Short List of Historic Places

DRAFT--This page is a draft. It is incomplete, not proof read and may contain research notes

Historic places and things within a short drive of Reardan (in order of time). These places are shown on a map.

• 1770 or before Indian petroglyphs on Tum Tum Road or near St. Georges.
• 1804-1806 Lewis and Clark expedition. Nearest point is Lewiston. There is a nice interpretive center at the Hell's Canyon State Park.
• 1811 Spokane House established at the mouth of the Little Spokane River by the Northwest Company of Montreal. Fort Vancouver wasn't built until 1824 and Fort Colvile until 1825.
• 1838 Tshimakain Mission (alt) established near Ford. First white children born and first book published in Pacific Northwest. The Whitman mission was established only two years before in 1836 and was abandoned shortly after the Whitman massacre.
• 1853 Camp Washington on the Coulee Hite Road established as the first Capitol of Washington Territory where the newly appointed Governor Isaac Stevens met with his railroad survey teams including Captain Mullan of the Mullan Road fame.
• 1858 Battle of Pine Creek (or Battle of Steptoe Butte) near Rosalia. US forces were over powered by Indians led by Yakima Chief Kamiahkin.
• 1858 Battle of Four Lakes, US forces under Col. George Wright defeated Indian forces.
• 1858 Battle of Spokane Plains, again US forces defeated Indian forces by hanging Qualchan and other Indians, destroying their food stores and killing their horses.
• 1860 Establishment of a ferry crossing for the Walla Walla-Colville Military Road at "winding ford" on the Spokane River about two miles above Long Lake Dam. This was the first permanent settlement in present day Spokane county. The crossing is replaced with a toll bridge that became known as the Lapray Bridge which was used until flooded by the reservoir behind Long Lake Dam. There is a monument on US 2 near the Coulee Hite Road commemorating this road. It claims the road was established in 1811 when it was partially traveled by David Thompson during his explorations of the area. It uses a Indian trail established much earlier.]
• 1865 White Bluffs Road promoted by Oregon Steam Navigation Co as an alternative to the Walla-Walla Colville Road and a way to reach Colville or Montana via Lake Pend Oreille. This passed just north of Reardan.
• 1870 Peavine Jimmy Walton build threshing barn near site of Spokane House. This is the second oldest standing structure in Spokane County.
• 1878 First homesteaders arrived near Reardan. Until the railroads were established, the closest place to get supplies was Walla Walla and later Colfax and later still Deep Creek.
• 1881 Northern Pacific Railroad is opened to Spokan Falls, enabling easier settlement.
• 1882 Establishment of Capps Station post office on the Spokan Falls-Post Spokane (Fort Spokane) stage route about 1 mile north of Reardan.
• 1882 Fairweather was platted and the second school house was built.
• 1888 Branch of the Northern Pacific Railroad reached Reardan and depot was built.
• 1889 Reardan was platted.
• 1889 Washington became a state.
• 1889 One half of Lincoln County farms failed: hot dry summer wiped out wheat crop and cold winter killed half of livestock.
• 1910 Little Falls Dam completed with the largest turbines in production. This is on the National Registry of Historic Places. It also marks the first use of steel towers for transmission of electricity west of the Mississippi River.
• 1915 Long Lake Dam completed as the highest spillway dam in the world. This and the nearby bridge are on the National Registry of Historic Places.
• 1940 Grand Coulee Dam completed as the largest dam in the word. It was upgraded in 1972 with the third powerhouse to regain that title.
• 1940 Electricity was brought to the farms around Reardan.
• 1952 Green Revolution starts with introduction nitrogen fertilizers. Gaines wheat variety developed by Orville Vogel at WSU with short strong stems, smut and rust resistance and fertilizer tolerance. Wheat yields started to double.
• 1959-1969 Nike bases to protect Fairchild AFB were active at Deep Creek, Medical Lake, Cheney, and Airway Heights. The Deep Creek and Medical Lake sites were retrofitted to have nuclear warheads and an increased range of 75 miles.
• 1960 Hutterite colony established at Deep Creek.
• 1961-1965 Reardan Atlas E missile site was active with an intercontinental thermal nuclear warhead. This is on the National Registry of Historic Places.
• 1963 Tolstoy Farm established north of Mondovi.

Farm equipment evolution

• 1870 Settlers cut grain by hand with sickle and scythe and threshed grain with a flail or trampling it with ponies.
• 1890 The railroad eased transportation of grain which allowed farmers to use reaper (a primitive swather and eventually binders that cut wheat and bound it into sheaves. Some horse powered stationary threshers were used.
• 1905 Steam tractors were used to power stationary threshers. Farmers used headers to cut grain and load it into headerboxs. The grain was unloaded at the thresher with a Jackson fork.
• 1920 Horse drawn combined harvesters came into use.
• 1940 Electricity was brought to the farms around Reardan. Farmers transitioned from horses to track-based tractors and trucks.
• 1952 First use of chemical fertilizer (anhydrous ammonia and ammonia in water (aqua)).
• 1980s Tractors moved from track-based to tire based for more mobility. Farmers moved toward "no till" farming to reduce soil loss and reduce fuel use.
• 2000s Harvest operations became bigger with bigger combines, trucks and bunk out wagons.

Theses places are shown on the [1]

DRAFT--This page is a draft. It is incomplete, not proof read and may contain research notes