From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library:

First there was Fort Colvile, the Hudson’s Bay Fort in present day Stevens County. Later, at another location a few miles away, there was Fort Colville, the U.S. military fort. As you can see by the spelling, the original Fort Colvile had the “L” kicked out of it. This randomly found article in the July 15, 1910 Chewelah Independent described how Fort Colvile was lost to history:

 HISTORIC OLD FORT GOES UP IN SMOKE

 Blockhouse Near Kettle Falls Burns. — Was One of the Oldest in the State

 “The old Hudson Bay fort and group of buildings one-half mile from the Kettle Falls was destroyed by fire last week. The buildings were commenced in 1824 and finished the following year. The long frame building used for office and living purposes was burned and rebuilt in 1861. The old fort or blockhouse is said by some to be one of the oldest buildings in the state.”

 “When Governor Mead and Senator Ankeny were here five years ago they became interested in these buildings and were anxious that the state would become the owner of the property, for its historical values.”

 “The late general McClellan was a guest of this place over night. It was here that Mrs. Custer, widow of General Custer, met the late Randall McDonald. In her letters afterwards published in Harper’s Weekly she referred to him and called him the prince of paupers, which caused him much sorrow. The property belongs to Donald McDonald, who is now in Montana.”

 “Many old relics were destroyed among them being an old flintlock musket. The old fort was substantially built of hewn logs, and was in a good state of preservation. The bullet holes in it could be counted by thousands. The cause of the fire is unknown.”

 “The old fort was built in 1826 by Donald McDonald, Sr., who was at one time in command of the Hudson Bay company, which established trading posts at different points over the northwest, and was bequeathed by him to his son, Donald McDonald, who still owns the property. Books more than 100 years old formed  a large portion of the library, besides there were contained in the confines of its walls curios of almost inestimable value.”

 “The little old cannon used in the defense of the fort in the early days, saw service in the battle of Waterloo when the combined armies of Europe defeated the legions of France.”

 The Fort Colvile library must have been one of the very earliest in Pacific Northwest history, making the place a cultural as well as economic center for the Inland Empire. Washington would not have a library supported by public funds until the creation of the Washington Territorial Library (now Washington State Library) in 1853.  About 800 volumes from that initial WTL/WSL collection still exist.

 In Book 1 of the Colville Collection, author David H. Chance traces the rise and fall of the fort in detail. After the land was abandoned by the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1871 it fell into various disputes of ownership. When the 20th century rolled around, the government was starting to recognize the historical value of the site and began to express an interest in preserving it. But that came to a fiery end in 1910. By coincidence, nearby St. Paul’s Mission burned down on the same day as the fort, leading some to speculate the buildings were torched by certain developers. But as Chance concludes, “There is no evidence to warrant anything more than suspicion.”

 But if fire had not destroyed what remained of Fort Colvile, water probably would’ve finished the job 30 years later when the Grand Coulee Dam was built, creating Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake and submerging Fort Colvile’s site. During occasion drawdowns the area is visited by archaeologists, but the site is really counted as a piece of history you’ll need scuba gear to visit.

From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library:

This week’s random article comes from the Jan. 5, 1901 issue of The Ballard News, published at a time when Ballard was an independent incorporated city. But the news itself is actually about Seattle, and the almost total destruction of the Seattle Public Library by fire on the evening where 1900 turned into 1901.

According to John Douglas Marshall’s book, Place of Learning, Place of Dreams (2004), SPL had struggled in the early years to find funding and a permanent home. On Jan. 12, 1899 the Library opened in the posh quarters of the Yesler mansion, and patron usage soared. But City Librarian Charles Wesley Smith expressed concern the enormous Victorian wooden structure was a fire hazard. The memories of Seattle’s great 1889 inferno were still fresh.

Smith’s fears were well founded. Practically the whole collection went up in smoke on the cusp of 1900/1901. Andrew Carnegie came to the rescue and in short order a fine new library was constructed. The cause of the fire was never fully explained. There was some feeling it was sparked by someone who wanted to force the issue of finding a secure home for SPL. One prominent Seattle educator even declared, “All glory to the man who applied the torch.”

This article was apparently originally published in the Seattle Mail and Herald. It is interesting how many of the points made in promoting the local library in 1901 remain valid over a century later:

 $35,000 WORTH OF BOOKS

 That Was Seattle’s Loss in Tuesday Night’s Fire

 “Ever since Seattle’s great fire the city has been learning to turn apparent evil into good and to make the most of her calamities. The same spirit which prompted her to rise up in the ashes of 1889 and build on new foundations the basis of a greater city than could ever have sprung from the old, will not desert her now, as she stands and looks in the ashes of what was, a few days since, the pride of every man, woman and child on Puget Sound,– the Seattle Public Library.”

“All are by this time acquainted with the fact that on New Year’s night the library, consisting of $35,000 worth of books and  paraphernalia, was destroyed by fire.”

“Until this calamity few people had known in just what an exalted position they held this institution; but the calamity has appealed more directly to the people than would the destruction of any other institution, public or private, in the city, with the possible exception of the University.”

“A public library such as this, is of incalculable value to any city in which it is located. A public library operated in such a satisfactory way as was this one is, we believe, of as much value to the city as the churches combined.”

“The Seattle Library had 8,200 patrons, and it may be safely calculated on the basis of five readers for every card– more than 40,000 readers.”

“It had an average of 2,500 visitors daily. The number going in and out of the library building on last Thanksgiving day, aggregated 3,000.”

“There is another fact– and it is important– that hundreds and even thousands of men and girls, who had not decent rooms or apartments, spent all their leisure time in the library. Now that the establishment is destroyed and temporarily inaccessible, they are seen walking listlessly about the streets or lounging in clubs or saloons– for they are out of a home. These, and the further fact that education and high ideals are the acknowledged solution to the problem of crime, are some of the reasons urged why the Seattle Public Library was of such vital importance to the city. Outside of all other argument there is the fact that no other city of Seattle’s size could afford to be without a well equipped complete library.”

“We desire to commend the Library committee of the city council upon their prompt and decisive action. It seems that they have no other thought in mind than that the city must at once proceed, not only to place the library back in even a better state than before, but more important than all else, to purchase a site, forthwith, and construct a fireproof library building that will answer for all time.”

“This is as it should be. Seattle is not a city of ephemeral hopes and iridescent booms. She is building for all time. Mr. Smith, the man who has conducted to such perfect satisfaction, the affairs of the City Library for so many years, has been working for two years past to this one end– a permanent library building for Seattle. The city can afford to take up the matter at once,– rather, it can not afford not to, and we are glad to be able to inform our readers that the committee will report to this effect to the city council.”

“The locations being considered as most desirable are, we are informed, the present site and the old University grounds. It is not known that either of these is available at reasonable figures, but they, together with others, are under contemplation of the committee.”