Reardan History Timeline

This timeline has events that are significant to Reardan and vicinity.

[Many of the items are red-linked as a reminder that text needs to be created for a particular event or thing.

Historical Timeline for Reardan

Date	Event
1804-1906	Meriwether Lewis and William Clark Expedition passed through the region to the south via the Clearwater, Snake and Columbia rivers.
1810	Establishment of Spokane House by North West Company (absorbed by Hudson's Bay Company in 1821.) Site was abandoned in 1825 in favor of Fort Colvile. This was the first European settlement of significance in Washington.
1811	Use of Indian trail as Colville-Walla Walla Road (Monument near Hite on US 2)
1818	Treaty of 1818 between US and Britain allows dual control of area north of the Columbia River and south of the 49th parallel.
1835	Establishment of Whitman mission.
1836	Establishment of Nez Perce mission at Lapwai, ID by Henry Spaulding.
1838	Establishment of Tshimikane mission at Ford by Cushing Eells and Elkanah Walker. They camped near Sprague a year later. They wrote a Salish language primer which was the first book published in Washington (1842).
1845	Establishment of St. Paul's Mission at Kettle Falls by Father DeSmet.
1846	Land south of 49th parallel ceded to the US by Oregon Treaty.
1847	The Whitmans were killed by Indians blaming them for deaths caused by measles. The mission at Tshimikane was abandoned soon there after for fear of the Indians, although there had never been any problems with the Indians there.
1848	Establishment of the Territory of Oregon (including present day Oregon, Washington and Idaho and parts of Montana and Wyoming).
1850	Establishment of Mission of the Sacred Heart at Cataldo, ID. Father deSmet came from St. Louis in 1842 and had other failed locations before building this more permanent mission.
1853	A portion of the Oregon Territory is granted statehood. Washington Territory is created from the northern portion of the old Oregon Territory. Southern Idaho and a portion of Wyoming are also added to the Washington Territory.
1863	Idaho is made a territory and the present boundaries of Washington are established.
1855-1858	Yakima Indian War lead by Chief Kamiakin in Battle of Pine Creek, Battle of Four Lakes and culminating in the Battle of Spokane Plains (near Fairchild AFB). He united the tribes in the Pacific Northwest against the whites and had a fairly successful campaign, but was ultimately defeated by the endless supply of soldiers for the US army.
1858	Creation of Spokane County (including Lincoln and Douglas counties). It was annexed by Stephens county in 1864 and recreated in 1879.
1858	Creation of the White Bluffs Road which ran from White Bluffs on the Columbia River near Hanford to Lake Pend Orielle to open an all weather route from the Pacific to Montana. This trail ran east-west just north of Reardan.
1858	Creation of the Colville Military Road which ran from Walla Walla to Fort Colville USA (as opposed to Fort Colville, the Hudson Bay Company outpost nearby). This trail was the same as the White Bluffs Road in the vicinity of Reardan.
1853	Establishment of Camp Washington at Four Mound by new territorial governor Isaac Stephens. Some like to call this the first capitol of Washington State.
1860	James Monoghan establishes a post and ferry service on the Colville Military Road at "winding springs" about two miles upstream from the present day Long Lake Dam. While he later liked to say he was the oldest continuous resident of Spokane County, he spent a lot of time bringing wagon trains and stage coaches between Walla Walla and Colville. He homesteads near the future site of Cheweleh and eventually he plots his land to be part of that town. (During this time the state drop Spokane county entirely calling a lot of northeastern Washington Stevens County.) He also moves to Spokane and is one of the 15 signatures on the original city charter of Spokan Falls. He sits on bank, mining and railroad boards and amasses a fortune. He invests in Spokane realestate including a share of the Granite Building.
1865	James Monoghan and William Nix get Territorial approval to build a bride to replace the ferry at "winding ford."
1869	Russell M. Bacon starts raising cattle on Crab Creek and establishes first post office in Lincoln county in 1873.
1871-1872	Government surveyed the county which opened the area for homesteading. One of the Chief Surveyors was future Territorial and first state Governor Ferry.
1878	Arrival of first farmers, Henry Harder [age 37] and John Wickham [age 53] near Reardan.
1880	Establishment of Camp Spokane (now Fort Spokane). Fort was used for policing until 1890. In 1899 the post became a Indian boarding school until 1914 when it became a tuberculosis sanitorium. It closed in 1929.
