The Northwest Intercollegiate Athletic Association ( NIAA ), also known informally, at least initially, as the Northwest Conference , was a collegiate athletic conference in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, established in 1902.
118-578: The Northwest Intercollegiate Athletic Association was established at a conference held in Spokane , Washington on October 11, 1902. Delegates from eight leading colleges of the Pacific Northwest region, including three university presidents, gathered in the directors' rooms of the Spokane Athletic Club and resolved to establish a new governing body for intercollegiate athletic competition. One of
236-804: A distinct identity and illustrate the changes throughout the city's history. Most of Spokane's notable buildings and landmarks are in the Riverside neighborhood and the downtown commercial district, where many of the buildings were rebuilt after the Great Fire of 1889 in the Romanesque Revival style. Examples include the Great Northern clock tower, Review Building, Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes , First Congregational Church , Washington Water Power Post Street substation , Peyton Building, and The Carlyle. The principal architect of many buildings of this period
354-528: A haphazard choice by individual managers." This aspiration was not to be achieved, however, and irregular scheduling among conference schools remained the norm. At a Dec. 3, 1915 meeting in Portland, OR, three conference members, Washington, Oregon, and Oregon Agricultural who had helped form the new Pacific Coast Conference noted that they would remain members of the Northwest Conference as well, and that
472-499: A male householder with no partner present, and 31.4% had a female householder with no partner present. The median household size was 2.21 and the median family size was 2.96. The age distribution was 18.8% under 18, 9.9% from 18 to 24, 30.8% from 25 to 44, 22.9% from 45 to 64, and 17.6% who were 65 or older. The median age was 38.6 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.4 males. Pacific Coast Conference The Pacific Coast Conference ( PCC )
590-617: A one-year residence requirement and four year total of eligibility were also said to be promoted at the meeting by some participants. The February 1908 conference in Walla Walla generated a binding set of rules for the six member schools for the 1908–09 and 1909–10 academic years. These included a four-year limit on athletic participation and a requirement that students transferring into member schools would not be eligible for athletic participation until they had been in attendance for one college year. The question of semi-professional summer baseball
708-559: A plain that eventually rises sharply to the east towards the rugged, timbered Selkirk Mountains . The foothills of the Rockies —the Coeur d'Alene Mountains —rise about 25 miles (40 km) to the east in north Idaho. The city is in a transition area between the barren landscape of the Columbia Basin and the coniferous forests to the east; to the south are the lush prairies and rolling hills of
826-486: A publicity stunt. Many Wobblies were incarcerated, including feminist labor leader Elizabeth Gurley Flynn , who published her account in the local Industrial Worker . After mining declined at the turn of the 20th century, agriculture and logging became the primary influences in the Spokane economy. The population explosion and the building of homes, railroads, and mines in northern Idaho and southern British Columbia fueled
944-477: A solitary wolf in Mount Spokane State Park. Although the ecoregion remains ecologically intact, it faces conservation challenges that include the negative effects of certain forestry management and logging practices, higher risks of forest fires due to the alteration of the trees that make up the forest composition, and habitat fragmentation as a result of urban sprawl and development, which endangers
1062-420: A strong position against professionalism, declaring that only bona fide students of true amateur status should be entitled to participate in intercollegiate competition. It was hoped that this would bring to an end the use of infiltrating skilled ringers into collegiate competition, a practice already recognized to be a bane upon college sports. Sports championships were to be arranged by the governing board. At
1180-596: A total area of 60.02 square miles (155.45 km ), of which 59.25 square miles (153.46 km ) is land and 0.77 square miles (1.99 km ) is water. Spokane lies mostly within the Spokane Valley Outwash Plains at the periphery of the North Central Rockies forests ecoregion and partly within the eastern edge of the basaltic Channeled Scablands steppe of the Columbia Plateau ecoregion,
1298-571: A year. Spokane's location, between the Cascades Range to the west and the Rocky Mountains to the east and north, protects it from weather patterns experienced in other parts of the Pacific Northwest . The Cascade Mountains form a barrier to the eastward flow of moist and relatively mild air from the Pacific Ocean in winter and cool air in summer. As a result of the rain shadow effect of
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#17330928471271416-573: Is currently being renovated and modernized (as of October 2016). Manito Park and Botanical Gardens on Spokane's South Hill features the Duncan Gardens, a classical European Renaissance -style garden and the Nishinomiya Japanese Garden designed by Nagao Sakurai . Riverside State Park, close to downtown, is a site for outdoor activities such as hiking, mountain biking, and horse riding. The Spokane area has many trails and rail trails ,
1534-508: Is still trying to make the transition to a more service-oriented economy in the face of a less prominent manufacturing sector. Developing the city's strength in the medical and health sciences fields has seen some success, resulting in the expansion of the University District with two medical school branches. The city faces challenges such as a scarcity of high-paying jobs, pockets of poverty, and areas of high crime. The opening of
1652-594: Is the Washington-native rainbow trout , which is the official fish of Washington state. Big game common in eastern Washington include black and grizzly bears, caribou , Rocky Mountain elk , bighorn sheep, and cougar. Whitetail deer, mule deer, and moose are also found in abundance. The gray wolf population has been making a recovery in the Inland Northwest. As of June 2016, there are 16 wolf packs in eastern Washington. In August 2016, photo evidence confirmed
