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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1883 | 70 |
| 1884 | 38 |
108 stories matching fall
- The Battle for the Land Office
Spokane Falls and Cheney trade barbs over the relocation of the federal land office, a prize that signifies the region's future growth.
- Spokane Falls Fights to Be the Gateway to the Coeur d'Alene Mines
The town battles Portland papers and rival railroad stops over the best route to the gold fields, as a new stage road promises to cut the journey to 70 miles.
- Spokane Cuts Itself a New County — and Expects the Courthouse
The Territorial legislature carves a new county out of Spokane, placing Spokane Falls near its center. The town is 'exceedingly happy,' and already counting on the county seat, the land office, and the records that come with them.
- The Town That Grew 'In Spite of Reason'
A Walla Walla editor visits Spokane Falls and tries to explain its explosive growth — new brick blocks, crowded lodging houses, idle men in the streets, and a land office so busy it needs two more clerks.
- Spokane Wins the Land Office
After a desperate struggle against rival towns, Spokane Falls secures the U.S. Land Office, cementing its status as the region's rising metropolis.
- Spokane Falls Wins the Land Office—and Sprague Howls
A Sprague paper accused Spokane Falls of backroom land speculation to land the federal Land Office. The Review answered with boosterish fury and a warning to the 'upper country.'
- The Body Beneath the Logs at Spokane Falls
A boarder at the Northern Pacific Hotel found a decomposing stranger wedged beneath logs just below Spokane Falls—too late for the coroner to say how he died.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- A Widow, Two Children, and a Town That Passed the Hat
When Mrs. H. P. Fox arrived in Spokane Falls to find her husband dead of an accidental gunshot, strangers raised money for his burial and her passage home to South Carolina.
- The New Council Takes On the Sewage in the River
Spokane Falls' freshly seated city council moves against the habit of dumping garbage and sewage into the river above the falls — and against boys loitering in saloons.
- The Railroad Ran Its Spokane Depot on Too Few Men — and the Crew Broke
One agent and one telegraph operator were expected to staff the Spokane Falls railroad office around the clock. The agent finally asked for a layoff, and the wire operator quit, worn thin, for a farm with lighter work.
- 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.
- Spokane’s Vision for a Riverfront Drive
City boosters propose a scenic four-mile carriage road along the Spokane River to showcase the falls and surrounding wilderness.
- 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.
- 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 Bet Its Future on a Railroad That Hadn't Arrived
A local correspondent complains that roundabout freight makes staple goods cost eight times Milwaukee prices—and predicts the coming Northern Pacific will turn Spokane Falls into a manufacturing power.
- A Diphtheria Scare at the Falls
A young woman's battle with a deadly disease prompts a public health warning for Spokane.
- The Gold Rush That Wouldn't Wait for Spring
A Spokane Falls merchant is summoned back to the snowbound Coeur d'Alene mines as fortune hunters pour in a month early — and the Falls positions itself as the gateway to the new El Dorado.
- 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.
- The Union Block Collapse: A Mason's Fall Through a Defective Staging
A plank gave way during construction at Union Block, sending one mason into the cellar with a broken collarbone and a second man tumbling to the ground floor.
- 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 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.
- Turning Gravel into Gold
Local skeptics are proven wrong as experiments with flax and wheat on Spokane's rocky soil show surprising success.
Also about this, in other words
- A Welcome Storm Saves the Harvest
After weeks of drought threatening the region's crops, a heavy storm brings relief to local farmers.