"Get Me Outta Here"

Being an enlisted man in the United States Army at frontier posts throughout the West was not a glamorous or respected occupation. Enlisted soldiers were typically recent European immigrants or lower white class Americans; both came from slums and lower class sections of eastern cities. While reforms instituted by General William Tecumseh Sherman in 1877 sought to improve professionalism in the army, some enlisted personnel did not adapt well to military life. Some soldiers became frazzled by the repetitiveness of drill and training, some by sheer boredom. Low pay and slow promotion also degraded morale within the Army. Court martials punished those who violated laws within the Uniformed Code of Military Justice, including Absent Without Leave (AWOL). However, soldiers who couldn’t stand army life anymore fled and tried to seek life anew somewhere else. From the end of the American Civil War to 1891, as many as fourteen percent of the soldiers in the Army deserted. Even after they were caught, tried, punished, and released back to their unit, some fled again.

Fort Spokane fared better but desertion still posed problems for unit commanders. From 1880 to 1898, a total of 167 soldiers deserted from the fort, mostly due to boredom and most left during the spring months. In 1884, Private Andrew Bennett, Golf Company, 2nd Infantry Regiment abandoned his guard post while being drunk. A court-martial found him guilty and sentenced to six months of hard labor at Fort Walla Walla as well as loss of $10 a month from his salary. Private Bennett wrote an appeal to his chain of command testifying “I did not really understand the enormity of the offense, although had I been sober it would never have occurred.” Eventually the division’s commanding general stationed in San Francisco loosened Bennett’s punishment by reducing his sentence to by half to three months’ prison time and loss of pay.

Company I of 4th Infantry was worse. In 1891, the Department of the Army issued an order to experiment recruiting Native Americans as soldiers at four northwest forts, including Fort Spokane. Company I was quickly formed and comprised of seventeen soldiers; twelve from the Spokane tribe and an unknown remainder from the Colville. However, the Native Americans at these forts did not adapt well to military life. Although they were noted for their bravery, they lacked discipline and professionalism. They complained their uniforms were too tight and often paraded with tears and holes in them. They often brought their girlfriends back to the barracks and refused to keep their quarters orderly. They were observed as being drunk most of the time and squandered their salary at the canteen. Many of these soldiers did not report to formations and went AWOL with punishments of loss in pay and confinement. Some also deserted. By 1893 the Army realized the experiment to recruit and discipline Native American soldiers failed and Company I was disbanded.

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"Company Dismissed"

The officers and soldiers who served at Fort Spokane from its beginning in 1880 to its cessation in 1898 were the product of social contrasts that resembled the differences in the U.S. Army during the 1800's.

Many of the officers came from upper-class, "respectable" families from eastern cities who were successful in business and politics. Many went to school at prestigious military academies. In the aftermath of the American Civil War, many of the officers who still were part of the Army had served in that conflict.

By contrast, most of the enlisted soldiers after the Civil War were either European immigrants or Americans from poor, lower-class families. Most had little formal education. Training was minimal for these men, most were not even taught to fire a weapon properly.

Built in 1880, Fort Spokane was established just three years after the death of General George Armstrong Custer and most of the 7th Cavalry at Little Bighorn. In the wake of that military disaster, the Army initiated a series of reforms to improve professionalism, particularly at isolated frontier posts throughout the West.

Lieutenant Colonel H.C. Merriam, the first post commander of Fort Spokane, embraced these reforms wholeheartedly. He instituted rigorous and repetitive training, meant at developing a sense of professionalism and purpose. A typical weekday began with reveille (first call) at 6 a.m. followed by morning chow at the mess hall, then various inspections, detail, guard duty, and parades before ending the day near sunset. Cavalry soldiers attended to and cared for their horses and saddles. Details included kitchen patrol, janitorial and quartermaster duties, cutting ice, amongst others.