1770-592: Is the central business district of Spokane. The neighborhoods south of downtown Spokane are collectively known as the South Hill. Downtown Spokane contains many of the city's public facilities, including City Hall, Riverfront Park (site of Expo '74), and the Spokane Convention Center, First Interstate Center for the Arts and Spokane Arena. The Spokane County Courthouse and public safety campus is adjacent to downtown in
1888-597: Is the closest natural reserve, the closest National Forest is the Colville National Forest , the closest National Recreation Area is the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area and the closest national park is Mount Rainier National Park , approximately a four-and-a-half hour drive from Spokane. Spokane's neighborhoods range from the Victorian -style South Hill and Browne's Addition, to
2006-596: Is the economic and cultural center of the Spokane metropolitan area , the Spokane–Coeur d'Alene combined statistical area , and the Inland Northwest . It is known as the birthplace of Father's Day , and locally by the nickname of "Lilac City". Officially, Spokane goes by the nickname of Hooptown USA , due to Spokane's annual hosting of the Spokane Hoopfest , the world's largest basketball tournament. The city and
2124-716: Is the most populous city in and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington , United States. It is in eastern Washington , along the Spokane River , adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains , and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, 92 miles (148 km) south of the Canadian border , 18.5 miles (30 km) west of the Washington– Idaho border, and 279 miles (449 km) east of Seattle , along Interstate 90 . Spokane
2242-542: Is the official tree of the City of Spokane, which is where specimens were first collected by botanist David Douglas in 1826. The Canadian Rockies ecoregion supports 70 mammals, 16 reptiles and amphibians, 168 birds, and 41 fish species. There is a high concentration of raptors in the area, bald eagles are a common sight near Lake Coeur d'Alene in December and January when kokanee spawn. The most common fish present in area lakes
2360-757: The California and Northwest schools extended to Edwin Pauley , a regent of the University of California, disliking the member universities in the Pacific Northwest enough to advocate that the California institutions leave the Pacific Coast Conference to form a "California Conference." The PCC had a history of being very strict with regards to its standards; it suspended the University of Southern California from
2478-463: The Chicago World's Fair in 1893, Cutter found work constructing many mansions for mining and railroad tycoons such as Patrick "Patsy" Clark and Daniel C. Corbin and son Austin. The older neighborhoods of the early 20th century, such as West Central, East Central, Logan , Hillyard, and much of the lower South Hill, feature a large concentration of American Craftsman style bungalows . In Hillyard,
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#17330928471272596-454: The Division ;I level. As of 2010, Spokane's major daily newspaper, The Spokesman-Review , had a daily circulation of over 76,000. The first humans to live in the Spokane area were hunter-gatherers that lived off plentiful fish and game; early human remains have been dated to 8,000 to 13,000 years ago. The Spokane tribe, after which the city is named (the name meaning "children of
2714-722: The Fox and Bing Crosby theaters. The Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane , and the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist serves as that of the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane . The Spokane Washington Temple in the east of the county serves the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . Gonzaga University was established in 1887 by
2832-617: The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), or "Wobblies" as they were often known, whose free speech fights had begun to garner national attention. Now, with grievances concerning the unethical practices of the employment agencies, they initiated a free speech fight in September 1908 by purposely breaking a city ordinance on soapboxing . With IWW encouragement, union members from many western states came to Spokane to take part in what had become
2950-848: The Jesuits , and the private Presbyterian Whitworth University was founded three years later and moved to north Spokane in 1914. In sports, the region's professional and semi-professional sports teams include the Spokane Indians in Minor League Baseball . The Spokane Chiefs in the Western Hockey League . The Spokane Velocity in USL League One with a women's first division team Spokane Zephyr FC in USL Super League . The Gonzaga Bulldogs collegiate basketball team competes at
3068-466: The Northern Pacific Railway in 1881 brought many settlers from America to the Spokane area. The same year it was officially incorporated as a city under the name of Spokane Falls (it was re-incorporated under its current name ten years later). In the late 19th century, gold and silver were discovered in the Inland Northwest. The local economy depended on mining, timber, and agriculture until
3186-491: The Oregon Treaty of 1846. The Hudson's Bay Company wound up its operations in the area over the next few years. In what is now Spokane, the first American settlers were J.J. Downing and S.R. Scranton, cattle ranchers who squatted and established a claim at Spokane Falls in 1871. Together they built a small sawmill on a claim near the south bank of the falls. James N. Glover and Jasper Matheney, Oregonians passing through
3304-616: The Palouse region. The AAWU eventually strengthened its bonds and added members, renaming itself the Pacific-8 Conference (Pac-8) in 1968. By 1971, most Pac-8 schools played round-robin conference football schedules, and the two Oregon schools were again playing USC and UCLA on a regular basis. The conference added WAC powers Arizona and Arizona State in 1978 and became the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10). On July 1, 2011 ,
3422-686: The Palouse . The highest peak in Spokane County is Mount Spokane , at an elevation of 5,883 feet (1,793 m), on the eastern side of the Selkirk Mountains. The Spokane River is the area's most prominent water feature, a 111-mile (179 km) tributary of the Columbia River , originating from Lake Coeur d'Alene in northern Idaho. The river flows west across the Washington state line through downtown Spokane, meeting Latah Creek , then turns to
