Railroad Accident Nearly Ruins Financiers of Spokane’s Growth…

According to the book, “Manito Park: A Reflection of Spokane’s Past”, by Tony Bamonte and Suzanne Schaeffer Bamonte of www.tornadocreekpublications.com:

The most tragic railroad accident in the Inland Northwest was the head-on collision of two Spokane & Inland Empire trains about a mile west of Coeur d’ Alene on July 31, 1909.  Seventeen passengers were killed and more than two hundred injured.  This accident, and the resulting damage claims, plunged an already financially-compromised company into near financial ruin.  Soon after, the streetcar lines began to feel a sting of competition from the automobile.  In addition, the population count reached a sudden plateau, quelling the need for further rail line expansion.

By 1912 Graves divested himself of controlling interests and responsibilities in both the Spokane & Inland railway and the Granby mines.  His investments in these operations proved profitable, but many other investors, who delayed liquidating, were not so fortunate.  With his proceeds, Graves built a beautiful estate at his farm, purchased years earlier, on a bluff overlooking the Little Spokane River.  The estate he named “Waikiki” was designed by architect Kirtland Cutter and landscaped by the Olmstead Brothers firm.  (It is now Gonzaga University’s Bozarth Conference and Retreat Center.)  He also began investing in property north of Spokane, accumulating some 3000 acres, most of which he intended to develop and sell.

The residential acreage market was beginning to soften at this time, and Graves needed an incentive to entice buyers.  That incentive came in the form of donating land to the floundering Whitworth College, which was looking to relocate from Tacoma to a more strategic site.  Graves offered a proposal that gave Whitworth a vested interest in promoting the sales of lots around the donated land.  The college accepted, and a ground-breaking ceremony took place on May 22, 1914.  Graves continued to take an active role in the ongoing development of the college, and upon his death on April 27, 1948 at the age of 88, his ashes were scattered at a favorite spot on the Whitworth campus.

Graves experienced financial difficulties in his later years.  His real estate investments went flat and further speculation in the mining business was unproductive.  He had to sell Waikiki in 1937 at a deflated value.  Nevertheless, this shrewd, industrious businessman was remembered for his successes, and seen as a visionary who left for future generations such legacies as Manito Park and Whitworth College.

Next time, we will learn more about the expansion of the South Hill portion of Spokane and the newest  building boom in the area.

Spokane expands at a rapid pace…

According to the book, “Manito Park: A Reflection of Spokane’s Past”, by Tony Bamonte and Suzanne Schaeffer Bamonte of www.tornadocreekpublications.com:

Jay P. Graves’s early years in Spokane clearly influenced the transition between horses and motor vehicles.  The street railway enabled and encouraged the rapid building and expansion of Spokane.  The extension of his line through the South Hill fed the development of the Manito Park area.  Although Graves’s most financially significant accomplishment was the development of the Granby Mining, Smelting and Power Company in British Columbia (the largest copper producing mine in Canada at the time), his most important accomplishment in the Inland Northwest was the development of the electric railway system.

The caption in a July 9, 1907 newspaper article read:  “SPOKANE TO HOLD A WORLD’S REECORD:  longest Electric System on Earth Owned by One Company”.  Graves was quoted as saying, “Spokane has more miles of electric railroads than any other city in the Pacific coast states.”  The article continued, “This statement looks big, but it is substantiated by figures…Los Angeles comes second with a number of miles less than Spokane.”   In the final stage of development, Graves’s Inland Northwest railway empire consisted of some 250 miles.  In 1906, with the rapid expansion of the electric lines, the need to develop a private source of power (heretofore supplied by Washington Water Power) began to materialize.  Construction was started on the Nine Mile power plant on the Spokane River (now owned by W.W.P.).  Graves’s various rail lines and interests were finally organized into one large company – the Spokane & Inland Empire Railroad Company.  In October of 1909, he sold this line to the Great Northern Pacific railways.

During Grave’s development of his electric railroad, the Inland Northwest’s first serial murder was uncovered.  In December 1903, while grading for a sidetrack on the new Spokane and Coeur d’Alene electric line – a line Graves absorbed in 1904 – a construction crew unearthed a total of 11 skeletons near Coeur d’Alene.  Most of the remains were found in shallow graves on or near the grounds of former Fatty Carroll’s Resort.  Because “serial murder” was an unrecognized occurrence at the time and investigation techniques quite unrefined, the skulls and bones were exhibited in the various saloons and business houses around Coeur d’Alene.  This technique apparently was ineffective – it remains an unsolved mystery today.

By 1903, Automobiles Gain Popularity in Spokane:

According to the book, “Manito Park: A Reflection of Spokane’s Past”, by Tony Bamonte and Suzanne Schaeffer Bamonte of www.tornadocreekpublications.com:

Because of the frequency of horrible accidents and even deaths due to runaways and other horse-related incidents, Spokane had “Ordinance Relating to Horses.”  One of the first recorded accidents occurred on November 15, 1881, when the Western Hotel Express wagon, with eight people aboard, failed to negotiate the corner as it came onto Riverside Avenue at Blalock’s corner.  William Cannon, father of Anthony Cannon, was one of the passengers injured.  The 1892 municipal code cited, among other infractions, that riding a horse faster than six m.p.h. in the city or on a sidewalk was a misdemeanor punishable by stiff fines.

