Fort Okanogan (also spelled Fort Okanagan) was founded in 1811 on the confluence of the Okanogan and Columbia Rivers as a fur trade outpost. Originally built for

John Jacob Astor John Jacob Astor (born Johann Jakob Astor; July 17, 1763 – March 29, 1848) was a German-American businessman, merchant, real estate mogul, and investor who made his fortune mainly in a fur trade monopoly, by History of opium in China, smuggl ...

’s

Pacific Fur Company The Pacific Fur Company (PFC) was an American fur trade venture wholly owned and funded by John Jacob Astor that functioned from 1810 to 1813. It was based in the Pacific Northwest, an area contested over the decades between the United Kingdom o ...

, it was the first American-owned settlement within

Washington state Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

, located in what is now

Okanogan County Okanogan County () is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington along the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. border. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population w ...

. The North West Company, the PFC's primary competitor, purchased its assets and posts in 1813. In 1821 the North West Company was merged into

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business di ...

, which took over operation of Fort Okanogan as part of its

Columbia District The Columbia District was a fur trading district in the Pacific Northwest region of British North America in the 19th century. Much of its territory overlapped with the disputed Oregon Country. It was explored by the North West Company betw ...

. The fort was an important stop on the

York Factory Express The York Factory Express, usually called "the Express" and also the Columbia Express and the Communication, was a 19th-century fur brigade operated by the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). Roughly in length, it was the main overland connection between ...

trade route to London via Hudson Bay. In 1846, the Oregon Treaty was ratified, ending the

Oregon boundary dispute The Oregon boundary dispute or the Oregon Question was a 19th-century territorial dispute over the political division of the Pacific Northwest of North America between several nations that had competing territorial and commercial aspirations in ...

and the joint-occupation of the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Tho ...

, though the HBC was allowed to continue use of the fort. However, because of the decline of the transport business in the area, the HBC abandoned the fort in June 1860. The fur post's primary use became transportation between other HBC posts, as according to Lloyd Keith and William Brown after 1821 there was no "considerable amount of fur obtained there." The site of the fort was flooded in 1967 by the reservoir

Lake Pateros Lake Pateros is a reservoir on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington. It was created in 1967 with the construction of Wells Dam. The reservoir lies almost entirely in Douglas and Okanogan counties, although the dam itself lies part ...

, formed by construction of

Wells Dam Wells Dam is a hydroelectric embankment dam located on the Columbia River, downstream from the confluence of the Okanogan River, Methow River, and the Columbia River in Washington state. The dam, associated structures, and machinery make up the W ...

Pacific Fur Company

Fort Okanogan was planned by the PFC to compete against the interior stations of the North West Company such as

Spokane House Spokane House was a fur-trading post founded in 1810 by the British-Canadian North West Company, located on a peninsula where the Spokane River and Little Spokane River meet. When established, it was the North West Company's farthest outpost in ...

. PFC employees progressed up the Columbia River in 1811 accompanied by a NWC party led by David Thompson as far as the rapids at

Celilo Falls Celilo Falls (Wyam, meaning "echo of falling water" or "sound of water upon the rocks," in several native languages) was a tribal fishing area on the Columbia River, just east of the Cascade Mountains, on what is today the border between the U.S. ...

. As PFC continued up the Columbia, trade goods of the NWC were found among inhabitants near Fort Okanogan's eventual location. A council with neighboring Okanagan leaders was commenced on 31 October by the PFC officers. The Okanagan dignitaries agreed to maintain friendly relations with PFC employees, partake in the beaver trappings, provide security for the station and ensure its workers were always fed. After the Fort had been erected, the working parties split into two. One group headed back to Astoria, the other north to travel the length of the Okanagan river. Ross was left at the fort with a dog he had purchased in

Monterey Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under bot ...

, Alta California his main company. Nights were a constant source of worry for the lonely Ross, despite having several hundred "friendly inclined" natives encamped nearby performing sentry duties.

North West Company

With the absorption of the Pacific Fur Company's fur posts into the NWC, Alexander Ross continued to serve as Fort Okanogan's manager. Ross Cox was appointed as the officer in charge of Fort Okanogan in 1816, and reached the station on 30 April. Stockpiles of driftwood and timber were used during the summer to reconstruct the Fort. Enclosing the trade post now was a fifteen feet tall palisade and two bastions, each with a brass four pound cannon. Besides the new housing for the fort staff "a spacious store for the furs and merchandise, to which was attached a shop for trading with the natives" were completed as well. Besides rations of salmon and deer bought from visiting Indigenous,

Sarsaparilla Sarsaparilla often refers to the sarsaparilla soft drink, made from Smilax plants. Sarsaparilla may also refer to: Biology *Several species of plants, of the genus ''Smilax'', including: **''Smilax ornata'', also known as Honduran or Jamaican sar ...

and rattlesnakes were consumed by the station's workers. Employees of the fort began to wear

Kamleika A kamleika is an Aleut robe made from sea mammal (mostly sea otter) intestine, which was light and waterproof. They also sometimes had robes to protect against threats such as heavy wind and rain. They were sewn with grass, and each took around ...