3540-583: The Queen Anne and early American Craftsman styles. The area houses the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture. In northeast Spokane, the Hillyard neighborhood began in 1892 as the chosen site for James J. Hill's Great Northern Railway yard, placed outside Spokane city limits to avoid "burdensome taxes". The downtown Hillyard Business District, located on Market Street, was the first Spokane neighborhood listed in
3658-794: The River Park Square in 1999 served as a catalyst and sparked a downtown rebirth that included the building of the Spokane Arena and expansion of the Spokane Convention Center . Other major projects include the building of the Big Easy concert house (now the Knitting Factory ) and renovation of the historic Montvale Hotel , the Kirtland Cutter-designed Davenport Hotel (after being vacant for over 20 years),
Northwest Intercollegiate Athletic Association - Misplaced Pages Continue
3776-460: The University of Washington , was chosen as temporary chair of the new body, with mathematics professor J. E. Bonebright of the University of Idaho provisionally named as secretary. The gathering decided that governance should be through a board elected by the member institutions, with each school electing one member to the board — either a student, faculty member, or alumnus. The Association took
3894-575: The 1915–16 season. The PCC adopted a divisional format for basketball beginning with the 1922–23 season. The California schools formed the Southern Division, while the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain schools formed the North Division. The winners of the two divisions played a best of three series to determine the PCC basketball champion. If two division teams tied, they had a one-game playoff to produce
4012-412: The 1920s and 1930s remained slow but less drastically so, forcing city boosters to market the city as a quiet, comfortable place suitable for raising a family rather than a dynamic community full of opportunity. The Inland Empire was heavily dependent on natural resources and extractive goods produced from mines, forests, and farms, which experienced a fall in demand. The situation improved slightly with
4130-511: The 1958–59 season, the regular season conference champion was awarded the NCAA tournament berth from the PCC. In the case of a tie, a tie breaker rule was used to determine the NCAA tournament representative. ^ Denotes PCC representative in Rose Bowl for shared conference championships The PCC adopted a divisional format for baseball in 1923, with the same alignment that it used for basketball. Briefly,
4248-866: The 1959 season. While the AAWU did not negotiate an agreement with the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association to have a standing contractual invitation to the Rose Bowl Game until the following year , the Tournament of Roses did choose to invite the AAWU's inaugural regular season champion to the first post-PCC Rose Bowl . After initially being blocked from admission, three of the four remaining schools eventually joined ( Washington State in 1962, Oregon and Oregon State in 1964), but members were not required to play other members. Tensions were high between UCLA and Stanford, as Stanford had voted for UCLA's expulsion from
4366-1000: The 1960s and 1970s where his main body of work was done in the modernist style, designing numerous residential houses, apartment buildings, and architectural embellishments. Some of his most noteworthy works in Spokane include The Parkade , Spokane International Airport, Spokane Regional Health Building, and the Burlington Northern Latah Creek Bridge over Hangman Valley. Other well-represented architectural styles downtown include Art Deco (Spokane City Hall, Paulsen Center , Fox Theater , John R. Rogers High School , City Ramp Garage), Renaissance Revival (Steam Plant Square, Thomas S. Foley Courthouse , Legion Building , San Marco ), Neoclassical (Masonic Center, Hutton Building , Bing Crosby Theater ), Chicago School ( U.S. Bank Building , Liberty Building, Old City Hall ) and Modernist ( The Parkade , Ridpath Hotel , Bank of America Financial Center). The tallest building in
4484-644: The 1980s. Spokane hosted the first environmentally themed World's fair at Expo '74 . Many of the downtown area's older Romanesque Revival -style buildings were designed by architect Kirtland Kelsey Cutter after the Great Fire of 1889 . The city is also home to the Riverfront and Manito parks, the Smithsonian-affiliated Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture , the Davenport Hotel , and
4602-466: The Berkeley campus at the expense of the younger UCLA campus. Oregon State College president August Leroy Strand wrote, "The reasons for California and UCLA dropping out are as different as night and day... the significance of the whole affair was the union of Berkeley and UCLA... admissions and scholarship had nothing to do with the withdrawals . . . the marriage of this desire on the part of Berkeley with
4720-523: The Blue Zoo an interactive aquarium in the NorthTown Mall . The area supports an abundance of wildlife in part because of its varied geology and natural history. The area contains a wide range of vegetation, from densely wooded coniferous forests to rolling grassy hills and meadows. Ponderosa pine and Douglas fir are common in the drier and lower elevation areas throughout the region. The ponderosa pine
4838-407: The Browne's Addition neighborhood and residences contain the largest variety of residential architecture in the city. These residences are lavish and personalized, featuring many architectural styles that were popular and trendy in the Pacific Northwest from the late 19th century to 1930, such as the Victorian and Queen Anne styles. In high demand following his firms' design of the Idaho Building at
Northwest Intercollegiate Athletic Association - Misplaced Pages Continue
4956-423: The Bruin Bench and the Young Men's Club of Westwood, were published in Los Angeles newspapers. UCLA refused for ten weeks to allow PCC officials to proceed in their investigation. Finally, UCLA admitted that, "all members of the football coaching staff had, for several years, known of the unsanctioned payments to student athletes and had cooperated with the booster club members or officers, who actually administered
5074-504: The Cascades, the Spokane area has 16.5 inches (420 mm) average annual precipitation, less than half of Seattle's 39.3 inches (1,000 mm). Precipitation peaks in December, and summer is the driest time of the year. The Rockies shield Spokane from some of the winter season's coldest air masses traveling southward across Canada. In the summer season, Spokane, like much of the western United States , has been experiencing drier conditions and more frequent and larger wildfire events since
