The Spokane Valley is a valley of the Spokane River through the southern Selkirk Mountains in the U.S. state of Washington. The valley is home to the cities of Spokane and its suburbs Spokane Valley, Liberty Lake, and Millwood. The valley is bounded on the north and south by the Selkirk Mountains, on the west by the Columbia River Basalt Group, and on the east by the Rathdrum Prairie at the Idaho state border. Mica Peak, located south of the valley, is the southernmost peak in the Selkirk Range. The mountain, along with surrounding peaks, separates the Spokane Valley from the Palouse. The Valley contains part of the Spokane Valley–Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer.
Geography
Topography
The valley exhibits signs of the prehistoric geologic events that shaped the area and region such as the Missoula Floods which ended 12,000 to 15,000 years ago. The Spokane valley was gouged out by repeated failures in the ice dam that held Glacial Lake Missoula. The protected Dishman Hills Natural Resources Conservation Area to the west, with its rugged, potholed appearance and deep gullies is a result of the Missoula Floods as well and represents one of the most ecologically diverse regions in Washington state, where forests, grasslands and shrublands converge and is within two ecoregions, the Okanagan and Northern Rockies ecoregions. The geography further to the southeast, such as the Saltese Flats and Saltese Uplands is characterized as a shrub–steppe landscape with grassy hills and ravines.
Climate
Most of the valley is classified as a Mediterranean Climate (Köppen Csa), however the western slope of the Saltese Uplands closely border on a semi-arid climate (Köppen Bsk).
History
Early history
For thousands of years, native peoples lived in the Valley, and included it in their seasonal migrations, where they hunted, fished, gathered, and dug roots. Prior to European settlers, the Valley was occupied the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene people.
Starting in the early 1800s, fur traders sent by the North West Company (later merged with the Hudson's Bay Company) arrived in Spokane territory. West of the Valley, two trading posts were established near the mouth of the Little Spokane, 1810-1826 Northwest of there, missionaries established the Tshimakain Mission, 1838–1848. The first settler in the Valley was Antoine Plante, a French Canadian and Blackfoot, and his wife, Mary of the Flathead nation. He came as an employee of the Hudson's Bay Company, for which he worked for two years before becoming a Freeman. He built a small cabin near the Spokane River in 1849 (now the Plantes Ferry Recreation Park between the neighborhoods of Trentwood and Irwin), from which he ran a small Hudson's Bay Company trading post. He operated the first ferry across the Spokane River, the only means of crossing the river in the area, from 1852 to 1864.
Washington Territory
In 1853, two years after the establishment of the Washington Territory, the first governor, Isaac Stevens, made an initial effort to make a treaty with Chief Garry and the Spokanes at Antoine Plantes' cabin. In spite of the calming influence of Chief Garry, the Spokanes protested the loss of their lands by joining in the Coeur d'Alene War of 1858. The battle culminated in the Battle of Spokane Plains, while there was no decisive winner, the tribes were greatly weakened. The Spokanes were forced from the lands of their ancestors to a reservation north of the Spokane River, just west of the Spokane area.
In 1862, A. C. "Charley" Kendall established a store on the north side of the Spokane River at the far east end of the Valley. A bridge to cross the river at Kendall's store was soon built by Joe Herring, Timothy Lee, and Ned Jordan in 1864, strategically located nearer the Mullan Road than Plante's Ferry. A small community, known as Spokane Bridge, began to build up near the bridge. It boasts the first hotel and post office in the Valley. In 1871, it became a stop on the Pony Express, connecting The Dalles, Oregon Territory, to Missoula, Montana Territory.
Before the turn of the century, early pioneers, many of them silver miners, arrived from the East by way of the Northern Pacific and Great Northern railroads, for which Spokane was a major hub. By 1883, the first transcontinental rail was established. The railroad activity created support for extensive shops and facilities. Within a few years, Spokane was tied to the outside world by five transcontinental railroads, making it the hub of commerce it remains today.