100 years ago in Spokane: Rabbit roundup near Prosser

More than 100 people staged a massive jackrabbit drive – yes, a bunny roundup – near Prosser.

People drove thousands of big jackrabbits out of the brush and toward pens.

However, it appeared most of the rabbits emerged unscathed. There weren’t enough people to keep the rabbits from escaping before they were herded into the pens.

The organizer of the drive, a local newspaper editor, said the jackrabbits had become a serious threat to farm crops. He said entire fields might be destroyed “if we do not rid the country of them.”

He said he will try to organize a crew of 600 to 800 people and try again.

From the trial beat: A jury took less than an hour to acquit “Babe” Langer of murdering Edmond (sometimes listed as Edward) Haley.

One juror said they all believed Langer’s claim that she shot Haley in self-defense after he attacked her in a murderous rage.

From the wildfire beat: More than a dozen huge forest fires swept through North Idaho from the Canadian border to the St. Joe River country. Several ranch homes burned in the Priest River valley and three bridges over the Pend Oreille River were destroyed. Mining operations were working feverishly to protect their buildings.

More than 1,000 people were fighting the fires, but there were so many fires that forest officials could only combat the biggest ones.