Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Part
Title
PETERSON-010 Front
Date(s)
- c. 1920 (Creation)
Extent
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
- On February 13, 1878, the town was platted as Spokane Falls, and in Nov. 29, 1881, was incorporated under the same name. When the town was reincorporated in 1890 the city council altered the name to its present form. This name appears to be from the Indian tribal designation, Spehkunne, meaning Children of the Sun or Sun People. It evidently comes from Indians who formerly lived in a village at the foot of Spokane Falls. When they fished at the falls, they stood in a rainbow or halo of light formed by sunlight striking a cloud of mist. An alternate source of the name is from Illum Spokane, an elderly chief of Middle Spokans, who once lived near the falls.
- Printed: A Glimpse of the City, Through the Pines, Spokane, Wash.