Between 1864 and 1879 Spokane County was part of Stevens County. In 1879, The legislature chose Spokane as county seat to include the present Spokane, Lincoln, Douglas, and Grant counties. Vote counters announced Spokane as the winner, but Cheney residents suspected the officials of lying about the results, so they came at night, kidnapped the election official and his records, and proclaimed Cheney the winner of the vote. Spokane's population grew dramatically by the next election - partly because of the Northern Pacific Railway - and finally in 1886 the city had the votes it needed to win back the county seat.