Upriver Drive Widening Would Disturb Native American Sites

Thu., Jan. 22, 1998

By Angie Gaddy angieg@spokesman.com

Two Native American sites along Upriver Drive would be disturbed if Spokane County goes ahead with its plan to widen the road, an Eastern Washington University archeological report says.

EWU archeologists hired by the county to study sites along Upriver Drive and near Plantes Ferry Park recommended last week that artifacts in an unidentified area along Upriver Drive be dug up and returned to the Spokane Tribe of Indians.

Officials do not want to identify the area, or detail the artifacts found there, for fear looters might disturb the site.

The archeologists also recommended the county hold talks with the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene tribes to decide how to proceed around another culturally sensitive area, a grouping of basalt boulders below the Riblet mansion known as “Coyote Rocks,” which also lies in the path of the planned road widening project.

The Spokane tribe, meanwhile, has hired its own archeologist to study the area, said tribal attorney Dave Lungren. He added that the tribe’s historic preservation officer has been in contact with the county and state historic preservation offices.

For now, the archeologists’ recommendations mean that the $1.3 million project, which would have widened a quarter-mile stretch of Upriver Drive between Argonne Road and Plantes Ferry Park, is on hold.

In November, the county announced plans to close part of Upriver Drive from December until April so it could complete the road improvements. The project would add wider shoulders and a bike path to Upriver.

Just before the road project was to begin, the Washington Department of Natural Resources raised a red flag, denying a permit that would have allowed the logging of trees along Upriver.

Now, no one knows exactly how long it will take for the county, the tribes and other agencies to resolve the matter.

The county has sent copies of the archeologists’ report to the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene tribes, the state Historic Preservation Office, the Federal Highway Administration and the Washington State Department of Transportation.

Each has 30 days to comment.

When planning the road improvement project, county officials knew that there was an Indian legend involving the rocks below the Riblet Mansion.

“We didn’t know it was a traditional cultural place,” Nelson said. “We do now.”

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: The legend of Coyote Rocks According to Spokane tribal legend, Indians during ancient times camped at the spot where the Riblet mansion (now owned by Arbor Crest winery) now sits. One day, a monster attacked the Indians and began to eat them. The frightened Indians called a camp council. A coyote, who camped with them and who had the ability to speak, said he would fight the monster. The next day the coyote met the monster on a trail and told the monster he would fight it. The monster laughed. The coyote suggested they have their pets fight each other. The monster had a pet grizzly bear, and the coyote had a pet dog. The two pets began to fight and the dog jumped down the bear’s throat and killed it. The monster was mad because he lost, so he threw rocks off the cliff to dam up the Spokane River and starve the Indians.

This sidebar appeared with the story: The legend of Coyote Rocks According to Spokane tribal legend, Indians during ancient times camped at the spot where the Riblet mansion (now owned by Arbor Crest winery) now sits. One day, a monster attacked the Indians and began to eat them. The frightened Indians called a camp council. A coyote, who camped with them and who had the ability to speak, said he would fight the monster. The next day the coyote met the monster on a trail and told the monster he would fight it. The monster laughed. The coyote suggested they have their pets fight each other. The monster had a pet grizzly bear, and the coyote had a pet dog. The two pets began to fight and the dog jumped down the bear’s throat and killed it. The monster was mad because he lost, so he threw rocks off the cliff to dam up the Spokane River and starve the Indians.

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