In 1952, a Palouse farmer named Roland "Squirt" Marmes discovered a strange rock formation on his property near the town of Hooper, Washington. That same year, another Hooper rancher named John McGregor brought Washington State University…

One-room schoolhouses were a common sight in the 19th century American West. Although most have been allowed to fall into a state of disrepair, there are still some left that have been restored through the time and effort of members of the local…

Old grudges die hard. In 1938, cross-county archrivals the Colfax Bulldogs and the St. John Eagles met in a bitterly contested football matchup. St. John emerged the victors with a score of 14 - 0, but the defeated Colfax Bulldogs did not forget. …

Nineteenth century Americans loved a good courthouse. Here in 1889, the residents of Whitman County constructed a grand gothic palace of justice that stood prominently until 1957 when it was torn down and replaced with a modern courthouse the same…

In 1910, the "Milwaukee Road" extended nearly 1,500 miles as it stretched from Chicago to Seattle. The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway (CM & SP) was, for a period in the late-19th and early-20th Centuries, one of the…

"Hundreds Homeless at Colfax - Driven to the Hillsides by Raging Floods - Houses Swept Away by the Rushing Waters" The front-page headline of the March 3, 1910 edition of the Spokane Daily Chronicle described nearly 500 residents of…

You are looking at one of the most impressive waterfalls in the Northwest and a staple of the region's geology. The Palouse is full of beautiful landscapes, but the most impressive by far is the grand, 198-foot high Palouse Falls. Situated…

Before it was known as "Spokane County's preeminent grain market," Rockford earned a reputation for vigilante justice. Like many other Western farming and ranching communities in the 1880s, Rockford experienced a certain element of…

This impressive structure is the Chicago, Milwaukee, & St. Paul (CM & SP) Viaduct, built in 1909. The CM & SP railway was, for the first few decades of settlement, one of the most important railroad companies in the Palouse region. …

You are looking at St. Boniface Church, named after the German apostle. It is the first consecrated Catholic Church in the State of Washington. The church not only represents the spiritual commitment of early Palouse immigrants and their…

Welcome to Hole-in-the-Ground, where you will notice one of the most peculiar geological formations in the region. As part of the channeled scablands, Hole-in-the-Ground was created by the powerful flood waters of glacial Lake Missoula some 15,000…

In the northwest corner of Whitman County, alongside Pine Creek and hidden amongst the undulating hills of Palouse wheat farming country, sits the town of Malden, Washington. This tiny town was once one of the largest and fastest growing…

Like most towns in Whitman County, Farmington was once a prosperous and rapidly expanding community during the early twentieth century. An abundance of nearby timber and a close water source was what first attracted settlers to the area in the…

Welcome to Rosalia, Washington, a town whose history is very similar to the other agricultural communities of the Palouse. Rosalia was first settled in 1872 and was named after the wife of the town's founder John Favorite. Rosalia's…

All but forgotten today, the Palouse once had its own mass transit--the S&IE Interurban Railway, affectionately known as "the Bug." As the population of the western states dramatically increased in the early 20th century, railroad…

You are standing near the path of the Mullan Road, the first wagon road across the northern Rocky Mountains. Since before Lewis and Clark, it was an American dream to establish an effective route connecting the eastern United States to the…

This is the site of a murder. The 1850s were a violent time in northwest history as a growing tide of American immigrants encroached upon Indian land. In 1855 the first governor of Washington Territory, Isaac Stevens, forced the tribes to sign…

This is the Tohotonimme battlefield where on May 17, 1858 a combined force of around 650 Spokan, Palus, and Coeur d' Alene warriors fought against the encroachments of Col. Edward Steptoe and his column of 160 men. His group also included a…

A winding fifteen minute drive up to the top of Steptoe Butte offers some of the most breathtaking views in Eastern Washington. On a clear day, visitors are greeted by a panoramic view of nearly the entire Palouse and beyond. Mt. Spokane can be…

The towns of the Palouse followed similar patterns of early growth as white settlers flooded into the area, followed by a long and gradual decline with the greater mechanization of farming. Some simply vanished. Today,the ghost town of Elberton…