Profile: Couer d'Alene The Spokane River near its mouth. Courtesy of the Moorehouse Collection, University of Oregon Couer d'Alene Indians lived in the Spokane River drainage basin, an area of abundant fisheries that included trout, salmon, and whitefish. The Couer d'Alene supplemented hunting and gathering activites by fishing the Saint Joe River where they caught whitefish in the late fall and ...