A century ago in the Inland Northwest

Animal-related news dominated Spokane in September 1906, mostly because the Interstate Fair was about to open.

Take a look at some of the acts on the first day’s schedule:

“ Professor Hunt’s Dog and Monkey Circus.

“ Mademoiselle Fifi and her dog Zusu.

“ Harry Draper’s bloodhounds in an exhibition of man tracking.

Still, the most startling animal news had nothing to do with the fair. Spokane druggist Will Murgittroyd sent a messenger boy to the express station to pick up what he thought was a package of bear meat. Soon afterward, he got a call from the agitated boy.

“Whaddaya think I am, an animal trailer?” asked the messenger in a shrill voice.

Turns out, the package was a live bear cub in a crate, sent by a friend as a prank after Murgittroyd had failed to show up for a bear-hunting trip. Murgittroyd and the messenger boy hauled the crate to the pharmacy on Riverside and put the cub on display in the front window.

The cub was a prime attraction for two days until it shoved aside the wire netting and took a stroll down the hall. It brushed against an unsuspecting clerk as she was working at her desk. Panic ensued.

Murgittroyd soon sold the cub to an admirer who let it run free on his Coeur d’Alene-area ranch.