5192-451: The Coeur d'Alene region of northern Idaho lured prospectors. The Inland Empire erupted with numerous mining rushes from 1883 to 1892. Mining and smelting emerged as a major stimulus to Spokane. At the onset of the initial 1883 gold rush in the nearby Coeur d'Alene mining district , Spokane became popular with prospectors, offering low prices on everything "from a horse to a frying pan". It would keep this status for subsequent rushes in
5310-426: The Davenport District of Downtown, to the more contemporary neighborhoods of north Spokane. Spokane's neighborhoods are gaining attention for their history, as illustrated by the city being home to 18 recognized National Register Historical Districts . Some of Spokane's best-known neighborhoods are Riverside , Browne's Addition , and Hillyard . The Riverside neighborhood consists primarily of downtown Spokane and
5428-404: The Davenport Hotel cost two million dollars to complete and included new technologies at the time of its opening in September 1914, such as chilled water, elevators, and air cooling. In contemporary times, one of the city's foremost and influential architects has been Warren C. Heylman, who helped give the city a great breadth of mid-century architecture. Heylman's career was most prolific during
5546-427: The Fox Theater (now home to the Spokane Symphony) as well as the completion of the WSU Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences Building in 2013 and the Davenport Grand Hotel in 2015, Ridpath Hotel in 2018 and the ongoing renovation of Riverfront Park (as of May 2019). The Kendall Yards development on the west side of downtown Spokane is one of the largest construction projects in the city's history. Directly across
5664-428: The NIAA's 1903 annual meeting, held in Moscow, Idaho on Saturday, June 6, J.E. Bonebright was elected president of the association for the coming year, with a new secretary tapped from Oregon Agricultural College. The 1903 conclave announced the scheduling of a massive regional track and field meet, to be held in Walla Walla, Washington on the campus of Whitman College, including participants from ten schools. Sailing
5782-426: The National Register of Historic Places. Many of the former town's houses were built to house railroad workers, mainly immigrant laborers working in the local yard, who gave Hillyard an independent, blue-collar character. Hillyard has become a home for much of Spokane's growing Russian , Ukrainian , and Southeast Asian communities. Spokane neighborhoods contain a patchwork of architectural styles that give them
5900-424: The North West Company further south in search of furs. After establishing the Kullyspell House and Saleesh House trading posts in what are now Idaho and Montana, Thompson then attempted to expand further west. He sent out two trappers, Jacques Raphael Finlay and Finan McDonald, to construct a fur trading post on the Spokane River, which flows west from Lake Coeur d'Alene to the Columbia River , and trade with
6018-419: The Northwest Intercollegiate Association being a dead one, but the various college games this season would indicate that it is still very much alive..." Despite protestations of its vitality, it is clear that by the end of 1907 the Northwest Intercollegiate Athletic Association had become moribund. In January 1908 officials at Whitman College called a conference of seven primary athletics-oriented universities in
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#17330928471276136-464: The PCC. Idaho was not involved in the scandals but had become noncompetitive in the PCC. Unlike Washington State, Oregon, and Oregon State, Idaho did not pursue AAWU admission, and competed as an independent before becoming a charter member of the Big Sky Conference in 1962. Idaho retains no strong connections to its PCC past other than a continuing rivalry with Washington State ; the two land grant campuses are just eight miles (13 km) apart in
6254-417: The PCC. At a meeting on Dec. 12, 1925, in Seattle, the larger member schools (Washington, Washington State, Idaho, Gonzaga, Montana, Oregon, and Oregon Agricultural) formally withdrew from the conference. The smaller member schools (Pacific University, Whitman College, and Willamette University) announced they had reorganized with three others (College of Idaho, Linfield College, and the College of Puget Sound)
6372-454: The San Francisco Gridiron Club, with an extension in the Los Angeles area known as the South Seas Fund. In 1957, the conference fired Vic Schmidt, the commissioner. He had been tasked with cleaning up the conference, and had imposed sanctions on UCLA, including suspending athletes and prohibiting participation in the Rose Bowl for three years. The first major reaction came from the University of California system. Robert Sproul , president of
6490-486: The South Hill. Yet the rebuilding and development of the city was far from smooth: between 1889 and 1896 alone, all six bridges over the Spokane River were destroyed by floods before their completion. In the 1890s the city was subject to intrastate migration by African-Americans from Roslyn , looking for work after the closure of the area's mines. Two African-American churches, Calvary Baptist and Bethel African Methodist Episcopal, were founded in 1890. Just three years after
6608-456: The Spokane River from downtown, it will blend residential and retail space with plazas and walking trails. Spokane is located on the Spokane River in eastern Washington at an elevation of 1,843 feet (562 m) above sea level, about 18 miles (29 km) from Idaho , 92 miles (148 km) south of the Canadian border , 229 miles (369 km) due east of Seattle, and 279 miles (449 km) southwest of Calgary . The lowest elevation in
6726-415: The Spokanes, who believed they were sacred, and set the trappers up in the Colville River valley for the winter. The explorer-geographer David Thompson , working as head of the North West Company 's Columbia Department , became the first European to explore the Inland Empire (now called the Inland Northwest ). Crossing what is now the Canada–US border from British Columbia , Thompson wanted to expand
6844-446: The University of California (now University of California, Berkeley ), the University of Washington , the University of Oregon , and Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State University ). Full members Other Conference Other Conference Rivalries between the Pacific Coast Conference schools grew beyond athletics, with animosities around educational, financial and state rivalries. The tensions between
