A Vanishing History...Farming on Five Mile Prairie
by Sally Mildren - COML 517 Summer 2009 B Session

What do two Danish brothers, Indians and cabbage farmers have in common?

Less than 100 years ago, on the breezy plains of north Spokane known as Five Mile Prairie, farming was the only way of life. Today Five Mile consists of a handful of small farms and development after development of brand new homes.

In the early 1900s, the residents of the Prairie were made up of a small grouping of families who worked the once rich and beautiful top soil to grow cabbage, wheat and corn to provide for their families. One of the main streets on top, Johannsen, was named after two Danish brothers who moved here to farm and raise their families. Along with neighboring cabbage farmers, they would load their horse-drawn wagons, shuttle the week’s fresh produce downtown and sell it to residents in Spokane. Families in those days raised their own cows for milk and meat, nurtured chickens for fresh eggs and worked the ground to make a living. That life is nearly impossible to maintain here today.

Corrine Polley and her husband Harvey have lived for decades in the Johannsen Road home that her parents and grandparents lived in on Five Mile. Her grandmother moved into the area in 1910. Corrine recalls visiting her grandmother on the Prairie as a child. During one visit she remembers when the “new kids” from down the street rode by on horseback. She chuckles as she recounts her grandmother saying, “My goodness! Those kids are going to get hurt. They are going way too fast!” The irony is vivid as another car speeds past the front of their home.

A fragile scroll opens to reveal a copy of a map drawn by her mother, showing the residents of the Prairie during the early 1900s. The women of Five Mile Prairie had this map prepared and sold it to the residents. This same group of women met each week to help each other with children, their homes or the farm; whatever the need. “This was a rural farm community,” says Corrine, “we all helped each other, just like small communities do.” Today, many don't even know the names of the neighbor next door.

Indian Trail, an aptly named road off the backside of the Prairie, was home to an encampment of Spokane Indians. “There were squaws with their papoose strapped on, they cooked over fires and had all sorts of caves throughout the area where they hid their skins and furs,” recalls Corrine. “I remember one time my grandmother told me about stopping to water the horses at a local spring and running into Indians there. They were fascinated with her light skin and hair and wanted to touch her since they had never seen someone like that.” There is a rich history here that the new suburban residents know nothing of; one that is at risk of being lost forever.

The remaining farm land on Five Mile has been zoned Urban Reserve, which in essence is a “holding pattern” before the land can be developed for residential housing. Although county guidelines call for the preservation of prime farm land so it is available for that use in the future, the zoning of Five Mile to Urban Reserve is the “noose” around the neck of the farming way of life on the hill. Now the land has development guidelines that make sure nothing will be done today that would interfere with the ability to develop it later.

“A farmer can’t even work their land and make enough money to pay the property tax anymore,” says Harvey. “It’s really sad, but they can get a lot more money by selling their land off to developers.” The loss of the few remaining farms seems inevitable at this point. “It’s going to happen,” says one neighbor. When asked how she feels about that, Corrine says with her face in her hands, “It’s hard, it’s so hard to see.”

With the disappearance of farms on Five Mile will be a loss of the quiet, rural charm of the area, but most importantly, a colorful part of Spokane’s history will vanish with them. That’s a high price to pay for development.