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Spokane is a city
located in the Northwestern Washington. It
is the largest city and county seat of
Spokane County, as well as the metropolitan
center of the Inland Northwest region. The
city is located on the Spokane River in
Eastern Washington, 110 miles south of the
Canadian border, approximately 20 miles from
the Washington-Idaho border, and 271 miles
east of Seattle.
David Thompson explored the Spokane area and
began European settlement with the westward
expansion and establishment of the North
West Company’s Spokane House in 1810. This
trading post was the first long-term
European settlement in Washington and the
center of the fur trade between the Rockies
and the Cascades for 16 years. In the late
1800s, gold and silver were discovered in
the Inland Northwest. The Spokane area is
considered to be one of the most productive
mining districts in North America. Spokane’s
economy has traditionally been natural
resource based, however, the city’s economy
has diversified to encompass other
industries, including the high-tech and
biotech sectors.
The
city of Spokane (then known as "Spokane
Falls") was settled in 1871 and officially
incorporated as a city in 1881. The city's
name is drawn from the Native American tribe
known as the Spokane, which means "Children
of the Sun" in Salish. The name is often
mispronounced "Spo-CAIN", while the correct
pronunciation is "Spo-CAN". Spokane's
official nickname is the "Lilac City", named
after the flowers that have flourished since
their introduction to the area in the early
20th century. Completion of the Northern
Pacific Railway in 1881 brought major
settlement to the Spokane area.
The
Inland Northwest was first explored by
explorer-geographer David Thompson, working
as head of the North West Company's Columbia
Department. Crossing what is now the U.S.–
Canadian border from British Columbia,
Thompson wanted to expand the North West
Company further south in search of furs,
primarily beaver. After establishing the
Kullyspell House and Saleesh House trading
posts in what is now Idaho and Montana,
Thompson wanted to expand further west. In
1810, Thompson sent out trappers, Jacques
Raphael Finlay and Finan McDonald to the
Spokane River to build a trading post in
eastern Washington that would exchange with
the local Spokane and Colville Indians.
At
the confluence of the Little Spokane and
Spokane, Finlay and McDonald built a new fur
trading post, which was the first long-term
European settlement in Washington state.
This trading post known as the Spokane
House, or simply "Spokane", was in operation
from 1810 to 1826. The Spokane House,
operated by the British North West Company
and, later, the Hudson's Bay Company, was
the center of the fur trade between the
Rockies and the Cascades for 16 years. When
the Hudson's Bay Company absorbed the North
West Company in 1821, operations at Spokane
House eventually shifted to Fort Colville;
afterward the company still remained active
near Spokane.
Joint American–British occupation of Oregon
Country, in effect since the Treaty of 1818,
ended with the signing of the Oregon Treaty
in 1846. The first American settlers,
squatters J.J. Downing and S.R. Scranton,
built a cabin and established a claim at
Spokane Falls in 1871. Together they built a
small sawmill on a claim near the south bank
of the Spokane Falls. James N. Glover and
Jasper Matheney, Oregonians passing through
the region in 1873, recognized the value of
the Spokane River and its falls. They
realized the investment potential and bought
the claims of 160 acres and the sawmill from
Downing and Scranton for a total of $4,000.
Glover and Matheney knew that the Northern
Pacific Railroad Company had received a
government charter to build a main line
across this northern route. Glover later
became known as the "Father of Spokane".
On
October 21, 1880, Camp Spokane was
established by U.S. Army troops under Lt.
Col. Henry Clay Merriam at a location 56
miles northwest of Spokane at the junction
of the Columbia and Spokane Rivers. The camp
location was strategic, having the intended
goals of protecting construction of the
Northern Pacific Railway and securing a
place for U.S. settlement.
By
1881, the Northern Pacific Railway was
completed, bringing major European
settlement to the area. The city of Spokan
Falls (the "e" was added in 1883 and "Falls"
dropped in 1891) was officially incorporated
as a city of about 1,000 residents in 1881.
Glover became the founder and "Father of
Spokane". The city's population ballooned to
19,922 in 1890, and 36,848 in 1900 with the
arrival of the railroads. The railroad lured
settlers from as far away as Finland,
Germany, and England and as close as
Minnesota and the Dakotas. By 1910, the
population hit 104,000; the building of the
Northern Pacific, allowed Spokane to eclipse
Walla Walla as the commercial center of the
Inland Northwest.
Spokane's growth continued unabated until
August 4, 1889, when a fire, now known as
The Great Fire, began shortly after 6:00
p.m. and destroyed the city's downtown
commercial district. Due to technical
problems with a pump station, there was no
water pressure in the city when the fire
started. In an effort to impede the fire's
growth, firefighters began demolishing
buildings with dynamite. The fire continued
despite this as the flames leaped over the
cleared spaces and created their own
firestorm. When volunteer firefighters
attempted to quench the flames, they found
their hoses were unusable. Eventually winds
died down and the fire exhausted of its own
accord. In the fires' aftermath, 32 blocks
of Spokane's downtown were destroyed and one
person was killed. City
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