By CJ Mason
In the year 1909, Spokane was home to several hundred automobiles. Many of these early automobiles were classified as Tin Lizzies (common cars like the Model T) and delivery trucks. In Jess Walter’s novel, The Cold Millions, several automobiles are…

By Katherine Hentges
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…

By Katherine Hentges
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…

By Katherine Hentges
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…

By Katherine Hentges
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…

By Katherine Hentges
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…

By Natalie Brinson
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…

By Devrick Barnett
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…

By Devrick Barnett
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…

By Devrick Barnett
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…

By Devrick Barnett
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…

By Larry Cebula
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…

By Dylan Steele
In 1938 a growing Spokane County decided to develop a local commercial airfield and acquired land on the West Plains where “Sunset Field” was born. Sunset Field ran commercially until 1941 when it was purchased by the War Department. By 1942 it…

By Zachary Welsh
As war erupted in Europe in July of 1914, its effects hit the shores of the United States years before its own entry into the war. In the industrialized world of the early 1900s steel was a much needed, if generally available resource. However, the…

By Zachary Welsh
During the Second World War, Spokane, 300 miles from the Pacific Ocean, became a major naval supply point. As the United States entered World War Two and began ramping up its military industry, it needed distribution centers for the supplies.…

By Austin Kerst
James Wesley Crow was born in Gooding, a small town in rural Idaho. After graduating from Gooding High School Crow attended Gonzaga University and the University of Idaho. Once finished with school he enlisted in the Army Air Corps and became a…

By Harley Belisle
Among the many Spokanites who answered the call to service in World War Two was Allan C. Powell, son of William Weaver Powell and Helen Powell--formerly Helen Campbell. The second son of the wealthy Powell family, 1st. Lt. Allan C. Powell flew as…

By Devrick Barnett
Though the US military was still racially segregated during the Second World War The 332nd Fighter Group of the Army Air Corps gained fame as an all-Black unit of pilots. Known as the Tuskegee Airmen due to training in the Tuskegee Institute in…

By Haley MacGregor
In Spokane during World War Two, the Gold Star Mothers met for a monthly luncheon at the Crescent. Mothers whose children died in the war received gold star pins, and sometimes banners, in honor of their sons who made the ultimate sacrifice for…

By Tyson Eckert
Prisoners of war camps were common in the Pacific Northwest. German and Italian prisoners captured in the European Theater of operations were often transported to the United States, many to our region. The most prominent local POW camp was in…

By Devrick Barnett
During World War Two war shows, like airshows today, were a popular way the military drummed up a patriotic spirit in local communities. The shows demonstrated military equipment to awe viewers and show just what all of the homefront efforts had…

By Haley MacGregor
During World War Two there were air raid sirens throughout Spokane including one here on the South Hill. The Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and lightning advance across the Pacific in the early days of the war spooked many Americans. They…

By Ronald E. Scheck
In the modern world, science explains why the world turns and how natural wonders, such as waterfalls, are created and formed. Prior to modern science, however, there were still answers needed to these questions. The story of the creation of Palouse…

By Jessica L. Bell
The Palouse Indian Village at the confluence of the Palouse and Snake Rivers was home to many generations of Native peoples until the mid-1940s. The river provided the village with ample fish and waterfowl to live on. Chief Old Bones, or Charley Old…

By Miranda Caudill
Cemeteries are more than a place of rest; they are physical records of the history of their communities. Nestled on a green hillside above the Tucannon River, the Starbuck Cemetery tells the story of the rise and fall of this small farming…