Enlisted soldiers also used their labor skills prior to enlisting in the army to conduct maintenance of buildings (i.e. plumbing, carpentry, blacksmith). For lower enlisted privates, drill and ceremony were done twice a day. Two primary skills for a soldier to master was firing a rifle correctly and signaling.

Still, soldiering was not 24 hours a day and downtime during the evenings and weekends provided an opportunity for much-needed rest and relaxation. Soldiers could purchase items such as sundries, personal hygiene items, or beer from a concessionaire just off the post or go to the town of Miles a quarter mile away which consisted of a store, a saloon and two brothels.

Prostitution and alcoholism became a problem to units throughout the West and at Fort Spokane, officers began new alternative forms of recreation. Companies formed baseball teams where they played against each other and farming communities throughout the region. A gymnasium was converted out of a barracks to provide a venue for physical training. Enlisted soldiers often resorted to playing cards and smoking cigars in their barracks; officers held balls, dances, and other formal engagements with their wives at Officer’s Row. Soldiers could go to the local photographer to have their portrait taken. In 1892, the post exchange began where cheaper products could be sold to soldiers.

Off-duty hours also provided the chance for lower enlisted privates who were illiterate to learn English and U.S. history. Officers also had evening schools called lyceums where they learned military law, regulations, tactics, and field engineering.

For the soldiers of Fort Spokane who served there from 1880 to 1898, they became an early embodiment for millions of people who come to Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area today to partake in activities for their life’s rest and relaxation.

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"Take Me Out to the Ballgame"

Enjoying a barbecue and a nice, cold beer with friends and family?  Flicking out a fishing line into the lake for a fish to take a bite?  Are you planning on camping in a RV on the grounds of the old Kettle Falls townsite?  Perhaps are you taking the boat out to soak in the mid-summer sun?  Recreation is the heart of what entices over a million and a half people to come to Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area.  But on the picnic grounds below the old Fort Spokane, recreation was enjoyed in an entirely different manner, playing baseball.

The game of baseball, an American version of cricket, became a sensation in the late nineteenth century. Designed as a bat and ball game, the thrill of baseball excited both the fielders who played on the diamond and the fans who watched from the stands.  The batter swung a wooden bat at a ball made of a rubberized or cork core, wrapped in leather, stitched by yarn, and hoped to get a hit to get on base, or better yet, a home run.  For the pitcher, it was to throw the ball in a variety of ways to strike the batter out or to throw the perfect game.  The fans enjoyed the moments in between pitches and innings to talk about how the game was playing out or anything they wanted.  Of course, fans sung the 7th inning stretch to celebrate the game.

Professional teams were primarily located in the Midwest and New England but towns and cities throughout the United States had amateur and semi-professional teams.  Professional baseball came to Washington State and Spokane in 1891 when the Pacific Northwest League formed to include cities from Seattle, Tacoma, and Portland, OR.  Teams had their own uniforms made and their names often after the color of their socks (i.e. Cincinnati Reds/Red Stockings, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox).  Spokane's original team name and predecessor to the Spokane Indians, the Bunch Grassers.

Fort Spokane served as a military post to oversee the Spokane and Colville Indian Reservation from 1880 to 1898.  A soldier's day consisted of training and other aspects of soldiering but military life also had periodic times of boredom.  For commanders of posts, monotony and boredom created low morale for enlisted soldiers who often resorted to drinking, gambling, and sex with prostitutes. Baseball became a recreational alternative.  Companies formed teams and because of the rigid class structure between officers and enlisted soldiers, baseball was one of the few activities where the two could co-mingle socially on off-duty hours.  These teams also travelled to nearby farming communities where the sport helped to foster relations between the military and civilian population.

However by 1898, Fort Spokane was closed and its soldiers left to go fight in the Spanish-American War.  Two years later, the fort and its buildings was converted into an Indian boarding school headed by the Colville Indian Agency.  The concept behind the Boarding school was to teach native children skills such as farming, domestic housework, the English language, and Christianity in order to assimilate into white American society and become servants.  The boys were also taught how to play baseball.  Like the soldiers before them, they had their own uniforms with the lettering F.S. symbolizing Fort Spokane.  The team also played against other farming teams and played very well despite racial and social prejudice, including winning all but three games in a two year span.

