44 results for tag: Cheney history

A Tale of Two Steals; When Cheney Was the County Seat

In the 1880 election to set the site of the Spokane County seat, little Cheney won the vote - much to the chagrin of the city of Spokane Falls. This is the story of that election from Cheney's perspective of how Spokane Falls attempted to steal the election and Cheney had to "steal" the county books which voters had given to them. https://youtu.be/YYRGzo4-a_E

Becoming Cheney; How Settlers Came Here

 OR, watch the video version https://youtu.be/N_513157n3E  

County Jail in Cheney

This jail structure was built when Cheney became the Spokane County seat in 1880. The jail, at 4th and E [College Ave], was located on the opposite corner from the courthouse.      Even after the county seat was moved to Spokane, the jail stayed in use until the City of Cheney built a new city hall and jail in 1890. The structure was purchased by William Sutton who moved it to his farm and used it as a chicken coop. Even after the old building was demolished the old jailhouse door could be found inside the Sutton barn for many years.

Cheney’s County Courthouse

Named for a Native American word, Spokane, which means “Child of the Sun," the original Spokane County was merged into Stevens County in 1864. Cheney’s Daniel Percival and Spokan Falls’ John Glover didn’t realize the drama they were setting in motion when they championed a bill in the territorial legislature that recreated Spokane County in October of 1879. Spokan Falls was designated the temporary county seat until there could be a vote of the people in November 1880. A committee of men representing the precincts of the new county met to discuss options. Cheney was seen as a good choice as it was easy to access by trails and the coming ...

Winter Camp of Spokane Indians

In 1959, Sam Webb recalled that back in the 1880s a family of Spokane Indians camped on the site of the new Gibson's Grocery (1011 1st Street) every winter. He said the camp was made up of about 10 to 15 teepees. This site is on high ground near the spring of water that gave Cheney its original name of Willow Springs.  Sam came to Cheney as a boy with his family on the first passenger train on the Northern Pacific Railroad line. The Cheney area is part of the Spokane Tribe of Indians territory.   

Crunk’s Hill & Cheney’s First School

Located on the west side of North 6th Street near the corner of Mike McKeehan Way, Crunk's Hill was leveled to create sport fields. There is a plaque at the restrooms. George W. Crunk came west from Tennessee. He served in the Union Army during the Civil War as a Private with the 20th Regiment, Kentucky Infantry, Company C. We don’t know when he came west, but by June 1878, he was farming this land with his wife, Annah, and their three children. The Crunk family did not stay long in the area, they moved to Oregon in 1883, but hill is remembered as part of Cheney lore because of an incident in the fall of 1878. In 1915, Mary Cook Spangle spoke ...

WWI at Home Pt 40

Born near Bonnie Lake, Cleve Crosley was inducted into the Army on October 5, 1917 at Spokane. He served with the Machine Gun Company 361st Infantry, the 434th Aeronautical Construction Squadron Signal Corps, and the Headquarters Spruce Production Squadron at Vancouver, Washington. Cleve was discharged December 17, 1918. He returned to farming south of Cheney after the war. Organized as 434th Aero Squadron at Vancouver Barracks in Washington, it was re-designated 69th Spruce Squadron, July 1918 and transferred to Clatsop, Oregon and assigned to Spruce Production Division.

WWI at Home Pt 18

Leo LeVeque Whalen of Cheney, was working as an electrician with Cheney Light & Power when he joined the Navy at age 22 on June 30, 1917. He was assigned to the 6th Marines, 2nd Division medical department as a corpsmen. He was sent to France with the 2nd Division serving at the battles of Bois de Belleau at Aisine-Marne, Soissons, St Mihiel, Champagne, and Argonne. Whalen was awarded the Croix de Guerre and the Navy Distinguished Service Cross for his actions at Soissons. “The Navy Cross is awarded to Hospital Apprentice First Class LeVeque L. Whalen, United States Navy for extraordinary heroism while serving with the U.S. Marines in ...

1958 – Garry Hall

Garry Hall was created out of the eastern half of Hudson Hall to house married students and a few single women students. Garry Hall opened in September 1958. It is believed that it was named in honor of Chief Garry of the Spokane Indians. It was created out of the eastern side of Hudson Hall which was acquired as government surplus after WWII to house the large influx of veteran students attending college on the GI Bill. According to Allen Ogden, who was the manager of the hall, there were seven apartments for married couples, in addition to rooms for unmarried female students. Hudson Hall at the west end of the complex continued as a men's ...

1916 – Monroe Hall

Monroe Hall was the first dormitory built at the Normal school. It was dedicated February 4, 1916, and housed about 90 women. At this time, the majority of students were women, as teaching was one of the few professions open to single women.