By: Gini Woodward
As the museum worker-bees continue to sort through accumulated piles of unfiled papers and documents, an occasional treasure worth sharing floats to the surface. Life in remote Boundary County has always provided the opportunity for brave adventures to the big city of Spokane and beyond. A local lady, writing anonymously, documented the first overland automobile expedition by a group of women from Bonners Ferry to Spokane. The priceless story provides a glimpse of life in 1914.
Our Trip to Spokane
– By One of Us
A bright morning at about sunrise, a party of ladies, and a car. The combination opens vistas of possibilities. To be specific-the time was 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday, June 10th, in the year 1914. The ladies were Mrs. J.B. Brody, Mrs. E.E. Fry, Mrs. J.F. McGreevy, and Miss L.G. Walliss of Naples, and the car was the famous Brody car, Mrs. Brody of that ilk being the spokesman-that is to say, she was at the wheel! The trip was an overland tour to the City of Spokane, in the glorious State of George Washington (who never even heard of it!). One peculiarity will be at once observed, to wit: that the trip was overland. For this we offer an apology, but we justify such a method of procedure by drawing attention to three remarkable facts:-first, the car was not an aeroplane: second the car was not a steamboat; and third, there was an extraordinary scarcity of water en route, so that all things considered, the overland method was the only one practicable. Having thus justified so astounding procedure on our part, we may perhaps progress with our tale.
It is to be noted that so far as history relates, the journey of which we write constitutes a record, in that no trip had ever been made over that particular route with a lady at the wheel; this being the more noteworthy when the gentle reader reflects that the passengers were also, each and all, ladies-no member of the domineering sex being tolerated either en route or at any stage of the journey. Lest the harsh voice of the tattler should break the silence with an undeserved snicker, however we here openly confess that one of the party-who shall remain in anonymity-escaped the wary eyes of the rest of us and disappeared from mortal ken until the sad hour of 10 a.m. the following day at the Coeur d’Alene Hotel.
But pshaw! These digressions make us forget the purpose of this story, and we almost omitted to mention that the trip only took five hours. We wish you to observe that word “only”. The reason is this; if you reflect upon the mileage from Bonners Ferry to Spokane, and the nature of the road, you will readily understand that very little time was spent on saloons on the way. It must not be judged from this that the car was stocked with bibulous refreshment, for, as we have said, there was a remarkable scarcity of WATER en route! The less we say of the matter, the better, possibly, as a scornful and skeptical public may assume too much from our explanation.
Suffice it to say that in due time- that is, in five hours – we arrived at that cynosure of the world’s eyes, Spokane the beautiful. Of all our movements there we hesitate to speak too freely; not because of any sense of shame, but lest frivolous minded persons should misunderstand. Of our entertainers, however, we may speak openly and with great pleasure; and of these entertainers we can scarcely speak to highly of Mesdames Walker, Snyder, Parsons, Carothers, and Alexandra, not forgetting Mrs. Williams of Sandpoint, where we had breakfast.
But despite all best efforts of our friends, we confess with grief (albeit it with some pride also, as evidencing our generous spending) that the whole party went “broke”. We apologize for the colloquialism, but it is so apt, that pedantry and discretion are ignored for the nonce, and the language of the vulgar has its way. Be that as it may, the whole party went “broke”, and only concerted action on the part of Mrs. Digman (of Bonners Ferry) and Mr. Brody’s cheque saved us from utter disaster, with a Spokane charity as the ultimate goal.
For the first two days, we bought freely of whatsoever took our fancy and ate and drank with reckless scorn of expense, having a vague idea that dollars were capable of reckless scorn of expense, having a vague idea that dollars were capable of indefinite expansion; but on the third day we began an eager search for free lunch counters and free souvenirs and such other aids to the impecunious as were available. As before mentioned, the timely work of Mrs. Digman – operating in conjunction with a Brody cheque – saved us from the “bread line.”
As to various adventures, anecdotes, episode and incidents during the whole trip, some are not of a nature to warrant publicity. In spite of what has been said regarding liquid refreshments, we have to confess to a bottle and a tin bucket, upon which Mrs. McGreevey kept tab in a very efficient manner, leaving the care of the Club sandwiches to Mrs. Fry. The latter not only took great care of said sandwiches, but prevented over-eating on our part by taking the lead herself in the consumption of the aforesaid delicacies. This may account for the statement by Mrs. Fry that the North Pole was in sight, and seems to suggest that she was “seeing things”, for the only North Pole we could see was a sign of that name. We therefore decided to postpone the annexation of the Pole till next trip, when we might be better able to travel the required distance.
In addition to the North Pole seen by Mrs. Fry, we saw the Pageant, where a graceful elephant performed a sylph-like dance; the Hieland Laddie at the Orpheum; and the Tango at the Casino. Each of these sights entranced our bucolic eyes so much that even the prospect of return to the Pend d’Orielle Valley failed to inspire us with joy.
One remarkable thing we observed was the fondness one of the party evidenced for the bath tub. It was no difficult matter to guess that she lacked this aid to health and beauty in her own domicile, and intended to get a year’s bathing ahead. We do not mention names in this connection, lest others of the party take offense at the implication that they did NOT bathe! It is to be noted as peculiar throughout the trip the scenery so impressed us that Rathdrum appears to be the only place to be noticed! This place is on a beautiful site for a city; and in order to fully appreciate its beauties we went through its back alleys on the outward trip, and through the front alleys on the homeward journey.
This does not mean that when going we were in no condition to show ourselves on the front streets, so scoffers may beware!
We would insert a few of the anecdotes related en route, but many of them were too pointed (at both ends) to be desirable in a public record. It might, however, be well to point out the seriousness of the story anent a cow, and leave it at that. The present scribe is a lightweight anyhow, and prefers the safety of silence!
In concluding this momentous history, two facts are to be recorded; first, that the weather throughout the trip followed the signs of the Dutchman’s Breeches (whatever that may mean); and second, that we went and returned without a puncture or breakdown of any kind. The only thing that was broken was the “record” for time!
Museum Musings – Written by Museum staff for publication – Apr 10, 2009