During the late 1800’s, Spokane had a no-nonsense approach to crime.  The city fed its jailed inmates bread and water, had a city rock pile where the prisoners worked, and carried out the only three official hangings in the history of Spokane County.  All three men were sentenced for murder within a year of his crime.

On July 26, 1903, an article appeared in the Spokesman-Review summarizing the status of automobiles:

AUTOS ARE POPULAR HERE, SPOKANE LEADS NORTHWEST IN USE OF THE HORSELESS – GASOLINE FAVORITE MOTIVE POWER – MACHINES ARE COSTLY – FAVORED BY PHYSICIANS.

No other town in the northeast can boast of as many automobiles as Spokane.  The broad level avenues of the city, together with the good condition of paving generally, level avenues of the city, afford an ideal place for the pleasures of automobiling.  Two styles of machines are noticeable.  They are what are termed the “runabout” and the “touring car”.  The runabout is the smaller vehicle, generally having but one seat and adapted to two persons.  The touring car is readily distinguished by its greater size and weight, and many have two, three or even four seats, and is suited for the accommodation of half a dozen or more passengers.  The latter machine is also more expensive, averaging from $1500 to $3000.  The runabout can be purchased for from $700 to $1200.  Of the three agencies used as motive power-electricity, steam and gasoline – the latter seems to be the most in favor.  It is asserted the gasoline engine requires less attention and is the most serviceable…

 

The Automobile Age Comes to Spokane!

According to the book, “Manito Park: A Reflection of Spokane’s Past”, by Tony Bamonte and Suzanne Schaeffer Bamonte of www.tornadocreekpublications.com:

Between 1898 and 1899, Spokane residents saw their first automobiles.  According to the February 11. 1926 issue of The Spokane Woman magazine, the earliest photograph of an auto appearing in Spokane was dated 1898.  The open car belonged to F. O. Berg.  [Berg was hired by a Portland man in 1898 to travel to New York and buy a car for him.  Berg chose a Locomobile Steamer, but when he returned with the car, the businessman was not able to figure out how it worked, so he sold it to Berg.]  In 1899 the Spokane Daily Chronicle reported the arrival of two gas-powered vehicles.  The Tull & Gibbs Company bought a large delivery truck.  Roy Boulter, owner of the other vehicle, apparently did not have much luck with his – the few times it was seen, it was being towed by a horse.  He soon replaced the gas engine with a steam motor, and later converted it into a steam saw

Berg’s recollection of his arrival in Spokane with his new car was quoted in the magazine, as follows:  “I started from the old O.W.R. & N.  [Oregon-Washington Railway & Navigation] depot on Cataldo Street, and before I got uptown I had succeeded in starting five runaways.  They didn’t have any arrest laws in those days, but I got plenty of abuse.”  On May 26, 1902, the absence of automobile traffic laws became an immediate problem.  Chief of Police William W. Witherspoon issued a citation to one of Spokane’s leading citizens for speeding down Riverside Avenue.  The Chief was on the streetcar at the time and caught up to the offender as he reached his destination.  Estimating the driver to be going at least 12 to 15 miles per hour, the Chief issued him a citation. [There was a 6 Miles Per Hour speed limit for horses in Spokane Municipal Code of 1892, but no speed limit for cars.]   However, the charge was later dropped because there was no law to support it.  Chief Witherspoon was on hand at the next city corporate council meeting to initiate Spokane’s first automobile traffic code.

The story of The Founding of Manito Park Continues…

According to the book, “Manito Park: A Reflection of Spokane’s Past”, by Tony Bamonte and Suzanne Schaeffer Bamonte of www.tornadocreekpublications.com:

In 1907, during a meeting with the Chamber of Commerce, Corporate Counsel James M. Geraghty made a statement summing up the spirit of donating land for parks.  This statement appeared in the January 10^th issue of the Spokane Daily Chronicle, “Let me tell you that no man has ever given the city a site for anything unless it lay near land that he owned and which he knew would be enhanced in value immensely by the expenditure of the city’s money on the donated land.  A.B. Campbell, who gave the site for the city library is, I believe, the one exception.”  This statement appears to sum up the origin of many parks, not only in Spokane, but throughout the nation.

Donating the land for Manito Park was clearly a successful financial move for all parties involved, and marked the beginning of the real estate boom in that area.  At the turn of the century, the most popular areas to live in Spokane were serviced by streetcars.  Many of the rail lines were built by real estate developers to promote the sale of their property.  In 1903, the year after purchasing Cook’s old line, Graves reorganized it as the Spokane Traction Company.  Between the Traction Company and his real estate ventures, Graves would turn Cook’s former holdings into an enterprise worth millions.  Because of its rail access and the city’s promise of new streets, Manito Park was at the hub of this rapidly growing neighborhood.

