries existed as early as the 1920s. De jure segregation (government sponsored) supported racially restrictive property…
Spokane's Debate for Fair Housing
In 1968, the United States was at a turning point. Debates about segregations had led to Washington Senate Bill 378, which specified that in Washington a real estate agent would have their license revoked if they were found to be discriminating…
Redlinging's Lingering Shadows
Red, Yellow, Green, and Blue. From the 1930s to the 1960s in Spokane, these colors dictated whether you could obtain an insured mortgage on a home. HOLC maps, or Redlining maps, were color-coded maps that separated neighborhoods by race, housing…
The Parsons Hotel
Located on the southwest corner of Jefferson and First Avenue, the Parsons Hotel opened in 1910 as a family-oriented hotel with 104 rooms. It was built in 1909 by W. E. Parsons, a railroad man and real estate investor, at a cost of approximately…
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The 4th of July Regatta on Lake Coeur d’Alene
Long before the first Diamond Cup Regatta in 1958, the waters of early 20th century Coeur d’Alene came to life with competitive challenge racing.
The novel idea of using Lake Coeur d’Alene for sport instead of just for logging and transport came…
J.C. White House - New Museum of North Idaho
Known as “a hustler, a mover and a pusher” but also a man of “great personal charm”, Joseph Clarence (J.C.) White was a man of many hats. Born just south of Omaha, in the city of Wyoming, Nebraska in 1865, JC’s family moved to Colorado when he was…
A Gathering Place, The Historical Fort Sherman
The beautiful plot of land known to the Coeur d’Alene people as Hnya ‘(pqi’nn (pronounced “hin-yap-keehn-un”) is where Lake Coeur d’Alene and the Spokane River meet. It has been used as a gathering place for centuries.
Long before the current…
The Sunken Ore of Lake Coeur d’Alene
Lake Coeur d’Alene was a hotbed of steamboat activity in the late 1880s. At one time, the steamboat trade on Lake Coeur d’Alene was the greatest of any lake west of the Great Lakes. Lead and silver ore transportation made up the bulk of the…
Lookout Pass
Lookout Pass was part of the first big boom of National Ski areas in the US in the early 20th Century. The ski area was said to have been first used by a group of Scandinavians local to the Idaho/Montana border area, who use Northern Pacific Freight…
A jackass, a big hill, and the community that loves them
Originally named “Jackass Ski Bowl” in honor of Bill the $12,000,000 burro who accidentally assisted in the founding of the Bunker Hill Mine near Kellogg. The ski area is located on lands leased from the Bunker Hill Mining Company, and is directly…
Romance and Murder in Prohibition-Era Colville
In September of 1929, the people of northeastern Washington were shocked to read of a dark murder of a mother, supposedly by her own daughter.
Susie Moses was killed with a 22 caliber rifle. Her body was found in some bushes in the back of her…
“Uncle Dan” Drumheller, Spokane’s beloved Murderer?
Daniel Drumheller, A pioneer of the Northwest and early Mayor of Spokane was perhaps one of Washington’s most iconic pioneers. Traveling across the plains from St. Joseph, Missouri, all the way to Sacramento, California, at age 14 in 1854, “Uncle…
Self-defense or murder?
In Medical Lake Washington on March 26, 1906, Josephine Baruth shot her husband C.L. Baruth. The two were at home with their twelve-year-old daughter when according to Josephine, her husband advanced upon her with a poker in his hand, as if to…
Spokane Army Air Depot
The United States military acquisition of McChord Field near Tacoma in 1937 created an additional need for military supply depots in the pacific northwest, and as the likelihood of US participation in the second world war increased it became a more…
Baxter Hospital
When the United States first entered World War 2 there was a rush to create new military facilities across the country, including an urgent need for new hospitals. The army declared that the existing military hospitals were ill-equipped and…
Brown Industries
During the Second World War businesses across the nation began to shift their production to help focus on supporting the war effort. One such business located in Spokane was Brown Metal Works, later called Brown Industries.
Located on the corner…
USO Clubs in Spokane
When the United States entered the Second World War President Roosevelt felt a need to create a home-based organization to provide recreational activities for soldiers. The United Service Organization or USO was then founded and USO clubs began…
Spokane's Whites-Only Sperm Bank
In April of 1996, Spokane found itself in the national spotlight. "Sperm Bank Is For Whites Only -- Spokane Effort Reportedly Funded By Tycoon" blared a headline from the Associated Press. The story ran in newspapers across the country.
The…