The Battle for Sullivan Creek

The Spokane-Portland Cement Co. has filed a suit in Stevens County Superior Court against Lewis Larson, John D. Clark, V. N. Millar, and the Inland Portland Cement Co., seeking $100,000 in damages. The plaintiffs allege that the defendants ousted them from property near Metaline, preventing the development of water power on Sullivan Creek. The complainants claim they acquired water rights to Sullivan Lake in 1908 and planned to build a dam and power plant in a rocky gorge where the creek drops 500 feet in five miles. The defendants, however, maintain that the plaintiffs failed to provide the necessary plats and field notes required by the forestry service. V. N. Millar, supervisor of the Kaniksu National Forest, noted that the plaintiffs' claims were not supported by official records and that they had been warned they were trespassing on government land. This litigation appears to be an attempt to hamper the Inland Cement Co., which is currently constructing flumes and roads to support a major cement manufacturing plant in the new town of Metaline. Critics argue that many natural resources in the region, including Albeni Falls, are being held by speculators who have no intention of developing them, but instead hold them at exorbitant prices to block public utility.