100 years ago in Spokane: A few Californians were itching for some time in the city, braving snow to kick off its tourist season

The arrival of three cars from California marked the unofficial opening of tourist season in Spokane.

One of those cars made the trip from Los Angeles in only eight days, which was quite fast for the era. The other two cars required 10 and 12 days, respectively.

They encountered snow at the border of California and Oregon, and again around Colfax. But the snow caused little trouble.

What route did people use in those pre-Interstate days? One of the travelers said their route followed the Pacific Highway along the coast to Portland. Then they took the Columbia River highway to Pendleton and then up to Walla Walla and Colfax.

From the census beat: The U.S. Census Bureau released figures detailing the number of foreign-born residents in Washington.

The most, by far, came from Canada.

Canada was followed, in order, by Sweden, Norway, Germany, England, Finland, Russia, Italy, Ireland, Denmark, Scotland, Austria, Greece, Poland, Switzerland, Yugoslavia and the Netherlands.

Asian countries were not listed, apparently because this was a survey of “foreign-born white residents.”

Also on this day

(From the Associated Press)

1791: Congress passed a measure taxing distilled spirits; it was the first internal revenue act in U.S. history.

1960: Lucille Ball filed for divorce from her husband, Desi Arnaz, a day after they had finished filming the last episode of “The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show.”