Spokane's minor league history dates to 1892, when it fielded a team in the Pacific Northwest League. The nickname Indians dates to 1903, when Spokane joined the Pacific National League, a predecessor to the Pacific Coast League and, at Class A, an elite minor league of the period, equivalent to Triple-A today. The Indians lasted only two seasons at that higher level before dropping to the Class B Northwestern League, which folded during World War I.

In 1937, Spokane became a charter member of the Class B Western International League (WIL), the predecessor of the Northwest League. They played at Ferris Field from 1937 through 1942 and 1946 until folding during the 1954 season on June 21.

Spokane was a charter member of the Northwest League, which debuted in 1955 as a Class B league. These Indians also played at Ferris Field, but folded after just two seasons, and the city went without minor league baseball in 1957.

When the Los Angeles Dodgers moved from Brooklyn to the West Coast in 1958, they moved their PCL affiliate, the Los Angeles Angels, north to Spokane. While with the Dodgers for 14 seasons, the Indians won league titles in 1960 and 1970, and were runners-up in 1963, 1967, and 1968.

The 1970 Indians, managed by Tommy Lasorda, won 94 of 146 games (.644) in the regular season to win the northern division by 26 games, then swept the Hawaii Islanders in four games in the PCL playoffs. The team included Bill Buckner, Steve Garvey, Bobby Valentine (PCL MVP), Tom Paciorek, Davey Lopes, Bill Russell, and Doyle Alexander.

Following the 1971 season, the club was moved south to New Mexico and became the Albuquerque Dukes. Spokane, which had been in the Northwest League for its first two seasons in 1955 and 1956, returned to the NWL in 1972 as a Dodger affiliate, but only for one season, as a new PCL franchise arrived in 1973 from Portland, becoming the affiliate of the Texas Rangers.

The Indians' second stint in Triple-A lasted ten seasons and included affiliations with the Rangers, which changed to the Milwaukee Brewers in 1976, Seattle Mariners in 1979, and California Angels in 1982.

Taking their first division crown since 1974, the Indians defeated Tacoma in the first round, but fell to Albuquerque in the championship series in six games. Soon after that season, the team moved south to Las Vegas and became the Stars.

The team's general manager was Larry Koentopp, the former head coach and athletic director at Gonzaga. He was the leader of a local ownership group that purchased the team after the 1978 season.The team was purchased for $259,000 in 1978 and was sold in 1993 for $6.1 million.

A new NWL franchise was awarded to Spokane for the 1983 season and the Indians have won eight league titles; the first four were consecutive, from 1987 through 1990.The Indians won their seventh NWL championship in 2005, despite a 37-39 (.487) record during the regular season. They became only the second team in league history (after the 1982 Salem Angels) to win the championship with a losing regular season record. Spokane won the east division, then beat league-leading Vancouver on the road in games four and five of the championship series to win the title.

In 2008, the Indians captured their eighth league title with a thrilling four-game series victory over the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes. After dropping the first game, Spokane rallied to a 11-10 win in 10 innings to even the series. In game three, the Indians fell behind 10-2 before rallying for nine unanswered runs to win again, 11-10. Spokane won the title with a 6-5 victory in 10 innings in the fourth game.