Jim Kershner’s This day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

Former President Theodore Roosevelt spent a quiet day in Spokane – following his frenzied schedule the day before.

Roosevelt breakfasted at the Davenport Hotel and then attended Sunday services at the All Saints Cathedral. Crowds continued to gather wherever he went, but police kept the throngs well in hand. He spent the rest of the day lunching with friends and resting comfortably.

Then, about 4 p.m., he boarded a train bound for Moscow, Idaho, where he was scheduled to speak the next morning. About 1,600 people gathered at the depot to see him off.

People all along the route – Oakesdale, Palouse – showed up to cheer Roosevelt as the train raced by. When the train arrived in Moscow, he was greeted by a throng led by a company of university cadets and a mounted patrol.

Roosevelt had been president from 1901 to 1909 and repeatedly told adoring crowds in Spokane that he was not going to run for president again. He was wrong about that.

Fed up with what he saw as the abandonment of progressive principles, he formed the Bull Moose Party and ran in 1912. He outpolled the incumbent Republican William Howard Taft but lost to Democrat Woodrow Wilson.

But he carried the state of Washington.