Spokane County i Washington i USA

Arkiv: Spokane County, Washington Genealogy
Länk: Spokane County, Washington

The explorer-geographer David Thompson, working as head of the North West Company's Columbia Department, became the first European to explore what is now the Inland Northwest. After establishing the Kullyspell House and Saleesh House fur 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 in Washington and trade with 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 Washington state. Known as the Spokane House, or simply ”Spokane”, it was in operation from 1810 to 1826.

Spokane County was established by the Washington legislature effective January 29, 1858. It was annexed by Stevens County on January 19, 1864, and re-created on October 30, 1879. The first post office in the county was located at Spokane Bridge. The current Spokane county seat holder, Spokane, wrested the seat from Cheney in 1886.

The Spokane tribe, after which the county is named means ”Children of the Sun” or ”sun people” in Salishan