Baseball continued on the fort until 1909 when much of the fort was converted into a tuberculosis sanitarium and ultimately the baseball diamond was never used again.  Overgrowth of bush and wild grass obscured the baseball field until 1960 when the National Park Service took over Fort Spokane as part of the greater Lake Roosevelt National Recreation area.

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Etches of Time

Set on a bluff overlooking the Columbia River approximately 350 feet north of St. Paul's Mission near Kettle Falls, WA is a natural and historic object seeming out of place amidst a landscape of dense Ponderosa pine forest. Large, off black in color, uniquely shaped, and weighing over a ton, the Sharpening Stone is a mute testimonial to a time when the river ran free, its banks were lined with native fisherman.

Comprised of amphibolite, the geological composition is more fine-grained than the local bedrock, indicating this boulder is not from this area. Geologists have two theories of how this boulder came to the bank of the Columbia River. The first is that a large glacier deposited the boulder as it receded. The second is that the massive rock was carried by one of the cataclysmic Ice Age floods that swept through eastern Washington.

Below this bluff was the site of a once thunderous and mighty natural spectacle. Kettle Falls was a series of cascades and rapids plummeting over 50 feet within half a mile as the river channeled through two main ledges of massive quartzite boulders, also deposited by the Ice Age floods. A large island split both the river and upper portion of the falls where the falls dropped fifteen feet. The river descended another twenty feet as it reemerged past the island before spilling another twelve to fifteen through a series of rapids making up the lower portion of the falls.

Kettle Falls is named after the English translation French voyageurs who passed through the region during the early nineteenth century called La Chaudière, meaning "boiler" or "kettle." It was noted the effect of the crashing water into the quartzite rock created circular potholes resembling the bottom of a kettle. Some also noted the incredible force produced by the rapids made a boiling effect. The torrential sound generated by the falls could be heard for miles away. For the Interior Salish tribes - the Spokane, the San Poils, and the Colville who thrived on this land for thousands of years, they called the falls Shonitkwu, meaning "roaring" or "noisy waters."

Until 1941, Kettle Falls was also the site of another one of nature's most beautiful spectacles. Every year from June to October millions of Chinook, Coho, pink, chum, and sockeye salmon, some as far away as Alaska, made the journey to the Columbia River to spawn at the places of their birth at the end of their natural lives. Kettle Falls was one of the first natural barriers on the river as salmon had to leap the rapids in order to proceed further.

For the Interior Salish, the lower end of the falls served as a natural fishery. As many as 10,000 natives would gather each year, from dozens of tribes, to catch and dry salmon. The natives used the "Sharpening Stone" as a whetting stone to hone harpoon and spear points to catch salmon. The grooves and notches from centuries ago can today be seen on the boulder's surface.

The tribal chief would perform a dance to commemorate the salmon hunt. Along the bank and boulders splitting the rapids, the men placed platforms and J-shaped woven baskets (Ilth Koy Ape in Salish) to catch the leaping fish. The women would place the catch along the bank to dry before being filleted and distributed to families. The natives also allowed some of the salmon to pass through the falls so the cycle could continue the following year. In addition, the natives also caught steelhead and fish to add to their subsistence diet.

While the area of Kettle Falls was on land belonging to the Interior Salish tribes, salmon was inclusive for all native Americans who partook in the salmon hunt, including those from far away. From the north, the Sinixt (Lake Arrow People) and the Okanogan came while the Cayuse and other Plateau tribes came from the south. To the west came the Coastal Salish tribes who lived along the Washington Coast and Puget South while to the east the Coeur d'Alene, Nez Perce, Kalispel, and other Plains tribes from Montana made the annual migration to the falls. Any member from any tribe could hone their spear points into the "Sharpening Stone" and partake in the salmon hunt. The convergence of various tribes meant Kettle Falls was also a lively and seasonal trading center. Items such as coastal beads, camas, buffalo hides, horses, weapons, pelts, and much more all passed through this area.

