The Forced Relocation of the Spokane Tribe
As winter approaches, government agents scramble to move Spokane families to the Coeur d'Alene reservation, offering small frame houses as an incentive.
The story, cleaned up
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The next task before Capt. Bubb and Special Agent Hardman is the transfer of the Spokane Indians to the Coeur d'Alene reservation. Orders have been received from Washington City to begin the removal without delay. Enough land has been secured so that nearly all the families can be settled in one neighborhood in accordance with the wishes of Chiefs Louie and Enoch. Just at present, nearly all the Spokanes are scattered through the northern part of Stevens county on their autumn hunting picnic. Runners have been sent out to call them to Spokane that the head men of each family may consult with the agent in regard to the removal. Some of the Spokanes are willing to go to the Coeur d'Alenes, others prefer Jocko or Chief Lot's reservation. It is now proposed to send each family to its new home as fast as the head man reports which reservation is preferred, rather than waiting and trying to transfer the whole tribe at one time. The agents realize that no time may be lost if the Spokanes are to be installed in their new quarters before winter arrives. As soon as a family selects land on the Coeur d'Alene reservation, the agents will order a small but comfortable frame house built upon it, and will furnish the new colonists with a supply of food and clothing for the winter.
“The agents realize that no time may be lost if the Spokanes are to be installed in their new quarters before winter arrives.”
This article details the systematic displacement of the Spokane people, a dark chapter of federal policy that sought to consolidate Indigenous populations onto reservations. Modern efforts in Washington focus on land restoration and acknowledging the deep, ongoing connection the Spokane Tribe maintains with their ancestral territories.
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