100 years ago in Spokane: Cheering residents send off National Guard soldiers to Mexican border

From our archives, 100 years ago

Nearly 60,000 cheering Spokane residents bade farewell to the local National Guard companies as they embarked for the “American Lake mobilization grounds” (today’s Joint Base Lewis-McChord) in preparation for deployment on the Mexican border.

“Crowds jammed the downtown streets and sidewalks for 20 city blocks,” said the paper. Others gathered at the Northern Pacific depot to say, “Goodbye and good luck.”

The crowds vastly outnumbered the soldiers. The National Guard contingent consisted of 297 men and nine officers.

The crowd was “comparable in size only with those masses of people that have turned out in Spokane to greet Colonel (Theodore) Roosevelt, or to see the Liberty Bell.” Yet it was a “reserved crowd,” with “tears intermingled with cheers.”

In fact, a minister brought the crowd to tears during a brief service at the Armory, “when he mentioned the possibility of a grave beside the cactus.”

Meanwhile, the U.S. had sent a stern diplomatic note to the Mexican government demanding an explanation for recent attacks on U.S. forces.

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1945: The charter of the United Nations was signed by 50 countries in San Francisco.