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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1883 | 17 |
| 1884 | 5 |
22 stories matching condit
- The Unannounced Arrival of the Bank Examiner
A federal official arrives in Spokane Falls to audit the First National Bank, finding the institution in 'flourishing condition' despite the lack of a reception committee.
- The Wild West at the N.P. Hotel
A young man, fueled by a 'periodic drunk,' terrorizes a hotel proprietor with a revolver in downtown Spokane.
- The Death of Belle Lincoln
A woman dies after being found severely beaten in a remote area, highlighting the vulnerability of marginalized people in the frontier.
- The Comedian Who Never Came — and the Advance Man Who Took the Town
Spokane Falls announces the coming of comedian Jas. O'Neill, prints the bills, and then learns the actor is tangled in a real-life comedy at Billings — while the advance agent may have pocketed the take.
- A Threshing Machine Tragedy
A farm worker suffers a horrific injury after falling into a threshing machine near Spokane.
- A New Mayor Inherits a Solvent City — and a River Full of Filth
Spokane Falls' incoming council takes the oath, draws lots for term lengths, and confronts the sewage being dumped above the falls.
- The Night Fire Nearly Took Browne's New Brick Block
A stove left burning in a plaster-drying room set Spokane Falls' finest new brick building alight — and the town had nothing but buckets to fight it with.
- The Sting Operation at Squier’s Saloon
A Spokane businessman orchestrates a trap to catch a man selling liquor to local Indigenous people.
- A False Alarm Reveals Spokane Has No Fire Department
A burst of flame over Howard and Main sends a crowd running — and the paper demands a fire department before a real blaze eats the business district.
- An Arsonist's Fire in the Black Hawk Stable
A pre-dawn blaze in a Main Street livery kills four valuable horses and nearly takes the block — and the town is sure it was set on purpose.
- The Unknown Man Below the Falls
A decomposing body wedged between trees near a downtown Spokane thoroughfare is examined by a coroner's jury — and buried without a name.
- A Midnight Ride, a Volley of Shots, and No One to Blame
A farmer on the Moran Prairie road hurried home under gunfire; deputies found only darkness.
- The Gun in the Wagon
H. P. Fox was scouting land near Loon Lake when a loaded shotgun discharged into his arm. Surgeons in Spokane Falls amputated, but the long ride and his weakened health were too much.
- A Stagecoach Ride Into the Last Paradise of Bunch Grass
A correspondent survives a headfirst plunge into an icy creek to report on the new stage route, the boomtown of Okanogan, and the railroad the Big Bend is begging for.
- The Plot to Carve a New Territory Out of Eastern Washington and Idaho
As the Coeur d'Alene mines boom, Spokane Falls pushes to become the capital of a breakaway territory—and the railroad towns are fighting back.
- A Stage for the Falls: The Push for Spokane's First Great Opera House
With touring companies expected on the Northern Pacific, local boosters propose a 1,000-seat frame hall—and a joint-stock company to build it for $6,000.
- Trail Wars: Spokane Fights for the Road to the Coeur d'Alene Gold
As prospectors rush the new Coeur d'Alene diggings, Spokane boosters battle a Portland paper over which trail is passable — and who gets to outfit the stampede.
- 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.
- 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.'
- Central Block: A New Landmark Rises on Riverside Avenue
Spokane's newest brick building, Central Block, nears completion on Riverside Avenue, showcasing modern architecture and the city's rapid growth.
- The Case for Washington Statehood
A San Francisco paper argues Washington Territory has the population, wealth and schools to join the Union — and urges Congress to admit it.
- The Boomer Who Lied About the Gold Fields
Spokane Falls' paper takes a Minnesota editor to task for a wildly inaccurate account of the Coeur d'Alene mines — and in doing so lays bare the whole machinery of Western town-site hype.