1882	Platting of Fairweather by William F. Hooker and John W. Still.
1882	Joseph LaPray buys the toll bridge at "winding ford" from James Monoghan. He also establishes a saw mill "somewhere in Lincoln county" which will produce lumber for the bridge. This bridge becomes known as the LaPray Bridge.
1882	Capps Station was the post office and stage coach station one mile north of Reardan on the stage route between the Spokane House and Camp (Fort) Spokane. John Stanford Capps was the post master.
1883	Creation of Lincoln and Douglas counties.
1883	Completion of Northern Pacific railroad.
1885	Arrival of Charles Buckman and Luke Ensor.
	Decline of the town of Fairweather.
1988	Completion of the Central Washington Railway through Reardan. Railroad station built in center of Lake Street.
1899	Post Office moved from Capps Station to just south of railroad station. W. H. McCoy was the postmaster and local druggist.
1889	Platting of Reardan by __ and __. The town is named after Charles Fairbanks Reardan, chief construction engineer for this section of the Northern Pacific Railroad.
1889	Washington is granted statehood as the 42nd state. Flag of six rows of seven stars lasted about eight months until Idaho became a state.
1889	Crop failed in hot dry summer and half of livestock die off in a cold hard winter. Nearly half of the land in the county was abandoned and seized by the Lincoln county sheriff for back taxes.
1889	Washington Grain and Milling company erected an elevator and later a flour mill.
1899	Opening of Fort George Wright near present day Spokane Falls Community College.
1902	Reardan has electricity provided by a local generator powered by a wood fired boiler and steam engine.
1903	Incorporation of Reardan.
1904-1918	Mule Day celebrated as a community event.
1909	LaPray sells his bridge to Spokane and Stevens counties. Stevens county merchants protests equal shares with more populous and wealthier Spokane County, and eventually an unequal deal is made. The bride is now a public bridge without tolls.
1909	First Reardan high school class is graduated. It has three members.
1908-1910	Construction of Little Falls Dam by the Washington Water Power Company (WWP). Nearly all materials for the dam passed through Reardan and were transhipped from rail to horse-drawn or tractor-drawn wagons.
1910-1915	Construction of Long Lake Dam. This was a much larger project and WWP built a railroad from Springdale down Chimakane Creek to cross the Spokane River just below the dam site. Although Reardan was not directly involved with the shipping of materials, it did furnish housing, meals and transportion to the dam site.
191x	The rising waters behind Long Lake Dam flood LaPray Bridge. WWP purchases the bridge from Spokane and Stevens counties and agrees to build an new one with road access below the dam. This bridge will use the railroad bridge built for constructing Long Lake Dam. WWP is able to sell two of the three spans to the city of Spokane.
1913	Fire burned a barn (livery stable), two saloons, a hotel, a watch repair shop, a restaurant, and V. A. Hard's Undertaking business. This was on the west side of Lake Street between the railroad tracks and Broadway Avenue.
1917-1918	World War I Several area boys go to serve in the war.
1923	Harl Aldrich and family move to Reardan and he become Superintendent of Schools. He starts a girls basketball team and a football team.
1926	An arson caused fire burned the Inland Hotel, the Bowie building (containing Hanel's drug store and Sherman S. Bentley general store) and Finrow's general store. The Reardan Farmers' State bank next door was spared. (Part of it is still standing as Reardan Fire Station.
1930s	Great Depression
1941-1945	World War II
1945-1973	Community Day was celebrated initially to raise money for the Red Cross and then the Reardan Memorial Clinic (now Reardan Memorial Library).
Jan. 1952	The Washington Grain and Milling Company grain elevator and mill burned to the ground
1952	The Reardan Grain Growers built the first two concrete grain elevators. The other four would follow in 1954.]]
1952	Beginning of first wave of the Green Revolution. Within Washington state this was promoted by WSU professor Orville Vogel and his strain of Gains wheat tripled the yield for fertilized wheat in the early 1960s. Since then the yield of wheat had doubled again.
1959	Burning of the original Ranch House restaurant
1959-1962	Beautification for Seattle World's Fair or Century 21 Exposition.
1960	Revitalizing of the town library
1966	Moving of the town library to the Reardan Memorial Library
1970s	Changing of Community Day to Mule Days
1980s	Father Aloysius Brenik
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s