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Fort Spokane
Fort Spokane · Lincoln County · 1880
The Army built a fort above the Spokane–Columbia confluence in 1880. After the garrison left, the same buildings became a boarding school and then a hospital.
For thousands of years, NPS says, the rapids of the Spokane River were a gathering place for Native tribes who fished here. In 1880 the U.S. Army established Fort Spokane above the confluence of the Spokane and Columbia Rivers.
When the Spanish-American War began in 1898, the garrison was withdrawn. The buildings and lands were turned over to the Office of Indian Affairs and used as an Indian boarding school from 1900 to 1907. After the school closed, the buildings served as a tuberculosis hospital until 1929. NPS calls the Indian experience at Fort Spokane a microcosm of the Indian experience across the United States.
Today the National Park Service operates Fort Spokane as a visitor center and museum inside Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area. In summer the historic guardhouse is open. The grounds are open year-round. The source below is the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area history page.
- History
- Indigenous History & Place
Sources (1)
government · Tier S
National Park ServiceFort Spokane
Last reviewed: September 21, 2026
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