Spokane House
Spokane House was a fur-trading post founded in 1810 by the British-Canadian North West Company, located on a peninsula where the Spokane River and Little Spokane River meet. When established, the North West Company's farthest outpost in the Columbia River region was the first ever non-Indigenous settlement in the Pacific Northwest (South of present-day 49 degree latitude border). An American rival of the NWC, the Pacific Fur Company opened a station adjacent to Spokane House, called Fort Spokane. The War of 1812 and ongoing supply issues caused the collapse of the PFC, with its posts now under the control of the NWC. The original Spokane House was abandoned in favor of Fort Spokane, though the latter location was still called Spokane House. The second Spokane House saw use as a major post in the interior Oregon Country until the NWC was absorbed by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1821. During a general tour of the Pacific Northwest, Spokane House was abandoned by George Simpson in 1825, in favor of a new post that became Fort Colvile. The site of Spokane House is in Spokane County in the U.S. state of Washington, just northwest of the city of Spokane.
North West Company
Spokane House was created under direction of
Fort Spokane
Fort Spokane was a competing station opened by the
Relations with the neighboring Sqeliz were peaceable, with the post gate often left open at night. Illim-Spokanee, the father of
"a snug and commodious dwelling-house, containing four rooms and a kitchen; together with a comfortable house for the men, and a capacious store for the furs and trading goods; the whole surrounded by paling, and flanked by two bastions with loopholes for musketry.[4]
When the Astorian wintering parties returned in early May, departure for Fort Astoria was set for 25 May 1813. The majority of the PFC laborers were in this party, with four men under Pillet left at Fort Spokane.[6] Reaching Fort Astoria in August, the group learned the unfortunate news of the War of 1812
NWC hegemony
Operations based at Spokane House were relocated to Fort Spokane, though the PFC station took the NWC station's name. It became was the North West Company's central depot in the
HBC
The Hudson's Bay Company took over control of the NWC in 1821 and sent George Simpson to tour the new western possessions of the HBC throughout 1824 and 1825. He visited the station accompanied by John McLoughlin, McMillian, and Peter Skene Ogden late in October 1824.[7] Many of laborers that worked at Spokane House and its subsidiary stations of the Flathead Post and Kootanae House did not receive favorable reviews by Simpson. In particular he found many lazy, "the very scum of the country... the most unruly and troublesome gang... are under no control & feel their own independence, they therefore require very superior management to make anything of them..."[7] Simpson reduced the employees stationed at Spokane House for 1825 by seven, leaving only fifteen.[8]
Simpson returned to the station in April 1825. He began discussions with the Spokane House management to abandon Spokane House in favor of the Kettle Falls. This was due to several reasons including, the distance of Spokane House from the Columbia River, the scarcity of fur bearing populations in the area, and the abundance of fish and promising agricultural prospects at the latter location.[9] That year work began near Kettle Falls on a new fur post, Fort Colvile.
Later history
In 1846 by the Oregon Treaty, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland ceded all claims to lands in the Pacific Northwest south of the 49th parallel to the United States of America.
Historical climate (1896-1899)
Climate data for Fort Spokane, Washington | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °F (°C) | 52 (11) |
59 (15) |
65 (18) |
84 (29) |
95 (35) |
100 (38) |
107 (42) |
109 (43) |
97 (36) |
77 (25) |
71 (22) |
50 (10) |
109 (43) |
Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 32.9 (0.5) |
39.7 (4.3) |
49.6 (9.8) |
62.3 (16.8) |
68.9 (20.5) |
77.5 (25.3) |
88.3 (31.3) |
91.1 (32.8) |
75.9 (24.4) |
61.6 (16.4) |
39.9 (4.4) |
33.3 (0.7) |
60.1 (15.6) |
Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 17.5 (−8.1) |
21.3 (−5.9) |
24.0 (−4.4) |
34.9 (1.6) |
41.5 (5.3) |
46.7 (8.2) |
50.0 (10.0) |
50.8 (10.4) |
41.2 (5.1) |
30.1 (−1.1) |
22.8 (−5.1) |
18.1 (−7.7) |
33.2 (0.7) |
Record low °F (°C) | −28 (−33) |
−24 (−31) |
3 (−16) |
19 (−7) |
26 (−3) |
32 (0) |
39 (4) |
36 (2) |
27 (−3) |
13 (−11) |
−25 (−32) |
−8 (−22) |
−28 (−33) |
Average precipitation inches (mm) | 2.73 (69) |
1.01 (26) |
0.54 (14) |
1.16 (29) |
1.90 (48) |
1.19 (30) |
1.52 (39) |
0.97 (25) |
0.79 (20) |
0.47 (12) |
3.54 (90) |
2.11 (54) |
17.93 (456) |
Average snowfall inches (cm) | 20.6 (52) |
7.4 (19) |
3.7 (9.4) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
20.0 (51) |
14.3 (36) |
66 (167.4) |
Source: [11] |
References
- ^ Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
- ^ Thompson, David. David Thompson's Narrative. Edited by J. B. Tyrrell. Toronto: The Champlain Society. 1916, p.
- ^ a b Ronda, James. Astoria & Empire. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press. 1990, pp. 240–241.
- ^ a b c Cox (1831), p. 196-199.
- ^ Cox Ross. The Columbia River. Vol. 1 London: Coburn & Bently. 1831, pp. 188–189.
- ^ Cox (1831), p. 202.
- ^ a b c Simpson, George. Fur Trade and Empire. Edited by Frederick Merk. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1968. pp. 43–48.
- ^ Simpson (1968), p. 66.
- ^ Simpson (1968), p. 134.
- ^ Currents and Undercurrents:, An Administrative History of Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area, National Park Service
- ^ "FORT SPOKANE, WASHINGTON (452972)". Western Regional Climate Center. Retrieved 6 June 2016.