Watson's Harverene™ Resort

HEADING WEST

It was while J. Howard was working in Chicago that Horace Brown convinced him and Joseph French Johnson, a colleague of J. Howard's, to head out West and help establish a daily newspaper in Spokane Falls, Washington. Spokane Falls was just in the process of rebuilding from a great fire that destroyed most of the business district.

Just Before the Fire
This view looks northward along Howard Street at the intersection of Howard and Riverside, just days before the fire, in August of 1889.

Horace Brown had traveled to Chicago with the intent of purchasing new book stock to be used in the rebuilding of a bookstore in Spokane Falls that had been destroyed by fire. It was on August 4th, 1889 that fire destroyed most of downtown Spokane Falls. The fire started in an area that was built primarily of wooden structures but soon engulfed all other buildings in the downtown area. After the fire, the city prohibited downtown buildings from being rebuilt of wood. This is what brought about the use of brick in the downtown area that is so visible and well known today. Many of the original brick buildings that were built after this fire of 1889 still exist today in the downtown Spokane area.

Devastation
Looking northeastward from Post Street toward Howard, soon after the fire. Echo Roller Mills and Spokane Oat Meal Mills were both on Howard Street. Most of downtown Spokane was destroyed.

Rebuilding, a Year Later
A view eastward along Riverside Avenue of the intersection of Howard and Riverside, about a year after the fire. The offices of the Spokesman, which opened in March of that year, were on Howard just a block or so from this location. At the time this would have been a familiar scene to J. Howard Watson.

It was while Mr. Horace Brown was making one of the long trips to Chicago that he began thinking about establishing a second daily paper in Spokane. He had a lot of time to think on his journeys back east. It was on one of these visits that Mr. Brown contacted a number of Chicago newspaper professionals to tell them about this golden opportunity that awaited them back in Spokane Falls. J. Howard Watson and Joseph F. Johnson were convinced and later that year, Mr. and Mrs. Watson and their young son traveled west to Spokane Falls where work immediately began on this new venture.

J. Howard Watson

In a letter written to his mother, on stationery marked "The Spokane Spokesman", dated February 27, 1890, J. Howard wrote to his mother:

Letter of 27 February 1890

The first issue of "The Spokane Spokesman" was published on March 9, 1890. It was a standard eight-page newspaper with six columns per page.

On March 27, 1890, "The Spokane Spokesman" was officially incorporated. It was this year that Spokane Falls changed its name to "Spokane" and boasted a population of 30,000 residents. The city rebuilt quickly and Spokane was the hub of the region. It catered to the mining districts to the East; when someone needed supplies, Spokane was the central area for such things. From as far away as the Rockies to the East, The Cascades to the West, the Blue Mountains to the South and the Canadian Selkirks to the North, Spokane was where early pioneers would travel for all of their major supplies.

Spokane had a wild side. It was by no means a quiet little city nestled in the Pacific Northwest. Spokane was a city that boasted a saloon for every twenty inhabitants at one time and a saloon could be found on every block in the business area. It was a playground for miners from British Columbia and Idaho as well as for timber workers whose jobs ran out during the dead of winter. It was also a playground for steamboat and railroad workers.

During these early years, saloons and gambling establishments were open 24 hours a day featuring Faro, roulette, dice, and poker and there were no limits on bets made. Brawls and gunfights were frequent, so much so that many times corpses filled pine boxes and were placed on the main avenue awaiting the coroner to officially inspect them.

GUNFIGHT AT THE SPOKESMAN

Times were hard for The Spokesman competing against the already established "Spokane Review". Because of these hard times for The Spokesman, new shareholders had to be recruited, thus Horace Brown bowed out of the new paper. Charles B. Dullinham, a staff member for the Spokesman also left the paper and returned to Chicago without full pay. The two remaining founders knew that the Spokesman was slipping financially and needed additional capital in order to continue and be competitive in Spokane.

It was finally decided that J. Howard would travel back to Chicago and try to urge their fellow stockholder, W. H. Cowles, to come West and help save the failing business. With extreme excitement, Mr. Watson returned from Chicago with the news that Mr. Cowles would soon be joining them. In July of 1891, Mr. Cowles arrived.

Besides the financial problems that the founders of the Spokesman were having, J. Howard's health was also failing brought on by the pressure and long hours associated with starting the new paper. Mr. Watson's doctor advised him that he needed to slow down and get away from the heavy workload and pressure. It was during this time that Mr. Watson had heard about the Lake Chelan area.

It was while on this January trip that J. Howard became interested in finding property in order to make Chelan his new home.

And from the Chelan Leader came this bit of information about D. W. Little and his place:

NEXT: "Lake Chelan"

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