This day in history: Tribal leader who lobbied successfully to protect Indian reservations dies in Spokane. New Episcopal cathedral named

From 1976: “Thousands of mourners” were expected to attend the wake and funeral ceremonies for local tribal leader Joseph R. Garry in DeSmet, Idaho.

“He was considered by most people as the Martin Luther King of 20th century Indians,” said Robert Dellwo, attorney for the Coeur d’Alene Tribal Council. “He led American Indians out of the wilderness during the past 25 years.”

Garry, great grandson of Chief Spokane Garry, was a former Idaho legislator and president of the National Congress of American Indians. He led “the successful battle” to preserve Indian reservations all over the U.S. during a time when there was “strong sentiment in Washington (DC) to terminate all Indian reservations.”

Two days of official mourning were planned.

From 1926: Church leaders announced the name of Spokane’s proposed new Episcopal cathedral: The Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist.

The grand new cathedral was still in the planning stages, and a major fund drive was underway. The site at 12th Avenue and Sumner Street had already been chosen.

Construction of the “first unit, the nave,” was scheduled to begin in November 1926.

The nave, where the congregation sits, would be completed in 1929. Then the Great Depression hit, and construction of the rest of the cathedral was delayed for decades. The cathedral would not be complete until 1961.

Also on this day

(From onthisday.com)

1863: Abraham Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation to free enslaved people in the Confederate states.