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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1883 | 17 |
| 1884 | 9 |
26 stories matching keep
- 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.
- Real Estate Jumps Again — and the Paper Warns the Speculators
Spokane Falls lots take 'another heavy advance' this week, and the editor worries that 'exorbitant prices do more injury than good' to a town that needs builders, not gamblers.
- 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 Handcar on the Trestle, a Train Around the Curve
Calhoun's crew was sent east of Spokane Falls to stand by a switch for the excursion trains. A belated passenger train rounded a curve onto their handcar; the men jumped, but a Chinese laborer was severely injured.
- A Bridge to Span the Spokane
Citizens fund a new crossing at Post Street, promising a vital link between the city's shores and a grand view of the falls.
- The Gold Rush That Was Coming for the Colville Reservation
A Spokane prospector returns from the northern mineral belt with news of rich rock—and a prediction that the Indians will not long keep their land.
- 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.
- A Violent Land Dispute on the Little Spokane
A settler’s attempt to harvest hay on his newly acquired land leads to an armed confrontation with local Indigenous claimants.
- 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.
- Spokane Falls Denounces the Legislator Who Would Keep the County Whole
At Cannon's Hall, citizens passed resolutions demanding that the Territorial Legislature ignore Jacob Stitzel and split Spokane County in two.
- The Stolen Petition That Could Have Split Spokane County
In 1883, a push to carve a new county out of Spokane turned ugly when a 350-name petition vanished from a Howard Street law office.
- 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.
- A Spokane Craftsman's Twelve-Year Masterpiece in Human Hair
Charles Streib spent over a decade creating portraits of Generals Washington and Sherman from thousands of strands of human hair—a feat of patience and artistry that astonished the city.
- Sixty Armed Men Took the Jail at Dayton
A convicted murderer was hauled out of the Columbia County jail and strangled from a rope in the public square — the coroner's jury named no killers, and the local editor scolded lynch law while calling the mob 'cool and systematic.'
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Spokane Falls Picks Its Men: A Packed Convention Names Glover and Hyde
In a crowded hall on a spring evening, the town's leading citizens nominated a full slate for the coming election — and the paper was happy to tell you exactly why each man deserved your vote.
- The Newspaper War Between Spokane Falls and Cheney
Spokane's Review savages the county seat of Cheney as a mud-bound, half-deserted village of one brick building — and admits the whole feud is over which town will boom.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.