s manufactured by Aleuts, typically made of sea-lion intestines. Attempts at farming weren't successful, with mice and frost destroying much of the crops. Several company horses at Fort Okanogan were seized during the winter by a band of Sanpoils. Cox and a small party of French-Canadians and Hawaiians along with several Okanagans led by a local headman, Red Fox, set off to locate the equines. Despite recent snow, Red Fox was able to guide the group to the Sanpoil village holding the horses. Leaders of the village admitted to taking the company mounts, stating it was only done to avoid their own starvation. The Sanpoils had their own number of horses that was dwindling because of attacks by wolves, an issue Fort Okanogan faced as well. Cox took back the company horses without bloodshed, in part from consideration of potential Sanpoil attacks on the seasonal fur brigades departing from Spokane house.

Hudson's Bay Company

In 1821 the North West Company and its extensive stations were adjoined to the Hudson's Bay Company. As HBC officials traveled overland to Fort George, they passed through Fort Okanogan. The former four NWC employees there were retained, one being Hawaiian, three French-Canadian. The number of staff was increased greatly, so that by 1826 over 40 Native and White laborers resided at the post. The food supply was still based on local Indigenous food production, such as

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus ''Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Oncorhy ...

, over 19,000 consumed annually, along with

venison Venison originally meant the meat of a game animal but now refers primarily to the meat of antlered ungulates such as elk or deer (or antelope in South Africa). Venison can be used to refer to any part of the animal, so long as it is edible, ...

rather than imported agricultural practices. Additionally several quarts of Wapato and over a thousand quarts of various berries were consumed in 1826. HBC Governor Sir George Simpson commented about Fort Okanagan during his 1841 visit to the

...is an outpost from the establishment of Thompson's River ort Thompson/Fort Shuswap maintained more for the purpose of facilitating the transport business of that post and New Caledonia than for trade as there are few or no Fur bearing animals in the surrounding country.

In the last two decades of its use the station had only one employee residing there, generally with their family. Starting in 1848 the Okanogan Trail was no longer used by fur trapping brigades, now getting their supplies from Fort Hope instead of Fort Okanogan. The Company began considering abandoning the post in 1853, no longer finding it financially viable to maintain. Negotiations for the sale of its property within the United States were still ongoing with the American Government, with the HBC unwilling to lose its basis for land claims of Fort Okanogan. The son of departing manager Joachin La Fluer, François Duchouquette, was instructed in 1853 to work there. He continued to maintain residency at the location until given orders in 1860 to remove the remaining supplies and property of the HBC. Duchoquette left with a pack train on 18 or 19 June, leaving the post "for all practical purposes abandoned..." and later established a trading outpost outside

Keremeos Keremeos () is a village in the Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. The name originated from the Similkameen dialect of the Okanagan language word "Keremeyeus" meaning "creek which cuts its way through the flats" referring to Keremeos ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. Robert Stevenson, a witness to the withdrawal recalled that:

At the time of our visit all the Indians in that part of the country were congregated at the fort assisting the factor in packing up the goods preparatory to moving the post to Keremeos in British Columbia. The goods were packed in Hudson Bay 'parflushes' made of raw hide, and loads were arranged for 150 horses. The post was to be abandoned the following day, and no goods were on sale that day.

American and Chinese gold miners in the area took wood from aging fur station, leaving it barren. No buildings of Fort Okanogan remained by 1880.

Management

By the time the HBC assumed control of Fort Okanogan, it had already lost its significance in the fur trade; consequently "no officer of the company was regularly stationed there..."

Fort Okanogan State Park

Until 2011, Fort Okanogan State Park overlooked the fort site and the Columbia River. Comprising , the park was for day use and featured the Fort Okanogan Interpretive Center (FOIC), a museum with exhibits about the fort, area pioneers and the

fur trapping Animal trapping, or simply trapping or gin, is the use of a device to remotely catch an animal. Animals may be trapped for a variety of purposes, including food, the fur trade, hunting, pest control, and wildlife management. History Neolithic ...

industry. Because of budget constraints, the park was transferred out of state ownership in 2011 to the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. The FOIC is part of the Colville Tribes' History/Archaeology Program. The Center is open late May through mid September. The park is located five miles (8 km) north of

Brewster, Washington Brewster is a city in Okanogan County, Washington, United States. The population was 2,370 at the 2010 census. History Brewster was founded in 1896. A post office called Brewster has been in operation since 1898. The city derives its name from ...

. It is closed during the winter.

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

Fort Okanogan Interpretive Center
{{authority control 1811 establishments in the British Empire Okanogan Buildings and structures in Okanogan County, Washington Okanogan Fur trade Okanogan History museums in Washington (state) Okanogan Okanogan Industry museums in Washington (state) Okanogan Museums in Okanogan County, Washington National Register of Historic Places in Okanogan County, Washington Okanogan Parks in Okanogan County, Washington State parks of Washington (state)