The 1920's heralded a gripping intrigue in aviation amongst Americans. With new, dangerous demonstrations in flight occurring each year, by 1927 aviators were becoming as popular and idealized as a star athlete in the NFL today. In that same year Charles Lindberg made his famous transatlantic flight, riveting the nation and sparking interest in aviation. With the craze in full swing, Spokane Valley's own Felt's Field was chosen as the finish line of one of the most successful and popular National Air Races in the country's history--the National Air Races.

The decision for Spokane, rather than say, a larger city like Los Angeles or San Francisco to host the races surely generated some skepticism. However, there had never been so much public enthusiasm before 1927 for aviation and Spokane "had in that day a live-wire business community that was willing to put its money where its mouth was and an active Chamber of Commerce." A key driving force behind the orchestration of the event was Major John "Jack" Fancher, who enlisted the help of local newspaper companies, investors, hoteliers, and various other organizations to gain financial support and influence for the occasion. The results would be unprecedented.

Newspaper articles from September 19-25th documented the festivities which attracted some 91, 989 attendees, with a grandstand that held 33, 421. Trains and automobile traffic flooded the roadways to Felt's Field, people even dusted off their outdated horse-drawn stagecoaches to reach the show. The main event was the $10,000 prize awarded to first to arrive of twenty four pilots who departed from New York on twenty four hour flight to Felt's Field. Spokane Valley's population increased by almost ten-fold as spectators gathered to observe not only the conclusion of the transcontinental race, but a host of other events that lasted days.

Precision air acrobatics, parachute drops, and local closed-course speed races kept audiences entertained for the week. One must not forget that this was a most perilous time in aviation, performing stunts was subject to stunting one's lifespan. Of the twenty four pilots departing New York, only sixteen would reach Spokane, the other's forced down by mechanical failures and adverse weather, a common occurrence at the time. The $10,000 grand prize went to Charles "Speed" Holman, who smashed the predicted time of twenty four hours finishing in nineteen hours and forty two minutes.

The success of the National Air Races remain unparalleled today as the largest event to ever occur in the Spokane Valley. As a result of the races, "Spokane became known as a leader in our nation for aviation activity for the first time. In years that followed they were successfully held in Cleveland and Los Angeles and the country went forward into the air age. Spokane has been a part of it."

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The first white settlers in the Spokane Valley arrived in the 1860s by a series of pioneer trails coming up from the Snake River Country to the south. Among the most important of these was the Kentuck Trail, which followed traditional native routes to connect Plante's Ferry across the Spokane River to the Snake River Ferry about one hundred miles to the south.

The Kentuck Trail was one of the shortest routes from Fort Walla Walla to the Spokane country. The trail got its name from Joe Ruark, a Kentuckian, who settled in Walla Walla in 1859. After crossing the Snake River by ferry, he carried mining supplies northeast to the Spokane Bridge on his route, which was some twenty-five miles shorter than the Mullan Road.

In 1867 settler Henry Lueg described traveling through Spokane Valley via the Kentuck Trail, "a beautiful great prairie where excellent grass was found...the road was excellent, no hills, no marshes, and no rocks the entire day." Arriving at the Spokane Bridge, one could cross the river for a toll of $1.00 in paper currency per wagon, no charge for the horses.

During the 1870s migration flowed into the area between the Snake River and Spokane, farms and small stores popped up to serve weary travelers passing through from Walla Walla or Spokane. Crossing through places like Union Flat or Hangman Creeks, Mount Hope or Mica Peak, the Kentuck Trail continued to be a valued route for decades until the railroads diminished its use in the late 1880s

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During the boom years of early Spokane, colleges and academic institutions began to pop up around the city. Spokane University was among the first universities in Spokane and the first in the valley, but it would not survive for long.

Founded in 1913 by B. E. Utz, the four-year liberal arts college was originally intended to train ministers for Christian churches throughout Washington State. In fact, it was briefly referred to as Spokane Bible College, but it was non-sectarian and its liberal and fine arts programs thrived for some two decades. The university would educate hundreds of students, including one the leading figures in abstract expressionist painting, Clyfford Still, who graduated in 1933.

However, Spokane University did not survive past its twentieth year. Like the rest of America, The Great Depression took its toll on Spokane as well. According to one of the universities professors at the time, the university "had no endowment and nothing to fall back on." Thus, in 1933, Spokane University officially closed, but it was not entirely lost. In the following years, the facilities were moved to Spokane's South Hill and merged into the newly formed Spokane Junior College.

While the institution was all but disassembled and moved, the University continued to influence its prior home in the Valley. Roads in the area still bear names brought about by the school such as University Road and others. The former campus which stands on Ninth and Herald Streets served as University High School from 1960 until 2002, when it moved to a new location.

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Washington's commercial apple industry got its start in the Spokane Valley

In 1908, Spokane launched its first National Apple Show with high hopes of making the area a major fruit distribution center. The inland Northwest was emerging from a decade of rapid apple-tree planting, with schemes of irrigation claiming nearly every lake and stream in Spokane County. Chief of these developed areas was the Spokane Valley, stretching for some thirty miles carved up by a dozen companies vying to produce the best apples. The idea to irrigate the Spokane Valley arose around 1896 from the inquiries of W. L. Benham, an already experienced businessman who immediately saw the potential fertility of the land, and the profit.

A combination of a mild climate, rich soil, available irrigation and railroads made Spokane Valley Washington's first commercial apple growing region. Advertisement ran abound, one could escape the noisy city to such plots of land titled, "Eden of America." Competing development was everywhere in Spokane Valley, Mark F. Mendenhall, a Spokane attorney and investor formed the Spokane Canal Company and in 1903 completed a drainage ditch from Newman Lake, which served as a canal to 2,750 acres east of the city known as Otis Orchards. The Orchards published a booklet, "Irrigation is King" which circulated and soon enough had railroad workers and doctors alike turning their hand to horticulture. The air was full of "apple talk," one recalled. Otis Orchards would soon have an income of $4,375,000 a year.

However, Spokane orchardists were relatively inexperienced at their newfound trade, by 1912, apple production exceeded demand. From 1913 to 1916 there were two million new apple trees each year, a veteran of trade chastised growers claiming they destroyed their business by, "reckless promotion." Independent shippers slashed prices and marginal growers failed. Soon Spokane couldn't match Wenatchee's and Yakima's appeals to luxury markets where high prices would pay the costs of growing and shipping. Tragedies accumulated across the Valley, Otis Orchards was plagued by collapsing canals and an uncertain water supply, property holders found reconstruction and maintenance to be more than they could afford. Slowly apple orchards dwindled, as farmers turned to crops more readily saleable in local markets. However, Otis Orchards would endure longer than any of the other apple districts, as one the last remnants of the colossal apple boom that occurred in Spokane Valley in the early twentieth century.

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