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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1883 | 20 |
| 1884 | 13 |
33 stories matching import
- Paint the Town for the Last Spike
With the Northern Pacific about to close the continent, Spokane Falls is told to clean its streets, whitewash its houses, and prepare for a wealth-laden excursion.
- 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 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 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 Train They Hoped Would Stop: Spokane's Bid for the Last-Spike Spotlight
A mass meeting at Cannon's Hall appointed a committee to welcome President Villard's Northern Pacific excursion and make sure the editorial train lingered long enough to see the falls.
- The Railroad That Built the Town Now Charges It Tribute
Spokane Falls merchants discover the Northern Pacific has quietly raised freight rates 50 to 150 percent — to fatten Portland at the inland towns' expense.
- 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.
- The Great Fish Heist of Squier's Vault
A local merchant's appetite for mountain trout leads to a humiliating prank by his associates.
- A Joint-Stock Stage Line to Beat the Railroad to the Mines
Spokane businessmen subscribe a $20,000 company to run daily stages and freight to Eagle City, betting the gold rush will make their town the gateway to the Coeur d'Alenes.
- 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.
- A Watch Snatched on Howard Street, and a Call for a Real Jail
A late-night robbery in the alley by Rima's store prompts the paper to warn that the gold rush is importing 'tough citizens' faster than Spokane Falls can lock them up.
- A Frontier City That Could Not Stop Building
Brick blocks, storefronts, and frame houses rose across Spokane Falls as contractors raced winter—and touted the town's future.
- 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.
- Spokane Merchants Meet to Carve a Wagon Road to the Big Bend
An enthusiastic crowd in Cannon's Hall backs a road from Spokane Falls to Okanogan, and two men set out through a snowstorm to find the route.
- 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's Citizens Buy Themselves a Road to the Gold Fields
In fifteen minutes, local businessmen pledged a quarter of a $20,000 stock company to run stages and freight wagons between Spokane Falls and the Coeur d'Alene mines — before another town could steal the traffic.
- Spokane Bets $1,000 on a Road to the Coeur d'Alene Mines
A Saturday-night mass meeting in Cannon's Hall puts real money behind a wagon road from Spokane Falls into the mining country — and the boosters are already calling their town 'the Denver of the Northwest.'
- The Hotel That Was 'Out in the Woods' Now Can't Keep Up
Fifteen months after skeptics predicted the Sprague House would fail for being too far from town, its proprietor is adding fifty rooms to meet the rush.
- Drawing the Lines of a New City
A called council meeting in September 1883 redrew Spokane Falls’s boundaries, split it into four wards, and argued over who would elect the city’s officers.
- 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.
- A Spokane Woman Makes the Case for the Ballot
Writing to the paper 'from a womanly standpoint,' Mrs. B. R. Gove argues that taxation without representation is tyranny — and that Washington's women deserve the vote.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.