However by 1941, the landscape of Kettle Falls changed dramatically. The completion of the Grand Coulee Dam created the Lake Roosevelt reservoir, thereby inundating the falls under 90 feet of water. All along the reservoir, Native American sites and towns built in the late nineteenth century also became flooded. Dams built along the Columbia River, including Grand Coulee, severely dwindled salmon populations for generations. The original location of the "Sharpening Stone" was just off the bank at the lower falls. As an act of preservation, tribal members in 1940 chose to relocated the boulder to its present location where not only is it a record to a way of life gone forever but to preserve 9,000 years of Native American heritage at this site.

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The Oldest Bank North of the Snake River

Spokane's first bank once stood on this site. Located on the northwest corner of Howard St. and Spokane Falls Boulevard (formerly Front St.), approximately where the Fountain Cafe is today, first stood the Bank of Spokane Falls.

Pioneer and businessman Anthony McCue Cannon came to Spokane in April 1878. After he and along with J.J. Browne purchased half of James Glover's townsite to establish Spokan Falls, Cannon sought to establish a bank in order to generate business and new settlers into his fledgling town. At the time, the only bank in eastern Washington was in Walla Walla. In 1879, he borrowed $1000 from his sister-in-law, Mrs. Pope, and began his bank without any formal license. Cannon also successfully lobbied the Northern Pacific Railroad to build a line to Cheney where he invited new settlers to come and live in his town. As the region's sole bank, Cannon's business soon prospered.

The location of the bank would change several times over the course of its history. In 1879, Cannon occupied the same building as James Glover's first store, built in 1873. Cannon later built an entire block from Main St. to Riverside and Mill St. (now Wall St.) to Howard St. where it would serve as his economic and financial hub. His new building was two stories tall and made of wood and located just west of the northwest corner of Mill and Riverside.

Wood might not have been the right choice. On the evening of August 4, 1889, the Great Spokane Fire swept away most of the fledgling city. Originating near the intersection of Post Street and Railroad Avenue, the fire quickly ravaged its way northward and consumed Cannon's Block. Immediately after the fire, he temporarily moved his bank to the Review Building where he used his connections with the Hypotheekbank Dutch firm to quickly rebuild downtown Spokane. There, the bank would remain, temporarily.

Cannon began construction on arguably one of the most audacious buildings in Spokane history, the Marble Bank Building. But on June 5, 1893, just a few weeks before the Bank of Spokane Falls was suppose to move into its new place, the bank failed. Cannon's reputation as a successful businessman belied the risks that he had taken. At the time of failure, the bank had $200,000 in cash deposits. But construction costs for his new bank building proved costly, costs that Cannon covered with his depositor's money and an additional $80,000 loan from Hypotheekbank.

When the Panic of 1893 struck, Cannon desperately tried to acquire loans to replenish his vault but to no avail. Cannon had no choice but to close his doors. He died two years later in 1895, broke. For the Bank of Spokane Falls, Spokane's oldest financial institution that began in 1879, its doors would remain forever shut.

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It was once considered by Spokanites as the most beautiful bank building west of the Mississippi River.

Banking has a long history here on the northwest corner of Wall St. and Riverside Avenue. Where Sterling Bank is today, once stood the Marble Bank, considered by some the most beautiful bank building west of the Mississippi River.

