Spokane House facts for kids

Spokane House was an important place for trading furs long ago. It was built in 1810 by a British-Canadian company called the North West Company. This trading post was located where the Spokane River and Little Spokane River meet, on a piece of land surrounded by water. When it was first built, it was the furthest trading post the North West Company had in the Columbia River area.

An American company, the Pacific Fur Company, was a rival. They opened their own trading post right next to Spokane House, which they called Fort Spokane. But then the War of 1812 happened, and the American company had problems getting supplies. Because of this, the Pacific Fur Company closed down, and the North West Company took over their posts.

The original Spokane House was then left empty, and the North West Company moved into Fort Spokane instead. However, they still called this new location Spokane House. This second Spokane House became a very important trading center in the Oregon Country. It was used until 1821, when the North West Company joined with another big company called the Hudson's Bay Company.

In 1825, a leader from the Hudson's Bay Company, George Simpson, decided to close Spokane House. He chose a new spot for a trading post, which became Fort Colvile. Today, the old site of Spokane House is in Spokane County, Washington, just northwest of the city of Spokane.

Building Spokane House

David Thompson gave the orders to build Spokane House. It was built by Jaco Finlay during the winter of 1810 and 1811. Finlay stayed with the Sqeliz until Thompson came back later in 1811.

When Thompson visited in June 1811, he wrote that Spokane House was where he "left a small assortment of Goods to continue the trade." He also noted there were "forty Tents of Spokane Indians, with Jaco, a half breed, as Clerk." Soon after, Thompson left to explore the mouth of the Columbia River. There, he found a rival trading post called Fort Astoria.

Fort Spokane: The Rival Post

Fort Spokane was a competing trading post. It was opened by the Pacific Fur Company, which was based at Fort Astoria. This company was fully funded by John Jacob Astor. In early 1812, an expedition led by W. Price Hunt arrived from St. Louis. They brought much-needed supplies and more people from a ship called the Beaver. This allowed the company to set up more trading posts to compete with the North West Company.

One group, led by John Clarke, was sent from Fort Astoria into the interior. Their job was to create a main trading center for what is now eastern Washington and Oregon, northern Idaho, and western Montana. This group was told to build their new post close to Spokane House.

Life at Fort Spokane

The people at Fort Spokane had good relationships with the nearby Sqeliz people. The post's gate was often left open at night, showing how peaceful things were. Illim-Spokanee, who was the father of Spokane Garry, traded with both fur companies. Even though they were rivals, the people from Fort Spokane and Spokane House got along well.

A man named McMillan agreed with Clarke not to sell alcohol to the native people. Trading groups were sent out to trade with other Indigenous peoples nearby. This was done to compete with the North West Company. For example, François Pillet led six men to live with the Ktunaxa people. They were there to compete with the Kootanae House post. Another group, led by Russel Farnham, went near Saleesh House in the homeland of the Bitterroot Salish.

When Farnham's group left, Ross returned to the post just before January 1, 1813. He remembered that the Pacific Fur Company workers had built a "snug and commodious dwelling-house, containing four rooms and a kitchen." They also had "a comfortable house for the men, and a capacious store for the furs and trading goods." The whole area was surrounded by a fence and had two towers with holes for muskets.

Most of the Pacific Fur Company workers left for Fort Astoria in May 1813. Only four men stayed at Fort Spokane with Pillet. When the main group reached Fort Astoria in August, they heard bad news about the War of 1812. They decided to sell all of the Pacific Fur Company's property, including Fort Spokane, to the North West Company.

North West Company Takes Over

After the Pacific Fur Company sold its posts, the North West Company moved its operations from the old Spokane House to Fort Spokane. However, they kept the name Spokane House for this new location. It became the main storage and trading center for the North West Company in the interior of the Oregon Country.

But there were problems with the location of this new Spokane House. It was not well connected to other trading posts. Supplies had to be carried by large groups of pack trains, which are animals carrying goods. It was not possible to use water transport, like boats. This meant the company depended on the Nez Perce people to provide horses. Each year, about 35 to 40 men worked for the North West Company to transport trade goods to Spokane House. Even though people suggested closing Spokane House, it remained popular among the company's workers. By 1818, Fort Nez Percés was considered the most important interior post.

Hudson's Bay Company Control

The Hudson's Bay Company took control of the North West Company in 1821. They sent George Simpson to visit their new lands in the west. Simpson toured the area in 1824 and 1825. He visited Spokane House in October 1824 with John McLoughlin, McMillian, and Peter Skene Ogden.

Simpson was not happy with many of the workers at Spokane House and its smaller posts, like Flathead Post and Kootanae House. He thought many were lazy and "the very scum of the country." He felt they were "unruly and troublesome" and needed "very superior management." Because of this, Simpson reduced the number of employees at Spokane House for 1825, leaving only fifteen.

Simpson returned to Spokane House in April 1825. He started talking about closing Spokane House and moving to Kettle Falls. He had several reasons for this. Spokane House was far from the Columbia River. There were not many fur-bearing animals left in the area. But at Kettle Falls, there were lots of fish and good land for farming. That same year, work began on a new fur trading post near Kettle Falls, which was named Fort Colvile.

Later Years

In 1846, the Oregon Treaty was signed. This agreement meant that the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland gave up all its claims to land in the Pacific Northwest south of the 49th parallel to the United States of America.

Archeological digs were done at the Spokane House site from 1950 to 1953 and again from 1962 to 1963. The area was recognized as a historic district and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.