100 years ago today in Spokane: Airplanes, priced at $5,000 each, shipped to Spokane

A carload of new airplanes arrived at the Symons-Russell Aviation Co. – and all three of them were already claimed by purchasers.

It was the first full rail-car load of airplanes in the city’s history. They were shipped from the Curtiss factory in Buffalo, N.Y., and were described as “the type of plane in which most of the government pilots received their initial training.” One was purchased by a Spokane man, described as a recently discharged Army pilot. The other two purchasers were apparently from out-of-town.

The price tag was $5,000 each.

From the fishing beat: Members of the Yakima Tribe (today spelled Yakama) planned to launch a public campaign to repeal a 1915 law which prohibited fishing within 400 feet of any dam.

The law made it illegal to fish in the Yakima River at Prosser and other places where the tribes had fished for centuries. Chief Meninock and others had already been fined $10 for fishing there.

Now, the tribe was planning a speaking tour in which “Indian maids in picturesque native costume” would appear at women’s clubs around the state in an attempt to enlist the support “of their white sisters.”

Chief Meninock spent an hour with a district attorney in Spokane discussing the law. He said “there must be a mistake, because the treaty was made and the river was there long before there were game wardens.”