The Palouse: MAC 100 Stories: A Centennial Exhibition
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A homesteader wrote of the Palouse in the 1880s: "Its beauty was wild and untrammeled and the undulating hills were covered with luxuriant grasses." Bunchgrasses and wildflowers created a lush meadow, or Palouse Prairie, in this corner of southeastern Washington and adjacent Idaho. Camas, an important staple in the Plateau Indian diet, was once so dense that early explorers mistook its masses of blue flowers for water. The prairie's colors change with the seasons, from brown to green to gold, and its deep loess soil makes it one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world.
MAC 100 Stories: A Centennial Exhibition is told on the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture campus in Spokane's Browne's Addition, with additional highlights at 15 sites in Spokane and eastern Washington. The exhibit experience (February 22, 2014 - January 2016) weaves stories and programs about Inland Northwest people, places and events by capitalizing on the MAC's extraordinary collection. www.northwestmuseum.org
Spokane Historical presents 15 regional and city tours in partnership with the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture and its 100 Stories exhibition.
See also Tour 11: Waypoints in the Palouse
https://spokanehistorical.org/tour-builder/tours/show/id/11
Files
Palouse Falls Lithograph
Located four miles north of the Snake River, Palouse Falls is a popular attraction for outdoor enthusiasts and tourists alike. John Mix Stanley (1814-1872), a member of Isaac Stevens' 1853 railroad survey expedition, created this image. Image 3249.3 courtesy of the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture
Wheat Farming on the Palouse, 1930
The rich Palouse soil is ideal for agriculture, but technology has had to overcome the challenge of farming the steeply rolling hills. Image L87-1.43151-30 courtesy of the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture
Wheat Farming on the Palouse
Farmers processed their harvest near Colfax in the 1920s with Steptoe Butte in the background Image courtesy of the Washington State Library
The Palouse Today
Taken from atop of Steptoe Butte, the Palouse is a land of agricultural prosperity and change. Image courtesy of the Knowles Gallery on Flickr under a Creative Commons License
Challenges and Prosperity, 1913
Before the motorized tractor, many farmers relied on livestock to pull equipment. Image L2003-11.3 courtesy of the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture