Remember The Sunken Gardens We Learned About?

Sections of Manito have always been left in a natural “undeveloped” state, which appeals to the adventurer in all young children.  During Balzer’s early years as superintendent, his young son, Norb and his friends found the present-day Duncan Gardens an exciting place to play their games.  The area was covered with fir and pine trees and the boys needed a good hideout.  They proceeded to dig a seven-foot deep cave, which they covered with boards.  One day Mr. Balzer followed his son to the hideout and, to the senior Balzer’s delight, discovered the boys had dug into rich, dark soil – perfect topsoil.  With much of Spokane’s soil being very poor and rocky, Balzer recognized its value and began using this soil for the Manito gardens.  Neighbors would also come to take rich earth home for their own gardens.  According to Norb Balzer, in an April 18, 1968 article in the Spokane Daily Chronicle, “Eventually he had hauled out 42,000 loads of loam to parks all over the city.”  As a result, the present level of Duncan Gardens is now much lower than it had originally been, given it its first name – the Sunken Gardens.

In 1905 Charles Balzer began acquiring animals for a fledgling zoo in the park.  The first residents were beaver and muskrats, located at the present Manito duck pond.  Within a short time, the zoo grew into as major attraction.  At times it contained as many as 165 various animals.  Among the animals at the zoo were deer, elk, deer, monkeys, buffalo, mountain lions, coyotes, foxes, badgers, bob cats, skunks, goats, kangaroos, beavers, muskrats and numerous species of birds.  The zoo covered nearly a third of the park.

Next week we’ll discover more about this interesting zoo right in the heart of Manito Park.