‘Wicked Spokane’

New book explores the dark underbelly of the Lilac City

EASTERN WASHINGTON — Around the turn of the 20th century, most of the Columbia Basin was little more than miles and miles of sagebrush, coulees and coyotes. There were a few little hamlets dotting the landscape, but nothing you could really call a city. Spokane, on the other hand, was the commercial hub between the Cascades and the Rockies, and it sprang up fast, fueled by mining, railroads and the fertile farmlands surrounding it. Between 1900 and 1910 the city’s population nearly tripled to well over 100,000 residents, according to the U.S. Census records. This brought money, prestige, arts, culture, all the good things that come with urban life. It also brought some, well, unsavory people.