Established as a railroad section station on the Northern Pacific Railroad, Cheney boomed into existence as the Spokane County seat in 1880. The City of Cheney incorporated in 1883, and though its role as county seat was short-lived, Cheney long served as an agricultural and mercantile hub for the surrounding Palouse and scabland towns and farms. The rotary rod weeder was invented here and manufactured by the Cheney Weeder Company to be shipped all over the country and the world. The most enduring legacy of the pioneers was Eastern Washington University, beginning as the Benjamin P. Cheney...