Spokane was growing quickly and a political battle ensued over moving its first cemetery

Spokane was growing quickly and a political battle ensued over moving its first cemetery.

About the time of Cannon’s arrival, the railroads began connecting Spokane to the outside world.  Spokane’s population jumped from about 300 in 1880 to over 19,000 in 1890.  By 1891 the city limits stretched south to 29^th avenue.  (As may be recalled, when Cook bought over 600 acres on the Manito Plateau, most of it was outside the city limits, which then extended only to 14^th.)  The 1915 federal census (as published in the Polk Directory) placed the population figure at 139,323.  With such rapid expansion, the community faced the problem of where to bury its dead.  This was of some consequence to the early land developers.  Typically, cemeteries are established during the early stages of settlement.  They are usually situated in some of the most prime locations in a community. Often becoming coveted building sites as view and other choice property becomes scarce.   Such was the fate affecting two of Spokane’s first cemeteries, which were in the path of residential expansion.  There are many conflicting stories regarding these burial grounds, some of which may be clarified by the following quote from the May 26, 1897 Spokesman Review.   It provides excellent descriptions for both these cemeteries:

THE OLD CEMETERY

MOVEMENT TO REMOVE ONE OF SPOKANE’S LANDMARKS

PIONEERS ARE BURIED IN IT

Oldest Settlers Do Not Remember When It Was Started

Bodies to Be Exhumed

 

A movement is on foot to remove one of the most important historical landmarks in Spokane.  Last week a petition prepared by J. W. Witherop and signed by W.J.C. Wakefield, John Finch, J.J. Browne, Dr. W.W. Potter and other residents of Browne’s Addition, was presented to the city council, asking that 17 bodies buried in the old cemetery near the end of the boulevard and Pacific Avenue [Browne’s Addition] be exhumed and reinterred in one of the modern cemeteries – either Greenwood or Fairmont.  The petition stated the matter briefly, pointing out that the west end is rapidly becoming the most beautiful residence portion of the city, that remains of most of those buried in the cemetery had been removed some time ago, and it would add to the attractiveness of the neighborhood if the remainder were removed.

This was Spokane’s first cemetery.  Here it was that many of the sturdy pioneers who came over the trail from Oregon, or from the far east, years before the Northern Pacific railroad was dreamed of, were buried, as were their wives, and in many instances their children.  How the location was selected as a cemetery no one remembers.  It was certainly a sublime spot, however, situated on the abutting point of land, wrapt [sic] in the dense solitude of the primeval forest, commanding one grand, sublime view of rugged cliff and… the valleys of Hangman creek and the Spokane.

The exact date of the cemetery’s first burial is unknown, as were also the burials of later times.  No tombstone was ever erected in the plot; only some plain wooden slabs, lettered by the hands of some loving father, husband or brother, told for a few brief months the name of the departed.

In speaking of the old grave yard yesterday, James N. Glover, Spokane’s oldest pioneer, said:  “Yes, I understand the old cemetery is to be removed.  This was Spokane’s first cemetery.  I do not know how old it is; It was there when I first came, and used for many years afterward.  About 12 years ago most of the remains were removed.  I thought all, but it seems not.  No, I do not know the names of those buried out there, for I do not know how many were removed.” J.J. Browne, on whose land the cemetery was located, was more familiar with the later history of the cemetery than Mr. Glover.

“This,” said Mr.  Browne, “was Spokane’s first burying ground.  How it came to be selected I do not know; it was already located when I arrived.  That was before it came to be surveyed and was sold as government land.  When I got the land from the government, the cemetery was included in my purchase, and people continued to use it for many years afterward.  That was probably 18 years ago.  The cemetery was used until about 12 years ago, when most of the bodies were exhumed by friends and taken to Spokane’s second cemetery, the old burying ground in what is now known as Cannon’s Addition, probably a half mile south of the Irving school.  This latter cemetery was not used but a few years, the town growing so rapidly that the cemetery was abandoned and the bodies again exhumed, most of them taken to Greenwood or Fairmont.  I believe the number of bodies named in the petition as being still buried in the old cemetery is erroneous.  The petition say 17, but I believe there are no more than six or seven.  Do I know the names of those buried?  No; or at least not many of them.  I remember attending a number of funerals, however, the first funeral I attended in the city was that of Mr. Lowry, a young man, 21 years of age, who worked in one of the mills, if I remember rightly.  The parents of the young man later moved to Montana, and the remains were not exhumed.  Another funeral I attended was that of Mrs. Evans.  Shortly after her death her husband also removed to Montana, and was lost track of.  She remains buried in the cemetery.  Another, and the only remaining case that I know of is that of a Mr. Evans, who lost his life in a log jam up the river.  He was buried there, and only last week his wife came to see me to learn if the remains could not be removed to Greenwood or Fairmont.  I thought the proposal impossible, but she felt sure that she could identify the remains if they were exhumed.  She said that Mr. Evans lost his life up the river and that his skull was fractured in such a way that she would never forget it, or fail to identify the remains.  The fracture was on the side of the head, and she still remembered how it looked.  I also remember the burial of a number of men killed in a wreck on the Northern Pacific trestle, just north of the city, when that road was being built through the city.  If I remember rightly, though, these men were buried by the various trainmen’s societies.  A number of the Havermale children were also buried there.  The first that I knew of the movement being on foot to remove the remains was when the petition was presented to me last week.”

 

Next week , we’ll learn more about the various cemeteries in Spokane, how they were formed and where they were located.