The 1914 disappearance of F. Lewis Clark made headlines across the United States and remains shrouded in mystery.

On the evening of January 17th, 1914, F. Lewis Clark and his wife arrived at the train station in Santa Barbara, California. Rather than joining his wife, Clark helped her board the train and left her with a kiss. Telling his chauffeur to meet him in the morning, Clark set off on the mile-long walk down the boardwalk towards his hotel. He was never seen again.

Clark, one of Spokane’s earliest millionaires, was born to a wealthy family in Bangor, Maine in 1861. After being educated at Harvard, Clark spent a few years abroad in Europe, competing in sailing competitions around the globe. An avid outdoorsman, Clark decided to settle in Spokan Falls, in the then Washington Territory.

Clark invested in mining, banking, real estate, and the largest flour mill in the state. He financed the building of many of Spokane’s historic downtown buildings, including the American Legion building, and sold land to Louis Davenport on which he built the historic Davenport Hotel. He owned two homes, one on Spokane’s South Hill and the other on Hayden Lake, both designed by Kirtland Cutter.

By the early 1910’s Clark’s health began to fade. He and his wife frequently traveled to southern California during the winter to avoid the cold. The night of his disappearance was not unlike many nights preceding it. The next morning, however, there was no sign of Clark other than his hat which was found on a beach near the wharf between the train station and the hotel. His chauffeur noted to police that Clark’s health was not in the best condition for such a walk, but he had been in high spirits. Ruled a suicide, police believed Clark had plunged into the sea which he loved to avoid the effects of his failing health.

Two weeks later the case again made national headlines “Capitalist Being Held for Ransom!”. The Los Angeles Examiner published an anonymous letter sent to its offices: “We are holding millionaire Clark for ransom. State in Examiner if his folks would pay it or not. He is well taken care of. Yours, THE BLACKMAILERS.” A $75,00 demand for Clark’s safe return was included with the note. Police investigated further and asked for proof Clark was alive and unharmed, when none was presented, the search for the blackmailers was dropped. In late February, a body washed ashore not far from where Clark had last been seen. Thought to have been Clark’s, friends traveled from Spokane to identify the body but concluded it was not him.

The case went cold until the beginning of June when a woman by the name of Margaret Kelly was arrested. Kelly, whose aliases include Marie Ella Allen and Clarisse the Blonde, stood accused of being part of a ring of fake mediums and blackmailers. The ring preyed upon those vulnerable to extortion and was led by a private detective named Edgar Byron. Kelly charged that one of the alleged victims was Mrs. Clark, a claim which she vehemently denied. No further evidence, beyond the confessions of Byron and Kelly was ever substantiated.

February 1929, 15 years after his disappearance, a headline from the Boston Globe read “Woman Explains Long Unsolved Mystery: Multimillionaire Francis Lewis Clark Was Murdered for Money He Carried.” One Mrs. Margaret Kelly, this time compelled by a guilty conscience, went to a police station and again recounted the tale of the murder of Clark, and the role she played in his death. After an interrogation, the police deemed her story a “fabrication which could not be checked or proven.” Upon leaving, Kelly told reporters that “the police had done all they can do, I guess… I hope I’m not goofy.” Police again closed the case, ruling it a suicide.

With so many unanswered questions regarding Clark’s death, the mystery around his disappearance remains. False, or confessions which are unable to be proven, fake mediums, and corrupt private detectives have muddied the waters on the hunt for the truth of what happened to one of Spokane’s most influential early citizens.

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32 years after the Salvation Army arrived in Spokane, the organization opened a new headquarters in what would become one of Spokane’s most recognizable historic buildings.

On April 3rd, 1922, Commissioner Gifford, the territorial commander of the Salvation Army, addressed hundreds of Spokane citizens who attended the dedication ceremony of the new headquarters at 245 W. Main. “The doors to this building shall always be open to the homeless and unfortunate that desire the care and assistance of the Salvation Army.” In the new building, the Salvation Army would continue the work the organization started when if first arrived in Spokane in 1891.

First making its way to the United States in 1880, the Salvation Army began with Reverend William Booth and his family in London, England. Booth took a rather unorthodox approach to spreading his “good word”. Rather than preaching in churches, he went directly to the people, often those who were overlooked or shunned, he ministered to “thieves, prostitutes, gamblers, and drunkards.” This community outreach which started as simple proselytizing, grew into an organization that has helped feed, shelter, cloth, and care for those most in need in over 130 countries for the past 150 years.

The Salvation Army began its Spokane residence by nearly being banned for being a public nuisance, the noise from their brass instruments and drums startling the town’s main means of transportation at the time, horses. The attention from both the preaching and rabble rousing quickly swelled their ranks from 3 to nearly 200 within just a few years. Eventually overgrowing the offices they were occupying, in 1919 they purchased land on West Main Avenue for a new headquarters. The new location was projected to cost $125,000 and after an enormously successful fundraising effort, the building was completed in 1921.

Designed by architect Archibald Rigg, who designed several other of Spokane’s buildings including the Altedenia Apartments and The Masonic Temple, the brick building consists of 3 floors and a basement level, which held a swimming pool, gymnasium, and kitchen. The main floor held the meeting areas and offices, while the second and third floor became single-occupancy rooms that were rented out at a subsidize price which became known as The Red Shield Hotel. One unique design feature of this building is visible in the first-floor windows. Rather than making large arching window a feature of higher floors, like most other Spokane buildings, Rigg designed these to exist on the first floor.

The Salvation Army would occupy this location, helping those in need for 50 years. During the Great Depression, dozens would wait in line for a donut and coffee, a tradition started by the organization in France during World War I. In 1972 The Salvation Army changed headquarters. A short-lived tavern occupied the first floor until 1981 after which the building stood vacant for almost 20 years. In 1999 the owners of Luigi’s, a local Italian restaurant, purchased and revamped the building, turning the first floor and mezzanine into restaurant space and the second and third floors into offices. While the inside of the building may have dramatically changed, the outside preserves its historic look being one of the few buildings in Spokane to retain its original marquee.

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