In 1892, Anthony McCue Cannon, a pioneer of Spokane, began construction for a new building for his bank, the Bank of Spokane Falls. Known for his extravagance in architecture, Cannon designed his building to emulate a Greek temple. The roof was done in the Corinthian order and lined with friezes. Cannon had specific types of black and blue colored slabs of marble imported from a specific quarry in Vermont. Black would be used for the door; blue for the facade and surrounding walls. At the construction site, the walls and pillars were custom cut and polished to the highest quality. A glass cupola was placed on top of the ceiling to allow ample light inside. Teller's booths and other fixtures were made of mahogany and other exotic woods. Nearing its completion, Cannon thought his bank would be a place where his clientele could do business in luxury and style.

He would be cruelly surprised. On June 5, 1893, just a few weeks before the planned move, the Bank of Spokane Falls failed. Because of the exorbitant costs of construction, Cannon had extended his credit far more than was prudent. The windows and doors of the Marble Bank Building were boarded up and remained empty for the rest of year. Cannon passed away two years later in 1895 unable to revive his bank. The Bank of Spokane Falls, Spokane's oldest bank when it began in 1879 would forever remain shut.

Over the course of 63 years, the building would change tenants three times. The Old National Bank owned by S.S. Glidden moved into the building the following year and stayed until 1907 when the Union Trust Company bought the building. That same year, the building underwent a massive renovation where the Union Trust kept to the late Cannon's idea of opulence and upscale banking. The most impressive of these projects was the installation of a new safe deposit vault. The 26-ton circular door and vestibule not only served as an imposing security feature but also as a tourist destination. The Trust Company ran ads in both the Spokesman-Review and Chronicle to invite the public to come and see. At the time of its implementation, it was the largest vault system west of Chicago.

Fidelity National Bank bought the building in 1917 and would be the building's last tenants. By the 1950's, downtown districts nationwide, including Spokane, began to modernize. New buildings would be taller and made with concrete, steel, and glass. The Marble Bank Building had also suffered years of neglect. Weathering darkened the once polished marble exterior to become grimy. Water crept into the walls and during the freeze and thaw cycles in the winter caused large cracks and chips to form.

By 1954, Fidelity National, then renamed to First National, vacated the premise and for Spokanites, the building became something of an eye-sore. The Marble Bank Building was demolished piece-by-piece in 1955.

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Here once stood the grand mansion of A. M. Cannon

If ever Robin Leach from the hit TV show "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" could time travel back to the late nineteenth century and do an exposé on homes of Spokane, he would certainly visit that of Anthony McCue Cannon, one of the city's founding fathers.

Cannon came to Spokane in 1878 when he and along with partner J.J. Browne purchased half of the townsite from James Glover. Cannon moved into a simple rustic cabin on the western side of Cedar Street between Third and Fourth Avenues where First Presbyterian Church stands today. However, to accommodate his wife and five children, Cannon needed to expand his residence. Construction began the following year. The completed structure was forty feet long by sixteen feet wide and featured a piazza and a courtyard enclosed by a fence where the Cannon's could socialize with Spokane's elite. Upon completion, it was widely regarded by townsfolk as the best-looking home in Spokane. However, Cannon was not done yet.

As Cannon amassed great wealth through business and the establishment of Spokane's first bank, he sought a dramatic improvement to his abode. In 1883, he cut his house in two and moved both portions across the street to the southwestern corner of the intersection at Cedar St. and Fourth Ave. There it would serve as a temporary house while Cannon constructed a huge Victorian-style mansion in the block's center. Four floors tall with twenty-two rooms in all, the home was a reflection of his opulent lifestyle. It was the first home in Spokane with a central heating system, gas lighting, and bathtubs he had custom made of mahogany with tin linings. The flooring was wood with parquet design; the walls were lined with tapestries. Windows were beveled and made of leaded glass. A Steinway grand piano ornamented the living room. At the rear of the property, Cannon built horse stables, also made with mahogany. To cap it off, he put a fountain in the front yard, another Spokane first.