Rapid expansion of the streetcar lines continued as the city grew and competition was fierce; Washington Water Power began absorbing some of the smaller lines, but Graves’s line held its ground.  However, another competitor seen entered the scene and gradually began taking its toll on all the streetcar operations.

Hear about that streetcar threat next week.  Stay tuned….

More on The Founding of Manito Park – The Next Chapter….

According to the book, “Manito Park: A Reflection of Spokane’s Past”, by Tony Bamonte and Suzanne Schaeffer Bamonte of www.tornadocreekpublications.com:

By 1903 most of Cook’s properties on Cook’s Hill had been acquired by a number of land speculators.  Several of them, including Jay and his brother Will Graves, formed the Spokane-Washington Improvement Company to develop and promote their new Manito Addition, bounded by 14^th Avenue on the north, 33^rd avenue on the south, Hatch to the east, and Division to the west.  Intent on providing reliable public transportation to the Manito area, Graves had acquired the Spokane & Montrose street railway late in 1902.  He immediately began converting it from narrow to standard gauge track and improving the cars.

His next step was to organize the owners of the adjacent properties to offer a large tract of acreage to the city for a park.  Along with the Spokane-Washington Improvement Company and Spokane & Montrose Motor Railroad Co., the Washington Water Power Company, Northwestern and Pacific Hypotheekbank, and Frank Hogan collectively contributed nearly 95 acres to the city.  In exchange for this park acreage, the city agreed to pay the costs to improve the area, specifically to build a road system around the new park and bring in the main waterline.   Although legal title was not transferred until the following year, Montrose Park took on new ownership, a new name and a definite sense of direction.  A July 31, 1903 article in the Spokane Daily Chronicle announced the proposed boundaries for the park.

This article also proclaimed the new name for the park “…Manita [sic] Park, referring to its elevation, which affords a fine view of the city.”  The developers of the Manito Addition understood “Manito” to be an Indian word for “hilltop”, as indicated in a brochure they published to promote their Manito properties.  More specifically, it is an Algonquin (a North American tribe originally from the area of Quebec, Canada) word meaning “spirit” or “a supernatural force that pervades nature,” still a fitting description for the area.

The story will continue next week with more details about the founding of this marvelous park.  Please click over to www.ManitoPark.org again then.

The Founding of Manito Park – The Story Continues….

According to the book, “Manito Park: A Reflection of Spokane’s Past”, by Tony Bamonte and Suzanne Schaeffer Bamonte of www.tornadocreekpublications.com:

Grave’s ancestral line is traced to Captain Thomas Graves, who came to Jamestown, Virginia, (the first permanent English settlement in America) in 1608.  Captain Graves made passage on the William and Mary, the second ship to make this voyage.  The family tree reveals a long line of significant accomplishments on a national level.  Following graduation in 1880 from Carthage College in Carthage, Illinois, Jay Graves engaged in the hardware business in Plymouth, Illinois.  By 1887 Spokane Falls was gaining a reputation as a city of great opportunity.  This information, and the lure of the West, drew Graves to Spokane in late 1887.  His initial ventures in Spokane were in Real Estate investment.  Many of Graves’s early business dealings were somewhat complicated, being cloaked in various partnerships and names.  However, his entrepreneurial interests were broad, centering around mining, railroads and urban development.

Graves was particularly fortunate during the Panic.  By 1894 many of Spokane’s founders and early promoters had suffered financially.  Among them were Francis Cook, James Glover and Anthony Cannon.  John Fahey, in his book Shaping Spokane, states:

The panic did not destroy everyone, did not maul uniformly.  While hundreds lost fortunes and property, a man with money could select among unique bargains in real estate.  For example, John A. Finch, miner-turned-real-estate speculator, foreclosed Muzzy’s Addition; the Hypotheekbank took Cannon’s and Cook’s additions, and the Provident Trust, Cook’s street railway.  Sales of abandoned, foreclosed, and tax-delinquent property in and near Spokane would go on for years… thus, distress for many meant opportunity for a few.  While jobless men occupied the old city haymarket, intending to march with Coxey, by contrast 73 borrowers repaid the Hypotheekbank.  A newspaper estimated that there were 650 homeless persons in Spokane, sleeping in saloons or a tabernacle.  On the other hand, contractors built a flour mill and 400 new houses (average cost $1,000) in the city during 1894.  The state underwrote an insane asylum at nearby Medical Lake and a normal school at Cheney and Spokane County built a French Renaissance courthouse as relief projects.  But when the City of Spokane called on individual citizens and business to be sureties for a new waterworks, 155 pledged from $500 to $40,000.  Neither Graves nor Clough [Clough was one of Jay Graves’s partners in development], incidentally signed as surety.

By 1901 the depression was over and the economy was booming again.  For those, such as Graves, who had anticipated the future, now was the time to take action.  On November 21, 1901, the first hint of something greater for Cook’s Montrose Park appeared in the paper.  The Spokane Daily Chronicle published a headline that read, “WILL GIVE A FINE PARK … Companies Owing Large Tracts of Land on the Southern Hill to Present a Big Tract to the City of Spokane … CITY MAY SECURE EIGHTY ACRES.”

Tune in next week for the next chapter in the story of the birth of Manito Park.