Fort Spokane was the last Western frontier fort built in the Pacific Northwest. From 1880 to 1898, the fort helped maintain order and enforce U.S. government reservation policies. Across the West, European American settlement led to clashes with Native Americans; military forts were first built to protect settlers during these conflicts, and later forts such as Fort Spokane helped protect newly established Indian reservations from illegal settlement. During the 1890s, rapid change came to the upper Columbia River as European Americans moved into the area and the population of Stevens and Ferry counties grew from 4,000 in 1890 to 15,000 by 1900, while more than 1,000 Native Americans lived on the Spokane and Colville reservations. At Fort Spokane, 300 soldiers maintained an uneasy peace. The fort closed in 1898. In 1900 it became an Indian Boarding School, where Native American children from nearby reservations were forcibly taken from their homes for education in the ways of the dominant American society. After seven years, pressure from the tribes and some leaders in the Bureau of Indian Affairs led to the school's closure, and day schools opened on the reservations so children could remain at home and receive a classroom education.