6962-407: The University of California . Allen was widely expected to become the next UC President, but instead, in October 1957, UC Berkeley Chancellor Clark Kerr was the Regents' unanimous choice to succeed Sproul. Soon after the PCC was dissolved, five of its nine members (California, Washington, UCLA, Southern California, and Stanford) created the Athletic Association of Western Universities (AAWU) for
7080-501: The University of California, along with the chancellors of Berkeley and UCLA, drafted a "Five Point Plan", emphasizing academic eligibility standards, setting the two UC campuses apart from the PCC and laying the groundwork for their departure. For Sproul the PCC dispute was not just about athletics; at stake was the ideal of a unified University of California that enjoyed statewide support. This ideal collided with aspirations of UCLA alumni who believed that Sproul's vision would always favor
7198-432: The arrival of additional railroads. By 1910 the population had hit 104,000, and Spokane eclipsed Walla Walla as the commercial center of the Inland Empire. In time the city came to be known as the "capital" of the Inland Empire and the heart of a vast tributary region. After the arrival of the Northern Pacific, Union Pacific , Great Northern, and Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific railroads, Spokane became one of
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#17330928471277316-426: The city , at 288 feet (88 m), is the Bank of America Financial Center. Also of note is the Spokane County Courthouse in West Central (the building on the seal of Spokane County), the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Rockwood, the Benewah Milk Bottles in Riverside and Garland, Mount Saint Michael in Hillyard, and the Cambern Dutch Shop Windmill in South Perry. As an early affluent Spokane neighborhood,
7434-475: The city of Spokane is the northernmost point of the Spokane River within city limits (in Riverside State Park ) at 1,608 feet (490 m); the highest elevation is on the northeast side, near the community of Hillyard (though closer to Beacon Hill and the North Hill Reservoir) at 2,591 feet (790 m). Spokane is part of the Inland Northwest region, consisting of eastern Washington, north Idaho , northwestern Montana , and northeastern Oregon . The city has
7552-575: The city was 80.7% White, 2.9% some other race, 2.5% Black or African American, 2.0% Asian, 0.8% Native American or Alaskan Native, and 0.5% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, with 10.5% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 8.1% of the population. Of the 101,130 households, 24.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 29.8% had seniors 65 years or older living with them, 35.9% were married couples living together, 7.9% were couples cohabitating, 24.8% had
7670-399: The city was reincorporated under the present name of "Spokane" in 1891. According to historian David H. Stratton, "From the late 1890s to about 1912, a great flurry of construction created a modern urban profile of office buildings, banks, department stores, hotels and other commercial institutions" which stretched from the Spokane River to the site of the Northern Pacific railroad tracks below
7788-480: The city. During this time of stagnation, unrest was prevalent among the area's unemployed, who became victimized by "job sharks", who charged a fee for signing up workers in the logging camps. Job sharks and employment agencies were known to cheat itinerant workers, sometimes paying bribes to periodically fire entire work crews, thus generating repetitive fees for themselves. Crime spiked in the 1890s and 1900s, with eruptions of violent activity involving unions such as
7906-462: The coldest month is over 26.6 °F (−3 °C), though in the US this threshold is often defined to be 32 °F (0 °C). The area typically has a warm, arid climate during the summer months, bracketed by short spring and fall seasons. On average, the warmest month is July and the coolest month is December; July averages 71.0 °F (21.7 °C), while December averages 29.1 °F (−1.6 °C). Daily temperature ranges are large during
8024-420: The completion of the railroad and its exact course, Matheney sold his interest in the claim to Glover. Glover confidently held on to his claim and became a successful Spokane business owner and the city's second mayor. He later came to be known as the "Father of Spokane". In 1880, Fort Spokane was established by U.S. Army troops under Lt. Col. Henry C. Merriam 56 miles (90 km) northwest of Spokane, at
8142-414: The conference added Colorado from the Big 12 and Utah from the Mountain West (also a former WAC member) and became the Pac-12 . The Pac-12 claims the PCC's history as its own, though it operates under a separate charter. The official record book of conference champions was compiled by the then acting commissioner Bernie Hammerbeck in 1959. The Pacific Coast Conference began playing basketball in
8260-432: The conference in 1924, performed a critical self-study in 1932, and a voluminous two-million-word report was compiled by Edwin Atherton in 1939. The PCC had a paid commissioner, an elaborate constitution, a formal code of conduct, and a system for reporting student-athlete eligibility. Following the submission of his report, Atherton was promptly hired as commissioner in 1940, and served until his death four years later, He
8378-406: The division representative. Starting with the first NCAA tournament in 1939 , the winner of the PCC divisional playoff was given the automatic berth in the NCAA tournament. Oregon , the PCC champion that season, won the first NCAA title game. The last divisional playoff was in the 1954–55 season. After that, all teams played each other in a round robin competition. From the 1955–56 season through
8496-418: The fairgrounds became the 100-acre (40 ha) Riverfront Park. The growth witnessed in the late 1970s and early 1980s was interrupted by another U.S. recession in 1981, in which silver, timber, and farm prices dropped. The period of decline for the city lasted into the 1990s and was also marked by a loss of many steady family-wage jobs in the manufacturing sector. At this time, market forces began to impact
8614-557: The fire, in 1892, James J. Hill 's Great Northern Railway arrived in the chosen site for Hill's rail yards , the newly created township of Hillyard (annexed by Spokane in 1924). Spokane became an important rail shipping and transportation hub for the Inland Empire, connecting mines in the Silver Valley with agricultural areas around the Palouse region. The city's population ballooned to 19,922 in 1890, and to 36,848 in 1900 with
