Fort Okanogan

Infobox_nrhp | name =Sites of Fort Okanogan
nrhp_type =


caption =
nearest_city= Bridgeport, WA
lat_degrees = 48 | lat_minutes = 5 | lat_seconds = 59.17 | lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 119 | long_minutes = 43 | long_seconds = 5.89 | long_direction = W
area =
built =1811
architect=
architecture=
added = June 04, 1973
governing_body = State
refnum=73001883cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]

Fort Okanogan (also spelled Fort Okanagan) was founded as a fur trade outpost by John Jacob Astor’s Pacific Fur Company in 1811. It was built at the confluence of the Okanogan and Columbia Rivers, in what is now Okanogan County, Washington. The fort was the first American-owned settlement in what is now Washington,Gulick, Bill. "A Traveler's History of Washington". Caxton Press, 1996. ISBN 0-8700-4371-4. p. 339] although its ownership soon passed to the North West Company when the Pacific Fur Company sold out its assets and posts to its rival.

Originally built for the Pacific Fur Company, the North West Company purchased the fort, along with the rest of the Pacific Fur Company, in 1813. In 1821 the North West Company was merged into Hudson's Bay Company, which took over operation of Fort Okanogan. HBC Governor Sir George Simpson commented about Fort Okanagan during his 1841 visit to the Columbia District:

...is an outpost from the establishment of Thompson's River [Fort 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. [ [http://www.nosracines.ca/e/page.aspx?id=3620661 "British Columbia from the Earliest Times to the Present", E.O.S. Scholefield and F.W. Howay, p. 406] ]

In 1846, the Oregon Treaty was ratified, ending the Oregon boundary dispute and the joint-occupation of Oregon Country, though Hudson's Bay Company was allowed to continue use of the fort. However, due to the decline of the transport business in the area, HBC abandoned the fort in 1860.Tate, Cassandra. " [http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=7522 Fort Okanogan] ". "HistoryLink" October 26, 2005. (June 24, 2008).]

The site of the fort was flooded in 1967 by the reservoir Lake Pateros due to the construction of Wells Dam. Today a museum called the Fort Okanogan Interpretive Center operates at the 45-acre Fort Okanogan State Park, near where the fort stood, five miles north of Brewster, Washington. It is closed during the winter.

ee also

*Okanagan Trail

References

External links

* [http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=7522 Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History]
* [http://www.parks.wa.gov/parkpage.asp?selectedpark=Fort+Okanogan Fort Okanogan]
* [http://www.parks.wa.gov Washington State Parks]