MOVING HISTORY FORWARD: The Coeur d’Alene Eskimos and the Davenport Trophy

The Museum of North Idaho recently posted a photo from its archive of the Coeur d’Alene Eskimos amateur hockey team posing on the frozen lake in front of City Beach. The photo had been used as part of the museum’s temporary exhibit on outdoor recreation in North Idaho that was displayed last summer. The caption that accompanied the team photo noted that it had been taken in February of 1930, so I decided to use that information as a guide to learning more about the team and its history.

The Coeur d’Alene Eskimos hockey team was what would nowadays be called senior amateurs. Formed in 1925, their only competition for several years was the Spokane Majestics. Many of the players from both teams had come to the area from the East and Midwest, and a few were Canadian transplants from nearby British Columbia.

The Eskimos joined the Majestics in forming the Inland Empire Amateur Hockey League. Despite their efforts to schedule outside the region, they frequently played each other instead.

The Eskimos initially played their home games on Fernan Lake, while the Spokane team played on equally small lakes like Cook’s north of Spokane where the surface of the lakes often froze over as early as mid-November.

For the 1926–27 season, Spokane hotel owner Louis M. Davenport sponsored a trophy for the best-of-three Inland Empire Amateur Hockey Championship Tournament winner. The Eskimos won the first Davenport Trophy, winning two out of three from the Majestics. They didn’t repeat in 1927-28, but rebounded to win the 1928-29 tournament based on their overall record because warm weather ended the season.

That brings us to the 1929–30 season, during which the photo was taken. Reports from team captain Joe Whyte revealed that the nucleus of the Eskimos roster was returning, including key veterans Glen Gillette, Earl Faulkner, Tom ‘Tick’ Hall, and Gordan Reed. Initially, it was thought that a rink would be built on the recently closed Coeur d’Alene Lumber Company property near Tubbs Hill, but when that failed to happen, the team settled on playing their games on the ice adjacent to City Beach.

During the off-season, the Majestics disbanded when a group of former Canadian players formed the “Canucks” with Victor Dessert’s financial help. [Note: Dessert owned Coeur d’Alene’s Desert Hotel.] So many players tried out that a second team, the Beavers, was formed. However, the Beavers proved too weak to compete for the Davenport Trophy. Similarly, the newly formed Yellowjackets of Hillyard proved weak, so the Canucks and Eskimos were left to battle it out.

Warm weather and lack of ice would delay the 1929-30 season until mid-January. The Canucks won the first two handily, dropping the Eskimos 7-1 on their home rink on Cook’s Lake north of Spokane, and by 4-1 on the ice in front of City Beach in Coeur d’Alene. A heavy February thaw would cancel two games before Game 3 was played to a 3-3 tie on Cook’s Lake. Despite an improved effort, the tie meant that the Davenport Trophy went to the Canucks. The photo was likely taken after a practice game Feb. 14. The team would come up short that year, but Eskimo Hockey would remain a part of the area’s outdoor winter sports in one configuration or another until 1939, thrilling local fans along the way.

    1929-1930 Team Photo: This was printed in a Spokane newspaper, on February 21, 1930, and shows the members of the 1929-1930 Coeur d'Alene Eskimos Amateur Ice Hockey Team posing inside their rink on the ice near City Beach and the park. Players pictured included, from left, Van Richardson, Glen Nyland, Gordon Reed, Glen Gillette, Don McDonald, Jim Livingston and Tick Hall (both wearing K for Kimberly, B.C. jerseys), Harry Wilson, and Earl Faulkner. Kneeling are Lowell Gillette and Team Captain Joe Whyte. The lady on the back left is Mrs. Joe Whyte.