David Thompson, explorer-geographer with the North West Company, crossed the Rocky Mountains that explored West. He sent two men, Finan McDonald and Jacques (Jaco) Finlay to the Spokane area with orders to build a small trading post they named “The Spokane House” at the convergence of the Spokane and Little Spokane Rivers. The men trapped and traded furs with The Spokane. This was the first white settlement in what is now Washington State.