50 years ago in Expo History: Who needs a presidential appearance when you have the Secretary of the Interior coming to town?

It was official: Gerald Ford would not be coming to Expo ’74.

Secretary of the Interior Rogers C.B. Morton would be coming in his stead to make a major environmental speech.

The Ford visit had grown increasingly unlikely over the last week, as Washington, D.C., was engulfed in Watergate-related drama. When Richard Nixon resigned and Ford was sworn in as president, the visit was finally canceled.

In other Expo news, the Washington Water Power Co. agreed to “turn back on” the Spokane River on Saturdays and Sundays during the day.

This meant the company would release more water from upriver so that Expo visitors would see waterfalls at the Expo site instead of trickles. Expo had agreed to pay the company $200 a day for “operational costs.”

From 100 years ago: The Juvenile Court judge reported that juvenile delinquency had been “decreasing annually.”

The number of delinquents peaked in 1918 at 660. In 1923, the number was 474.

The judge credited a “more diligent effort on the part of juvenile authorities in bringing to light misconduct of boys and girls and applying the proper correctives.”

Also on this day

(From onthisday.com)

1877: Battle of the Big Hole: United States Army led by Colonel John Gibbon fights the Nez Perce, led by Chief Joseph and Looking Glass in Montana. Both sides suffer heavy casualties causing the Nez Perce to continue their long fighting retreat.