Many, many years ago the Spokane area was a large lake which took several days to cross. There were great villages around the lake and also on the various islands. One bright morning the earth started rumbling and shaking. The startled Indians fled as huge waves pitched into the air, overturning boats and engulfing villages. Many died of starvation and thirst. Mount Spokane, the Little Mountain that grew big overnight, gathered some to her care. Then the earth sucked the whole lake into the "Below World." The lake was gone. When the sun shone again, the few people that remained alive came down from the "Little Sun Mountain," and followed a tiny trickle of water to what is now Spokane.
Legend of the founding of Spokane
