Editing Chewelah, Washington (section)

==History==
The name of the town comes from a [[Pend d'Oreilles tribe|Kalispel]] word, {{lang|spo|sč̓ewíleʔ}}, meaning 'watersnake' or '[[common garter snake|gartersnake]]'.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bright|first=William|title=Native American placenames of the United States|year= 2007|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|isbn=978-0-8061-3598-4|page=95}} online at [https://books.google.com/books?id=5XfxzCm1qa4C Google Books]</ref> Prior to colonization by European-Americans, Chewelah was home to a [[band society|band]] of the [[Pend d'Oreilles tribe|Kalispel people]]. The band was known as the ''slet̓éw̓si'', meaning "valley people". Originally, the area was called Fool's Prairie, after the indigenous Kalispel who left his own tribe because of a dispute.<ref>Drury, Clifford Merrill, First White Women Over the Rockies, Volume 2, Mary Walker's diary, September 11, 1842, page 235 and Chewelah Independent June 12, 1914, History of Chewelah, by Hilda Dickson. [http://www.crossroadsarchive.net/items/show/12886 crossroadsarchive.net]</ref> Chewelah and the rest of the [[Colville River (Washington)|Colville River Valley]] were part of the [[Colville Indian Reservation]] from April 9, 1872, when the reservation was created, until July 2, 1872, when a subsequent executive order reduced the size of the reservation. The Chewelah Band of Indians is currently part of the [[Spokane people|Spokane Tribe]].{{citation needed|date=August 2019}}

Thomas and Mary Brown moved to the Fool's Prairie in 1859.<ref>Steele, Richard F. 'An illustrated history of Stevens, Ferry, Okanogan and Chelan counties, state of Washington', Spokane, Washington, Western Historical Publishing Company, 1904.</ref> On May 8, 1872, Thomas Brown received authority to establish a post office called Chewelah. The name was first used in Stevens County Commissioner Journals on May 6, 1872.<ref>Stevens County Commissioners Journal Book A, p. 168, 1860–1883.</ref> That post office disbanded on February 23, 1875. In 1879, the post office was reestablished with Major John Simms, Indian Agent, as postmaster.<ref>Ramsey, Guy Reed, 1960–66, Postmarked Washington: 1850–1960, pps. 1556–1157, viewed at Washington State Library, Olympia, July 23, 2013.</ref> Chewelah was officially incorporated on January 26, 1903.<ref>Stevens County Commissioners Minutes Book D, pps. 402–403.</ref>

Chewelah is a town of firsts in Stevens County. It had the first Protestant Congregational Church in 1891, the first school in 1869,<ref>"The Last Bell" by Alpa Naff, c. 1984 listed Pinkney City school established 1862 as the first public school in Stevens County.</ref> the [[Spokane Falls and Northern Railway]] arrived in 1889, a Catholic church was established in 1885, and the first county newspaper was founded in July 1885.<ref>[http://www.crossroadsarchive.net/admin/items/show/15324 Slater, John B. comments on first newspaper in Stevens County.]</ref>

Initially, Chewelah was a pioneer settlement, being an agricultural center that can be traced back to the early 1870s and having prospectors working the adjacent countryside as early as 1842. The town was platted in 1884 and became known for being a rough and tumble mining town; the first lead and silver mines were established around 1886, and others followed in Embry and surrounding areas.

The town's newspaper, The Independent, was founded by William Hunter Brownlow (1860–1946) in 1903 and has been in publication ever since. The first issue came off the press on June 19, 1903, with the help of his four sons—Truman, Ralph, Arthur, and Alex—Brownlow. The family produced a weekly eight-page newspaper.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ABOUT/SUBSCRIBE – THE INDEPENDENT |url=https://chewelahindependent.com/the-independent/ |access-date=2022-08-08 |language=en-US}}</ref>

By 1905 the population had reached 650, and within a few years many prosperous copper, silver, lead, and some gold mines were flourishing in the area. The most successful ore mined in Chewelah was [[magnesite]]. By 1916 Chewelah's plant was said to be the largest producer of magnesite in the country, and at full production was the largest producer in the world, shipping some 700 tons daily. During the war, there were as many as 800 people working at the plant making high temperature-resistant refractory brick.{{citation needed|date=August 2019}}

By 1920 Chewelah's population had grown to 1,600 people and continued to prosper until the late 1960s. In 1968, the magnesite plant closed down due to cheaper competition from Japan and changes in the steel industry. Despite this major change, Chewelah survived the transition from being a "one-company town", and today Chewelah has several thousand residents and displays a pleasant blend of the past and future. With its moderate climate, dry land, and irrigated farming, ranching and dairy farming continue to be mainstays. Chewelah's diversified economy also includes a [[49 Degrees North Ski Area|ski area]] and golf course, among other industries.{{citation needed|date=August 2019}}

In June 2019, the Chewelah Creative District became the second state-designated creative district in the state, following a similar designation for [[Edmonds, Washington|Edmonds]].<ref>[https://www.arts.wa.gov/chewelah/ Washington State Arts Commission]</ref><ref>[https://chewelahindependent.com/chewelah-designated-state-creative-district/ Chewelah Independent]</ref>