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Spokane Plains Battlefield Historical State Park

north of Medical Lake, Washington

visited 5 May 2024

Back to parks list

I learned about this “park” only a few weeks ago. I knew that I would have to add it to this site, and that doing so would be uncomfortable.

Let’s start with the elephant in the room.

I’m a white person. This monument commemorates the forceful taking of large parts of what we now call eastern Washington from the native peoples – the Palouse, Nez Perce, and others – who had lived here for time immemorial.

By people who look like me.

I contemplated not adding this “park” to my site. But … it is technically part of the state parks system and I don’t think we should avoid or run away from our history. Neither should we celebrate or be comfortable with it.

Fellow state parks quester Lauren Danner wrote eloquently about this park on her blog and I encourage you to read her retelling of the history of this site.

If there’s any good news to be found here, it’s that the Washington State Historical Society has pledged to revisit monuments – including this one – that were placed decades ago and that present a culturally incomplete version of our mutual history.

I look forward to that update.

Meanwhile, this monument is a dismal rock pyramid that sits in a dreary field. There is no road signage announcing its presence and no listing on the state parks web site.

That’s probably for the best.