 On January 24 , 1923 Forbes awarded Hurley @-@ Mason Construction a sizable contract of $ 1 @,@ 300 @,@ 000 to construct a new veterans ' hospital at American Lake , near Tacoma . Forbes had resigned his vice presidency at Hurley @-@ Mason Construction upon assuming his federal position under the Harding Administration . By January 1923 , rumor was spread by Forbes 's close friends that Forbes would resign from the Veterans ' Bureau on June 1 , 1923 . During the summer of 1922 on one of Forbes 's " joy rides " , Forbes had come back to Spokane and visited the F. Lewis Clark House while he was looking for a possible site for a veterans ' hospital at Hayden Lake , Idaho . Forbes was accompanied by Dr. Stanley Rhinehart . The F. Lewis Clark House was one of the most prestigious summer homes in the Pacific Northwest ; it had been offered to Forbes and the Veterans ' Bureau at a low cost . Colonel Forbes stayed there for several days . The Spokane division office of Hurley @-@ Mason Construction had been closed down . 
