The Spokane River flows from Lake Coeur d'Alene in the Idaho Panhandle, emptying into the Columbia River at Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake, approximately 111 miles downstream.

For 10,000 years, native peoples gathered at a magnificent set of falls and rapids to catch salmon and trade with their neighbors. Until the 18th century, the Coeur d'Alene (Schḭtsu'umsh) and Spokane Native Americans (along with other Salish peoples) used to live and travel along the banks of the Spokane River.