8732-589: The first governor, Isaac Stevens , made an initial effort to make a treaty with Chief Garry and the Spokanes at Antoine Plantes' Ferry, not far from Millwood . After the last campaign of the Yakima Indian War , the Coeur d'Alene War of 1858 was brought to a close by the actions of Col. George Wright , who won decisive victories against a confederation of tribes in engagements at the battles of Four Lakes and Spokane Plains . The cessation of hostilities opened
8850-437: The historic West Central neighborhood. To the east of downtown is East Central and the adjacent University District and budding "International District". To the west of downtown is one of Spokane's oldest and densest neighborhoods, Browne's Addition. A National Historic District west of Downtown, Browne's Addition was Spokane's first prestigious address, notable for its array of old mansions built by Spokane's early elite in
8968-438: The integrity of Spokane's street grid pattern is largely intact (especially the areas north of downtown and south of Francis Ave.), and the houses have backyard alleys for carports, deliveries, and refuse collection. Contemporary suburbs and architecture are prevalent at the north and south edges of Spokane as well as in the new Kendall Yards neighborhood north of downtown. In 1907, Spokane's board of park commissioners retained
9086-639: The inter-mountain valley of the Pacific Northwest to colonial expansion and safe habitation by settlers. Joint American–British occupation of Oregon Country , in effect since the Treaty of 1818 , eventually led to the Oregon Boundary Dispute after a large influx of American settlers along the Oregon Trail . Great Britain ceded its claims to lands in Puget Sound and the central and lower Columbia Basin by
9204-540: The junction of the Columbia and Spokane Rivers, to protect the construction of the Northern Pacific Railway and secure a place for U.S. settlement. By June 30, 1881, the railway reached the city, bringing major European settlement to the area. The city was officially incorporated with a population of about 1,000 residents on November 29, 1881. When Spokane was officially incorporated in 1881, Robert W. Forrest
9322-456: The known ambitions and necessities of its sister institution has produced a bastard that has the bark of a purebred but the innards and hair of a mongrel." The PCC was falling apart, leading to the decision to dissolve after the 1958–59 season. The PCC scandal was one of several problems during the chancellorship of Raymond B. Allen at UCLA that caused him to fall out of favor with the Regents of
9440-473: The late 1850s in part due to the hilltops. The Palouse was and still is a breadbasket and was able to develop and grow with the completion of several railroad networks as well as a highway system that began to center around the city of Spokane, aiding farmers from around the region in distributing their products to market. Inland Empire farmers exported wheat, livestock and other agricultural products to ports such as New York, Liverpool and Tokyo. Local morale
9558-510: The late 20th century; the fine particulate matter in the smoke can be carried by the wind and blanket the region in a haze and impact Spokane's air quality . See or edit raw graph data . As of the 2022 American Community Survey estimates, there were 230,176 people and 101,130 households. The population density was 3,347.5 inhabitants per square mile (1,292.5/km ). There were 105,002 housing units at an average density of 1,527.1 per square mile (589.6/km ). The racial makeup of
9676-449: The local Kaiser Aluminum plant and layoffs, pension cuts, a 1998-1999 labor strike, and eventually bankruptcy in 2002 followed. Although this was a tough period, Spokane's economy had started to benefit from some measure of economic diversification; growing companies such as Key Tronic and other research, marketing, and assembly plants for technology companies helped lessen Spokane's dependence on natural resources. As of 2014, Spokane
9794-637: The local Indians. This post was established in 1810, at the confluence of the Little Spokane and Spokane rivers, becoming the first enduring European settlement of significance in what later became Washington state. Known as the Spokane House , or simply "Spokane", it was in operation from 1810 to 1826. Operations were run by the British North West Company and later the Hudson's Bay Company , and
9912-649: The logging industry. Although overshadowed in importance by the vast timbered areas on the coastal regions west of the Cascades, and burdened with monopolistic rail freight rates and stiff competition, Spokane became a noted leader in the manufacture of doors, window sashes , blinds, and other planing mill products. Rail freight rates were much higher in Spokane than the rates in coastal seaport cities such as Seattle and Portland, so much so that Minneapolis merchants could ship goods first to Seattle and then back to Spokane for less than shipping directly to Spokane, even though
10030-518: The long-term survival of vulnerable species such as mountain caribou and the American goshawk . Spokane has a warm-summer humid continental climate ( Dsb under the Köppen classification), a rare climate due to its elevation and significant winter precipitation; Spokane, however, is adjacent to and sometimes even classified as a warm-summer Mediterranean climate ( Csb ) because the average temperature for
10148-454: The most architecturally intact neighborhood in Spokane, 85 percent of these buildings are historic. As the city expanded mainly to the north in the middle of the 20th century, the bungalows in the "minimal traditional" style commonplace from the 1930s to the 1950s tend to predominate in the Northwest, North Hill, and Bemiss neighborhoods. This architectural style occupies the neighborhoods where
10266-428: The most important rail centers in the western U.S. Expansion abruptly stopped in the 1910s and was followed by a period of population decline, due in large part to Spokane's slowing economy. Control of regional mines and resources became increasingly dominated by national corporations rather than local people and organizations, diverting capital outside of Spokane and decreasing growth and investment opportunities in
10384-779: The most notable of which is the Spokane River Centennial Trail , which features over 37.5 miles (60.4 km) of paved trails running along the Spokane River from Spokane to the Idaho border. This trail continues on towards Coeur d'Alene for 24 miles (39 km) as the North Idaho Centennial Trail and is often used for alternative transportation and recreational use. In the summer, it has long been popular to visit North Idaho's "Lake Country", such as Lake Coeur d'Alene , Lake Pend Oreille , Priest Lake , or one of
