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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1883 | 9 |
| 1884 | 6 |
| 1891 | 1 |
| 1892 | 3 |
| 1893 | 1 |
| 1894 | 2 |
| 1895 | 1 |
| 1897 | 2 |
| 1899 | 1 |
| 1909 | 1 |
| 1916 | 1 |
| 1923 | 3 |
| 1924 | 1 |
32 stories matching develop
- The Unopened Wealth of Eastern Washington
University of Washington researchers argue that the state’s massive kaolin and feldspar deposits could transform Spokane into a ceramic powerhouse.
- The Mining Promoter Who Told Would-Be Miners to Stay Home
Col. W. Thomas Hart has bonded claims and cut a trail in the new Slate Creek district, but he begs the press not to inflate the strike: there is no work, no mill, and too much snow for prospecting.
- The Day Smallpox Walked the Streets: How One Man’s Ignorance Sparked Spokane’s Deadliest Epidemic
A drunk man wandering through downtown Spokane with a rash on his face nearly triggered a disaster that killed hundreds—until a sharp-eyed pharmacist stepped in.
- The Wealthy Thief of Cheney
A wealthy woman from Cheney, Washington, is arrested in Spokane for shoplifting, revealing a hidden life of compulsive theft.
- The Railroad Raises Its Rates, and the Northwest Howls
Spokane Falls merchants protest a Northern Pacific freight hike that makes shipping from Minneapolis cost as much as shipping from New York — and warn the railroad it is strangling its own territory.
- The Prize Apple Was Stuffed With Shot
A judge's suspicion at the Spokane fair exposed a prank that briefly put a Wilbur exhibitor's reputation on the line.
- Charting the Future of the Columbia River
Lieutenant T.W. Symons releases a landmark report on making the Upper Columbia navigable for trade, mining, and agriculture.
- Eastern Washington Joins Forces to Guard Timber
Following a disastrous fire season, regional timber interests and government agencies consolidate efforts to protect forests, extending their reach into Stevens County.
- The Fight for 'Japanese Jennie'
A Spokane court battles a Montana requisition order for a woman held under a restrictive labor contract, marking a local test of indentured servitude.
- The Body in the Grave: A Spokane Poisoning Trial Takes a Strange Turn
Prosecutors secretly exhumed James Grier's body a second time to identify it, and the court ordered yet another examination in Helen Grier's murder trial.
- The Nation on the Brink: Rail Workers Push for Eight-Hour Day
As contract negotiations fail, two million workers threaten a total shutdown of the nation's rail system, prompting intervention from President Wilson.
- Spokane's Board of Trade Fights to Save the Northern Pacific Land Grant
In February 1884, Spokane Falls merchants rallied against a Congressional bill that would forfeit the railroad's land grant — and with it, they feared, the town's entire future.
- A Silver Strike North of the Falls Promises a Fortune
Four men from Tacoma and Spokane incorporate the Spokane Mining and Smelting Company on a claim in the Colville country, with assays running nearly $60 a ton.
- The Dangerous Human Bite
A local man's thumb injury from a human bite leads to a six-month recovery and a warning about the toxicity of such wounds.
- A Young Girl Vanishes from a Spokane Variety Theater
A teenage girl is missing after being allegedly coerced into a variety theater, sparking a public outcry and exposing local police corruption.
- The Fight Against Diphtheria
Public health officials report a decline in diphtheria cases thanks to new immunization efforts, urging parents to protect children before they reach school age.
- The Widow’s Hard Struggle in Probate Court
A woman’s claim to her deceased husband's estate sparks a contentious legal battle after he died by suicide in Portland.
- Spokane Had Mining Fever, and the Men Selling the Stock Had the Only Sure Thing
A Yakima correspondent visits Spokane and finds a city where hotel clerks, newsboys and waiter girls are all buying mining shares — and where even Ezra Meeker has traded hops for a stock prospectus.
- Railroad Boom Built Spokane's Brick-and-Stone Downtown
A pioneer revisits Eastern Washington's boomtown and marvels at its rapid transformation from a frontier hamlet to a bustling metropolis powered by the falls.
- The Rush for the Okanagan Mines
A party of Spokane residents returns from an 800-mile expedition to the newly opened mineral fields, predicting a massive influx of prospectors.
- The Political Battle for Power
A state senator warns that municipal utility expansion could shift tax burdens onto rural farmers.
- Spokane Wins Freight-Rate Fight Against the Railroads
The Interstate Commerce Commission orders cuts from Chicago and St. Paul, a victory that promised cheaper goods and a broader home market for Newport and the Inland Empire.
- A California Mining Veteran Bets Everything on the Coeur d'Alene Gold Rush
George Henderson, a hardened prospector out of Martinez, California, arrives in Spokane Falls, spends one day in the Coeur d'Alene diggings, and walks out having staked claims, built two houses, and hired a crew to winter over — telling the town the mines 'could not be exaggerated.'
- Spokane's Date with Destiny: Welcoming the Northern Pacific Railroad
The completion of the transcontinental line brings Henry Villard and hundreds of guests to Spokane Falls, promising a new era of growth and connection.
- Spokane Falls Builds Through the Winter
Despite the cold, construction in Spokane Falls never stopped, and the coming spring promises a building boom that will double the city's size.