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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1883 | 14 |
| 1884 | 7 |
21 stories matching abl
- Spokane Falls Finally Gets a Water Company — and a Fire-Fighting Lifeline
After a winter of promises and a franchise left to gather dust, three investors buy out the original water-works rights and vow to lay pipe before the weather turns.
- A Miner's Pockets Full of Gold Nuggets — and a Placer Strike 40 Miles From Town
A Spokane Falls businessman bound for the Cœur d'Alene mines never got there, but came back with nuggets and gold-crusted quartz from a richer claim far nearer home.
- Spokane Falls Fights to Stay the Gateway to the Coeur d'Alene Mines
As rival towns and papers tout their own routes to the gold fields, the Spokane Falls Review insists the Big Meadows road will make this city the permanent key to the mines.
- Spokane Falls Bets on a Grand New Schoolhouse
After voters approved a special tax, trustees bought a block at the south end of Howard Street and hired an architect and builder for a two-story frame school.
- Caught in the Shaft: A Miller's Close Call at Post's Mill
George Hilbert, assistant miller at Frederick Post's flour mill, was nearly torn apart when his foot was snagged by a spinning iron shaft. Quick action by a coworker saved his life.
- 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.'
- The Man Who Survived Thirteen Doctors
A patient's wry, furious account of his bout with spinal meningitis — and the horse-doctor who killed a servant girl with a morphine syringe — skewers the medical profession of his day.
- The Store That Measured a Town's Ambition
A visit inside Chas. Sweeny & Co.'s new Union Block emporium — 6,000 square feet, a dozen chandeliers, a basement packed to the rafters — as proof that Spokane Falls had arrived.
- Spokane Falls Organizes to Build Its First Public Library
A handful of citizens meet in Cannon's Hall to launch a free reading room and library — a public institution open to all, funded by subscription, and aimed at the thousands who will make the town their home.
- Gold Fever: Spokane Falls Pushes a Wagon Road to the Coeur d'Alene Mines
With nuggets in hand and a sawmill planned, J. H. Curtis rallies Spokane Falls to build a road to the gold fields before a rival town steals the trade.
- Forget the Mines — Grab the Land, the Paper Urges
As thousands stampede toward the Coeur d'Alene diggings, the Review argues the real fortune is in the free government land around Spokane Falls, and that the window is closing fast.
- The Correspondent Called Spokane Poor and Dull. The Local Paper Fired Back.
In 1883, a traveling writer dismissed Spokane Falls as a speculative boomtown with no real hinterland. The local press answered point by point, defending the mills, the grain trade and the city's future.
- A Petition Vanishes and the Fight to Carve Up Spokane County Turns Nasty
As Olympia weighs a bill to split off the new 'Sprague County,' Spokane Falls editors cry foul over a petition with 300 names that disappeared from an office — and defend a rival editor accused of inventing the theft.
- Spokane Falls Finally Gets Water Works
After years of relying on water carriers and wells, the city council grants a franchise to two newcomers to build a water system, promising fire protection and an end to the water famine.
- Spokane Falls Council Tackles Charter, Cash, and a Dead Horse
In August 1883, the Spokane Falls City Council met to discuss a new city charter, unpaid bills, street assessments, and the problem of a dead horse. The meeting offers a glimpse into the challenges of a growing frontier town.
- The Self-Made Man of Spokane Falls and His 240-Acre 'Idlewild'
A profile of James E. Roe, who arrived four years ago with not a dollar and now owns a livery stable, a sawmill interest, and a ranch of surpassing beauty eight miles east of the city.
- Spokane Falls Fires Back at the Boom-Sayers
A Walla Walla society paper printed a traveler's claim that Spokane Falls was a real-estate humbug at its zenith. The Falls' editor answered with population figures, water power, and an invitation to tour the new bridge.
- A Portland Editor Reports from the Gold Fields
E. G. Jones of Portland visits Spokane Falls and files a dispatch: the town is the 'principal city of Eastern Washington,' the mines are real, and the smart money is already building stage lines.
- Gold Fever at the Doorstep: The Coeur d'Alene Rush
Word of fabulously rich quartz strikes fifty miles east of Spokane Falls has set off a stampede — veterans of '49 are said to be packing up again, and 50,000 men are expected in the mountains next spring, with Spokane Falls positioning itself as the supply depot.
- Spokane Dressed for a Railroad King—and Waited Until Midnight
Spokane Falls spent a week building arches and hanging evergreens for Henry Villard's Northern Pacific excursion, but delayed trains turned the grand reception into a series of after-dark whistle-stops—and Ulysses S. Grant drew the crowd that the railroad had promised.
- Spokane Prepares to Welcome the Northern Pacific’s Last-Spike Excursion
In September 1883, Spokane Falls planned arches, speeches and a day of civic pageantry to greet President Henry Villard and the railroad party opening the transcontinental line.