10502-408: The new conference was intended solely to allowing scheduling and set rules for competition with the California schools. An agreement was signed between the two conferences, setting rules for each and agreeing that rules from one conference would not apply to games in the other conference. The dual membership statuses would remain in place for about a decade, even as other member schools also later joined
10620-519: The night before at a meeting in Tacoma, and were retaining the Northwest Conference name and eligibity requirements. The decision of the larger schools to leave was described in the press as harmonious and for mutual advantage, with the smaller schools no longer being matched against the larger. Spokane, Washington Spokane ( / s p oʊ ˈ k æ n / spoh- KAN )
10738-597: The northwest, where it is joined by the Little Spokane River on its way to the Columbia River, north of Davenport . The Channeled Scablands and many of the area's numerous large lakes, such as Lake Coeur d'Alene and Lake Pend Oreille , were formed by the Missoula Floods after the ice-dammed Glacial Lake Missoula ruptured at the end of the last ice age. The Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge south of Cheney
10856-454: The other nearby bodies of water and beaches. In the winter, the public has access to five ski resorts within a couple hours of the city. The closest of these is the Mt. Spokane Ski and Snowboard Park , which has trails for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, and dog sledding. Zoological parks in Spokane include Cat Tales Zoological Park , a wildlife sanctuary primarily for big cats and
10974-664: The post was the headquarters of the fur trade between the Rocky and Cascade mountains for 16 years. After the latter business absorbed the North West Company in 1821, the major operations at the Spokane House were eventually shifted north to Fort Colville , reducing the post's significance. In 1836, Reverend Samuel Parker visited the area and reported that around 800 Native Americans were living in Spokane Falls. A medical mission
11092-471: The preferred option, and after successful negotiation to relocate the railroad facilities on Havermale Island, they executed on a proposal to host the first environmentally themed World's Fair in Expo '74 on May 4, becoming the smallest city at the time to host a World's Fair. This event transformed Spokane's downtown, removing a century of railroad infrastructure and re-inventing the urban core. After Expo '74,
11210-559: The program by actually referring student athletes to them for such aid." The scandal thickened as a UCLA alumnus and member of the UCLA athletic advisory board blew the whistle on a secret fund for payments in violation of PCC rules to University of Southern California players, known as the Southern California Educational Foundation. This same alumnus also blew the whistle on Cal's phony work program for athletes known as
11328-456: The rail line ran through Spokane on the way to the coast. The Inland Northwest region has also long been associated with farming, especially wheat production. Initially, the Palouse was thought to be unsuitable for wheat production due to the hilly terrain, believing wheat could not be cultivated on the tops of the hills, but the region showed great promise for wheat production when it began in
11446-409: The region due to its trade center status and accessibility to railroad infrastructure. Spokane's growth continued unabated until August 4, 1889, when a fire, now known as The Great Fire (not to be confused with the Great Fire of 1910 , which happened nearby), began just after 6:00 p.m., and destroyed the city's downtown commercial district. Due to technical problems with a pump station, there
11564-546: The region in 1873, recognized the value of the Spokane River and its falls for the purpose of water power. They realized the investment potential and bought the claims of 160 acres (65 ha) 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 . Amid many delays in construction and uncertainty over
11682-416: The region to reform a new intercollegiate athletics association. Each school was represented by two delegates at the Walla Walla conference — one representing the faculty and another representing the student body. The gathering was attended by six colleges — Idaho, Washington, Washington State, Oregon, Oregon Agricultural, and Whitman. A seventh institution, the University of Montana , was apparently invited to
11800-408: The reorganizational meeting but apparently did not attend. At a two-day conference in Walla Walla, February 7–8, 1908, discussions on a broad range of topics were planned, including the eligibility of those participating in paid summer baseball, the development of a combined football schedule, and establishment of regional meets for track and field and debate. Rules for athletic participation including
11918-508: The same site, is 100 acres (40 ha) in downtown Spokane and the site of some of Spokane's largest events. The park has views of the Spokane Falls and holds a number of civic attractions, including a skyride, a rebuilt gondola lift that carries visitors across the falls from high above the river gorge. The park also includes the historic hand-carved Riverfront Park Looff carousel created in 1909 by Charles I. D. Looff . Riverfront Park
12036-688: The scandal became public. The scandal first broke at Washington, when in January 1956, several discontented players staged a mutiny against their football coach, John Cherberg . After the coach was fired, the PCC followed up on charges of a slush fund. The PCC found evidence of the prohibited activities of the Greater Washington Advertising Fund run by Roscoe C. "Torchy" Torrance, and in May imposed sanctions. In March, allegations of prohibited payments made by two booster clubs associated with UCLA,
12154-668: The schools present at the founding session, Pacific University , ultimately decided not to affiliate with the new group. The University of Oregon was not represented by a delegate at the October 11 foundation meeting but voted to join in December 1902, bringing the total to eight institutions in the new federation. The new body was designed to establish uniform eligibility rules for college athletics, to resolve such disputes as may emerge, and to schedule competitions between member schools in both athletics and debate. Thomas Franklin Kane , president of
