Fort Okanogan

Also called Fort Okanagan - - Fort Okanogan was a trading post in Okanogan County in what is now the U.S. state of Washington. He was named after the Indian tribe Okanogan. The trading post at the confluence of the Okanagan River and Columbia River was an important station of the Okanagan Trail.

History

The fur trading post was established in 1811 by the Pacific Fur Company of John Jacob Astor, but he went with all the other possessions in 1813 at the North West Company about when this bought its competitor. In 1821 this company was in turn merged with the Hudson 's Bay Company. The development of alternative routes through the valleys of the Thompson River and Fraser River in the years of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush led to the closure of the fort in 1860, since the transport volume had been greatly reduced on the Okanagan Trail.

1959 acquired the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission a small area near the long dilapidated Continued Archaeological Investigations promoted remains of the fort ( or of the two forts, one older and one newer ) to light. The location of the remains of the fort was flooded after the construction of Wells Dam in 1967. Today, the Washington State operates a small museum here called Fort Okanogan Interpretive Center and the area designated as State Park.

The Fort Okanogan has been listed since 1973 in the NRHP.