100 years ago in Spokane: A cockfighting investigation was underway after a big Chronicle article exposed the local circuit

The Spokane County sheriff and prosecutor promised a thorough investigation of cockfighting in Spokane, following a sensational investigation by the Spokane Daily Chronicle.

A day earlier, the paper reported that illegal cockfights had been staged every other week for three years in secret locations.

County Prosecutor Charles Leavy said he would begin gathering evidence.

“We won’t make any arrests until we find out the details,” Leavy said. “Cockfighting under the state law is a misdemeanor, but conducting a place for gambling, which undoubtedly accompanied it, is a felony. If we are able to round up these fellows and get the evidence against them, we will make it hot for them.”

From the fugitive beat: Frank Strand, who shot his neighbor to death south of St. Maries, Idaho, was still on the lam, deep in the woods of North Idaho.

A posse was scouring the area, but authorities were not optimistic about the chances of catching Strand.

“Strand is an old-timer in the St. Maries River section,” one searcher said. “There is no person in that section of the country that knows the woods and trails like he does, not excepting the forest rangers themselves.”

Searchers found indications that Strand had enough food to hide out all summer. His cabin was practically stripped bare of food.

Strand was accused of killing W. Wedel, following a long-running dispute about property lines and right-of-way. Earlier, Wedel had filed an insanity complaint against Strand. A hearing found Strand to be sane, but it also ordered him to keep the peace with the Wedel family or forfeit a $100 bond.