12272-734: The services of the Olmsted Brothers to draw up a plan for Spokane's parks. Much of Spokane's park land was acquired by the city prior to World War I, establishing it early on as a leader among Western cities in the development of a citywide park system. Spokane has a system of over 87 parks totaling 4,100 acres (17 km ) and includes six neighborhood aquatic centers. Some of the most notable parks in Spokane's system are Riverfront Park , Manito Park and Botanical Gardens , Riverside State Park , Saint Michael's Mission State Park , John A. Finch Arboretum , High Bridge Park and Liberty Park . Riverfront Park, created after Expo '74 and occupying
12390-402: The start of World War II as aluminum production commenced in Spokane due to the area's cheap electricity (produced from regional dams) and the increased demand for airplanes. After decades of stagnation and slow growth, Spokane businessmen formed Spokane Unlimited in the early 1960s, an organization that sought to revitalize downtown Spokane. A recreation park showcasing the Spokane Falls was
12508-544: The summer, often exceeding 30 °F (17 °C), and small during the winter, with a range just above 10 °F (5.6 °C). The record high and low are 112 °F (44 °C) and −30 °F (−34 °C), but temperatures of more than 100 °F (38 °C) or less than −5 °F (−21 °C) are rare. Temperatures of 90 °F (32 °C)+ occur an average of 21 days annually, temperatures of 100 °F (38 °C)+ occur an average of only 1 day annually, and those at or below 0 °F (−18 °C) average 2.2 days
12626-636: The sun" or "sun people" in Salishan ), are believed to be either their direct descendants, or descendants of people from the Great Plains . When asked by early white explorers, the Spokanes said their ancestors came from "up North." Early in the 19th century, the Northwest Fur Company sent two white fur trappers west of the Rocky Mountains to search for fur . These were the first white men met by
12744-477: The wider Inland Northwest area are served by Spokane International Airport , 5 miles (8 km) west of Downtown Spokane , which is located near another airfield at Fairchild Air Force Base . According to the 2010 census , Spokane had a population of 208,916, making it the 2nd-most populous city in Washington , and the 97th-most populous city in the United States . At the 2020 census , Spokane's population
12862-552: Was Kirtland Kelsey Cutter . Self-taught, he came to Spokane in 1886, and began by designing "Chalet Hohenstein" for himself and other residences for his family, while also working as a bank teller. Other structures designed by Cutter include the Spokane Club, Washington Water Power Substation, Monroe Street Bridge (featured in the city seal), the Steam Plant , and the Davenport Hotel . Built in renaissance and Spanish Revival style,
12980-518: Was 228,989. A 2023 estimate sets the population of the metropolitan area at 600,292. The first people to live in the area, the Spokane tribe (their name meaning "children of the sun" in Salishan ), lived off plentiful game. David Thompson explored the area 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. Completion of
13098-572: Was a collegiate athletic conference in the United States which existed from 1915 to 1959. Though the Pac-12 Conference claims the PCC's history as part of its own, with eight of the ten PCC members (including all four original PCC charter members) in the Pac-12 for many years, the older league had a completely different charter and was disbanded in 1959 due to a major crisis and scandal. Established on December 2, 1915, its four charter members were
13216-467: Was affected for years by the collapse of the Division Street Bridge early in the morning on December 15, 1915, which killed five people and injured over 20, but a new bridge was built (eventually replaced in 1994). The 1920 census showed a net increase of just 35 individuals, which actually indicates that thousands left the city when considering the natural growth rate of a population. Growth in
13334-432: Was elected as the first mayor of the city, with a Council of seven, S.G. Havermale, A.M. Cannon, Dr. L.H. Whitehouse, L.W. Rima, F.R. Moore, George A. Davis, and W.C. Gray, all serving without pay. The marketing campaigns of transportation companies with affordable fertile land to sell along their trade routes lured many settlers into the region they dubbed "Spokane Country". The 1883 discovery of gold, silver, and lead in
13452-569: Was established by Marcus and Narcissa Whitman to cater for Cayuse Indians and hikers of the Oregon Trail at Walla Walla in the south. After the Whitmans were killed by Indians in 1847, Reverend Cushing Eells established Whitman College in their memory, also setting up the first church in the Spokane area. In 1853, two years after the establishment of the Washington Territory,
13570-401: Was no water pressure in the city when the fire started. In a desperate bid to starve the fire, firefighters began razing buildings with dynamite. Eventually, the winds and the fire died down; 32 blocks of Spokane's downtown core had been destroyed and one person was killed. Despite this catastrophe, and in part because of it, Spokane experienced a building boom. The downtown was rebuilt, and
13688-551: Was not smooth for the new association, however. By the summer of 1905, the University of Oregon had left the Northwest Conference, with other members divided over the issue of whether athletes could earn tuition money playing baseball for pay during the summer months. The Association seems to have attenuated in strength an influence, with the Spokane Chronicle observing in November 1905 that "there has been considerable talk about
13806-581: Was succeeded by his assistant, Victor O. Schmidt. Montana departed the conference in 1951 to join the Skyline Eight . The conference was wracked by scandal in 1951. Charges were made and confirmed that University of Oregon football coach Jim Aiken had violated the conference code for financial aid and athletic subsidies. After Aiken was compelled to resign, Oregon urged the PCC to look at similar abuses by UCLA football coach Red Sanders . The conference spent five years attempting to reform itself. In 1956,
13924-413: Was to be left to the decision by athletic committees of each institution. Rationalization of the football schedule was particularly desired, with the hope expressed that the newly rejuvenated conference would "either take control of, or in some way influence the arrangement of football schedules so that the northwest championship may be definitely decided each year, instead of leaving the schedule-making to
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