100 years ago in Spokane: An opioid crisis for another era, and a tragic drowning on Lake Coeur d’Alene

Dope peddlers and dope users were on the increase in Spokane, and authorities were determined to stamp it out.

They made a start by arresting a Lewiston man, thought to be one of the chief sources of Spokane’s narcotic supply. Two federal agents, posing as drug buyers, went to Lewiston’s Chinatown district and bought 15 grams of morphine, and arrested the seller.

Authorities said they had noticed an increase in the narcotics trade over the last few weeks, and a corresponding number of addicts. Federal authorities had now “strengthened their forces.”

The two federal agents were “working incognito” on the streets of Spokane, and “a thorough roundup is to be made.”

From the drowning beat: The body of James Bartlett (Bart) Connelly, 23 – son of the Washington Trust Bank president – was found at the bottom of Lake Coeur d’Alene.

Connelly had been staying at a lake house at Casco Bay. A friend who went to wake him that morning discovered that he was not in his room at the lake house where they were staying.

“It was supposed that he had gone down to the dock for an early dip, but no trace could be found of him there,” The Spokesman-Review reported.

Searchers took a rowboat out and spotted the body at the bottom of the lake. He was a strong swimmer, but “it was believed young Connelly was seized with cramps and never came up after his first dive.”