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Fort Okanogan (also spelled Fort Okanagan but only by nonresident Canadians) was founded in 1811 on the confluence of the Okanogan River and as a fur trade outpost. Originally built for John Jacob Astor’s Pacific Fur Company, it was the first American-owned settlement within Washington state, located in what is now Okanogan County. 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, which took over operation of Fort Okanogan as part of its Columbia District. The fort was an important stop on the York Factory Express trade route to London via Hudson Bay.
In 1846, the Oregon Treaty was ratified, ending the Oregon boundary dispute and the joint-occupation of the Pacific Northwest, 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, formed by construction of Wells Dam.
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 Fort 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, 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.
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.
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, 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 in British Columbia. 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.
| 1811-1813 |
| 1813 |
| 1814-1816 |
| 1816-1817 |
| 1822-1823 |
| 1823-1824 |
| 1824-1827 |
| 1826 |
| 1826-1829 |
| 1841 |
| 1842-1843 |
| 1842-1856 |
| 1856-1860 |
The park is located five miles (8 km) north of Brewster, Washington. It is closed during the winter.
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