Morrison Ranch

SPOTLIGHT ON THE SPOKANE REGION


Hi, Everybody!  I am Kris Krell, and I am preparing to entertain you with interesting stories about the Spokane Region through the EWGS Blog. 

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Kris

MORRISON RANCH

For years, my husband, Thom, and I take—sometimes weekly--drives through the Saltese Flats in the Spokane Valley. We seriously considered buying a piece of land to build a house, but that didn’t come to realization.  Since then, many new homes have been built in the area across the road from where we would have built.

Even though new houses have been constructed, the landscape otherwise remains as it was—open land--some with buffalo grazing, some with cattle wandering.  In the summer months we see lots of deer and see ducks on several of the small ponds.

As we drive along the winding road from Liberty Lake down into the Saltese Flats, we curve around the last corner before leaving the Flats.  I always look up at the log home standing alone on the hill overlooking the landscape and the cattle—their large property.  This is the Morrison Ranch.

From 1894 to 1900, Saltese Lake--larger than Liberty Lake--was completely drained by Valley pioneer Pete Morrison.  Morrison homesteaded the area including the lake. 

Morrison wanted the nutrient-rich land under the lake to grow Timothy Hay. Morrison spent years using laborers and horse teams to trench canals through the lake to drain it.   Horse teams pulled a “fresno”, a bucket-like scoop, to dig the canals. Trenching was challenging, and canals totaled about 10 miles. 

The main drainage canal that continues to drain the lake to this day is known as Saltese Creek. The creek flows into a small body of water behind Central Valley High School known as Shelley Lake.

The Morrison family still live on the original homesteaded property, and Timothy Hay is still harvested on the farm.  The hay grown on the Morrison Ranch is still considered as some of the best of its kind in the area.

The Spokane County Environmental Services is working to undo what Morrison accomplished.  The plan is to restore the wetlands habitat in the hopes that this will also increase late summer water flow into the Spokane River, and that salmon and native fish will return. 

Bud Morrison and Central Valley School district are helping with the project to include multiuse trails, a bird habitat, viewing areas and an interpretive center.  The center will be named in honor of his mother, Doris Morrison, a former school teacher.

Sources: 

Spokane Historical app,

Revitalization, Journal of Urban, Rural & Environmental Resilience, Issue #77