Jim Kershner’s this day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

Road construction workers in the Garden Springs area let loose a dynamite blast – and were showered with human skulls and bones.

Apparently, they had blasted an ancient Indian burial ground. They found the remains of “probably a dozen bodies” as well as arrowheads and brass decorative items.

The workers said they had no idea that they were blasting a burial ground. There was no particular uproar over this, as there would be today. The workers simply gathered up the bones and reburied them nearby.

From the homemaker’s beat: A Spokesman-Review story began with …

From our archives, 100 years ago

Road construction workers in the Garden Springs area let loose a dynamite blast – and were showered with human skulls and bones.

Apparently, they had blasted an ancient Indian burial ground. They found the remains of “probably a dozen bodies” as well as arrowheads and brass decorative items.

The workers said they had no idea that they were blasting a burial ground. There was no particular uproar over this, as there would be today. The workers simply gathered up the bones and reburied them nearby.

From the homemaker’s beat: A Spokesman-Review story began with this provocative statement: “Spokane’s safety is now in the hands of one of the largest vigilante organizations ever organized. … It numbers 600 or 700 members and there isn’t a man among them.”

Apparently, this vigilante organization consisted of women who went around to grocery stores, bakeries and butcher shops and made sure the stores were not selling spoiled or contaminated food.

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1858: Accepting the Illinois Republican Party’s nomination for the U.S. Senate, Abraham Lincoln said the slavery issue had to be resolved, declaring, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”