(Photo courtesy of Washington Digital Archives)

Did you know that Spokane is the second largest city Washington?  With a population of 210,000, Spokane is only below Seattle and just above Tacoma in size. This metropolitan center is located 20 miles from the Washington/Idaho border and about 30 miles from the city of Coeur d’Alene.  The city sits on the Spokane River (pictured above), a tributary of the Columbia River that can be seen downtown passing over beautiful Spokane Falls. The Spokane area’s four-season climate and its proximity to numerous lakes and mountains make it home to a wide array of possibilities for recreation.  With a total of 87 parks that collectively cover 4,100 acres of land, the city is always a great place to enjoy the outdoors.

The word Spokane comes from the Native-American tribe that lived along the Spokane River.  The current form of the city’s name is derived from Illim-Spokanee, a tribal leader who identified himself as “chief of the sun people.”  Illim-Spokanee was the father of Chief Spokane Garry, the liaison between the tribe and the first white settlers of the area.