50 years ago in Expo history: President Nixon was confirmed for the fair’s opening day, even in spite of Watergate

Big news arrived out of the White House: President Richard Nixon planned to participate in the Expo ’74 opening ceremony on May 4.

Expo officials had known for weeks that first lady Patricia Nixon would preside over the opening, but President Nixon had been slow to commit. He was, after all, preoccupied with a scandal called Watergate.

Now, word arrived that the president would attend a Republican gathering in Phoenix, and then extend the trip to Spokane.

The exact nature of the president’s participation was not yet certain, but Nixon was expected to make some remarks about the environment.

Nixon’s popularity was at a low point because of the scandal, but Tommy L. Walker, in charge of the opening day celebration, said his participation added to the prestige of Expo ’74. It guaranteed that national and international attention would be focused on Spokane.

Walker also noted that Expo ’74 had been made possible by Nixon’s early approval of the fair.

From 100 years ago: Sam Cohn, alias Ben Blaz, wrote a confession in which he admitted that he had been accompanied to Spokane by a man named Moshiek, the ringleader of the national check-forging gang.

Cohn said he and Moshiek worked on forging schemes in New York and Chicago, before coming to Spokane. In their room at the Davenport Hotel, Moshiek practiced writing the signature of E. Vaughan Klein and then gave a check to Cohn to cash at the Spokane and Eastern Trust Bank.

Cohn was arrested when tellers became suspicious. Moshiek was still at large.