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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1883 | 7 |
| 1884 | 4 |
11 stories matching read
- 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 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.
- Washington Wheat Rolls East for the First Time
A landmark Northern Pacific shipment carried Walla Walla wheat through Spokane Falls toward Minneapolis, announcing the railroad's promise to turn Inland Northwest grain into global commerce.
- The Hero of the Jersey Express
A young railroad engineer risks his life to save a passenger train, sparking a community celebration in Spokane.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.'
- 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.
- 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.