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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1883 | 18 |
| 1884 | 8 |
26 stories matching stop
- 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.
- Caught in the Shaft: A Miller's Close Call at Post's Mill
George Hilbert, assistant miller at Frederick Post's flour mill, was nearly torn apart when his foot was snagged by a spinning iron shaft. Quick action by a coworker saved his life.
- 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.
- Armed Raid on Chinese Camp at Hangman Creek
A group of three men attacked a Chinese wood-chopper camp, resulting in a death and the displacement of the survivors.
- The Hero of the Jersey Express
A young railroad engineer risks his life to save a passenger train, sparking a community celebration in Spokane.
- A Circular Saw, a Jammed Board, and a Mill Hand's Narrow Escape
L. C. Grimmel lost a finger and nearly his whole hand at Johnson & Co.'s mill when a stuck board freed the saw without warning.
- A Threshing Machine Tragedy
A farm worker suffers a horrific injury after falling into a threshing machine near Spokane.
- 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 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.
- An Arsonist's Fire in the Black Hawk Stable
A pre-dawn blaze in a Main Street livery kills four valuable horses and nearly takes the block — and the town is sure it was set on purpose.
- The Perils of Courting in a Buggy
A livery stable customer recounts a disastrous date involving a runaway horse, a kiss, and a very narrow escape.
- 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.
- 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.
- The Tin-Can Alarm Clock Prank That Sent a Spokane Sleeper Racing Downtown at 1:30 A.M.
A prominent citizen rigged a string-and-tin-can wake-up call with the night watchman. Local pranksters pulled the string first—and he dressed and ran for a train that wasn't leaving.
- 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 Gun in the Wagon
H. P. Fox was scouting land near Loon Lake when a loaded shotgun discharged into his arm. Surgeons in Spokane Falls amputated, but the long ride and his weakened health were too much.
- The Grave Robbers of Spokane Falls
A quiet cemetery south of town is disturbed by a bizarre act of desecration, leaving a grieving family and a mystified community.
- 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.
- 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 Stage for the Falls: The Push for Spokane's First Great Opera House
With touring companies expected on the Northern Pacific, local boosters propose a 1,000-seat frame hall—and a joint-stock company to build it for $6,000.
- 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.
- When General Sherman Told Spokane Falls It Would Be a Great City
The Civil War hero arrived with Generals Miles and Tidball, drew a packed house at Canaan's Hall, and told the young town its water power could make it another Minneapolis.
- The Coeur d'Alene Stampede Through Spokane Falls
Every train brings a delegation of prospectors as the Coeur d'Alene mining fever turns Spokane Falls into the gateway to the new diggings — and prices at the mines run to $70 a barrel of flour.
- 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 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.