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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1883 | 8 |
| 1884 | 3 |
11 stories matching spread
- A False Rumor Nearly Wrecks a Spokane Firm — and the City Rallies With $166,000 in Offers
The Portland Board of Trade reports Sweeny & Co. failed with $75,000 in liabilities; within days the firm proves itself solvent and the city's reputation is on the line.
- The Agent Orders the Spokane Tribe Off Their Ancient Fishing Grounds
A newly arrived Indian agent, backed by orders from Washington, moves to clear the Spokanes and Coeur d'Alenes from the falls where they have always gathered — while promising land to those who comply.
- 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 Indian Scare That Wasn't
A rumor that Little Spokane Indians planned to burn out settlers sent twenty-two armed Spokane men rushing to Four Mile Prairie—where they found frightened neighbors and a land dispute, not an attack.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 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.
- 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.
- 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 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.