He would not enjoy his mansion for long. The Panic of 1893 crippled his economic livelihood. The Northwestern & Pacific Hypotheekbank, a joint Dutch/American bank where Cannon was one of its first directors seized most of the businesses he founded and his two residences. A.M. Cannon died at a New York City Hotel in 1895 broke and penniless. Cannon was taken back to Spokane where his body laid in state at the mansion before being interred at the Greenwood Cemetery.

Nevertheless, he left a lasting legacy on the city that can still be seen today. A street, hill, park, city pool, and a platted addition all bear his name. Sadly, both of his residences did not survive. In 1898, J.W. Close purchased the land where Cannon moved his original home to and tore it down to make way for a new house. As for his extravagant mansion, the First Presbyterian Church purchased the lot from the Hypotheekbank for $12,000. Cannon was one of the church's original trustees. To honor and preserve his legacy, the church relocated his home three blocks east to the northwestern corner of Fourth Ave. and Jefferson St where it served as apartments. Unfortunately, a devastating fire in 1937 destroyed most of the upper floor and the building was subsequently demolished.

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The natural beauty of Washington State is an artist's paradise.

One of the early twentieth century's premier artists called Spokane his home for a short while. Julian Edward Itter, internationally renowned for his Impressionism-style landscape paintings, came to Spokane in 1912 and resided here for more than a year. He had been contracted by the Milwaukee Railroad to produce a series of canvases of the Bitterroot Mountains as part of an advertising campaign to illustrate scenery along a proposed transcontinental line from Chicago through Spokane to Seattle. Julian established his studio here in the Review building during his stay. Aside from promoting fundraisers for the railroad, he hosted exhibits for various clubs at select venues including the Spokane Club. His shows featured not only the beautiful landscape of western Montana but his previous work of Washington State that made him famous.

Originally from Canada, Julian immigrated to the United States in 1898. Influenced by a childhood fascination with nature, he travelled southward from his home in Rossland, British Columbia to the state of Washington. Immediately, he fell in love with its diverse natural scenery. For four years, Julian travelled throughout the state and painted at several prominent areas: the Olympic Mountains, Mount Rainier (a national park and focal point for the Milwaukee Railroad), and the scablands of eastern Washington where he quickly developed a positive reputation from the state's artistic community. Julian deemed his adoptive state "an artist's paradise."

However, no region would have such a profound impact on his artistic career than the northern head of Lake Chelan. When he descended into this region, he was instantaneously transfixed by its array of forests, glaciers, waterfalls, valleys, and jagged mountain tops. Because of his status as a reputable painter, the Washington State delegation for the 1904 World's Fair to be taken place in St. Louis not only asked him to produce a series of masterpieces highlighting its scenery, particularly Lake Chelan, but to place him in charge of the state's art exhibit.

In 1906, Julian worked with outdoor groups and commercial clubs throughout the state to adopt resolutions for preserving a 300 square mile tract of land just above the northern head of Lake Chelan as a national park. Although he was able to generate support from businesses, he had to abandon his plan after residents from nearby towns sided with potential mining interests, not tourism, for their economic sustainability. Eventually, the Lake Chelan region would be preserved as part of a greater North Cascades National Park Service Complex in 1968. For his role as one of the first promoters of preservation in this region, Julian Itter would be known as "The Father of North Cascades National Park."

Despite this setback, his artistry continued to earn positive reviews from both viewers and critics alike. The Spokane Chamber of Commerce paid $30,000 for a set of his paintings. During a two year stay in Paris, Julian and his paintings were featured in art journals and newspapers throughout major cities in Europe.

Itter's stay in Spokane would also be his last years in Washington State. He was in the process of going back to Europe to further his artistic studies. However, on December 20, 1912, he fell outside the restaurant at the Davenport Hotel where he fractured several ribs and punctured a lung. After his recovery, Julian moved to New York City where he married his second wife, Gladys. With World War I ravaging Europe, he never returned to Europe to study art. Instead, he moved to Montana and later California where he became a gold and silver miner. Still, he kept a passion for both art and nature until he passed away 1967.

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