Indian Painted Rocks - Little Spokane River, WA
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T0SHEA
N 47° 46.958 W 117° 29.819
11T E 462771 N 5292260
These pictographs are now in a small state park along West Rutter Parkway within the Little Spokane River Natural Area.
Waymark Code: WMN348
Location: Washington, United States
Date Posted: 12/16/2014
Views: 3
The pictographs are just behind the parking area for the Little Spokane River Natural Area Indian Painted Rocks Trailhead. Not long after their discovery they were painted over by a thoughtless local. The state had the paint removed with as little damage to the pictographs as possible and installed a fence to protect them from further harm. They were painted an untold number of years ago on exposed bedrock with a natural overhang that serves to protect them from rain and snow, explaining their longevity.
The pictographs were most likely the work of a member or members of the Spokan Indians, the inland division of the Salishan linguistic stock. There are three subdivisions of the Spokan, the Lower, Upper, and Middle, or South Spokan. Of these, the Upper Spokan (or Little Spokan) occupied this, the valley of the Little Spokane River. Little is known of their history prior to 1805, the time of their first encounter with whites with the appearance of Lewis and Clark in the area, followed by Hudson's Bay Company Fur Traders in about 1810. It was estimated that in 1780 the population of all Spokan people was between 1,500 and 2,500. By 1910 that number had dwindled to between 650 and 850.
The Spokan existed primarily on fish and local plants and roots, the local rivers being excellent salmon fisheries. It is likely that the Spokan have lived in this area for anywhere from 5,000 to 9,000 years, and quite possibly longer.
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