Located in northeast Spokane near Hillyard, the area began to make local history in 1887. Five years earlier, Edgar J. Webster had come to practice law but instead purchased 1,700 acres of land and, using the natural springs in the area, founded a resort and homestead. Webster called his home Minnehaha, the Sioux word for waterfall. After building tennis courts and a dance pavilion, he declared "Minnehaha Springs and Health Resort" open for business.
Webster was determined to make his resort a success. He even went so far as to invest in and build the Ross Park Electric Street Railway, which then ran a line out to his resort for the convenience of customers. But ultimately, his business failed, leaving the buildings to manifest into, among other things, a brewery, a dance hall, a brothel, and a bowling alley. Eventually, the grounds and buildings were sold to the city as park land for $35,000. One of the stone structures still stands in the middle of the park, its windows boarded up.
The resort was just one of several boom and bust cycles that Minnehaha would experience.
The park remained mostly unused until 1917, when the then top silent movie star, Tyrone Power Sr., took an interest in its possibilities. He had a vision of Minnehaha becoming the next major movie studio. With the area's basalt hills, springs and pine trees providing natural variations of landscape in the area, it was ideal for depicting different scenic backgrounds and seasons on film.
When Power came to town in August of 1917, his arrival at the train station was greeted with great fanfare from Spokane residents, including the first Miss Spokane, Marguerite Motie.
Power took his dream to Spokane's elite, taking out ads in the local newspapers, and calling a grand meeting in the Marie Antoinette room of the Davenport Hotel. He promised Spokane's citizens returns of millions for investments of thousands. Hundreds of locals flocked to the opportunity to become financially linked to the newly-named Washington Motion Picture Company — and to movie star Tyrone Power.
After Tyrone Power's failure, the studio was rented by one movie company after another until the structure and its equipment were finally purchased in 1922 by another Hollywood actor, Wellington Playter. Eventually Playter also went out of business, but not before spending lavishly to attract the attention of top star and director, Nell Shipman, to scout Minnehaha as the studio for her next film, The Grub Stake. Shipman's popular movies portrayed her as a strong woman surviving rugged, outdoor adventures. When she arrived in Spokane in 1922 with her director, Bert Van Tuyle, she carried with her the caché of a worldly independent woman. The scenic area in which Minnehaha is settled, along with the diverse landscape of the Inland Northwest, appealed to Shipman. Her appeal and enthusiasm were infectious. Once again, local businessmen lined up to invest in the new venture and cameras were to roll once more in Spokane.
The cache is hidden near the last stone building reaching back to the film era days.
The Spokane GeoTour continues in 2016 with Filmed in Spokane. This GeoTour will send geocachers on a trip through Spokane, finding caches in areas where movies, TV shows, music videos and more have been filmed. Visit movie sets, restaurants where characters dined, homes where actors lived and much more while seeking wonderful new adventures. The Filmed in Spokane GeoTour rewards those who complete the GeoTour with a commemorative trackable geocoin.
- Visit Spokane GeoTour to view a list and map of qualifying caches. All caches begin with the series name "FINS:" followed by a location specific name.
- Be sure to read the challenge rules and print your passport at SpokaneGeoTour.com.
- You must record the cache code word on the passport with the code inside each GeoTour cache to qualify for a geocoin.
- There is a bonus cache connected to the coin. FINS Geocoin Bonus Cache.
- There are lab caches connected to the tour and can be found at Benny and Joon Trail Lab Caches.
The Filmed in Spokane GeoTour is sponsored by Cache Advance, and by donation from local cachers. We hope you enjoy the tour!
