Okanogan County history

David Thomson of the North West Company was the first European to visit the Okanogan River when his expedition paddled past the mouth down the Columbia in July 1811.

1824). Utz was a "shadowy backwoodsman" (Wilson, 67) and moved on, but Smith stayed to became a prominent commercial and political leader, so Smith is often identified as the county's First Citizen.

Gold strikes in New Caledonia -- the Okanagan (Canadian spelling) and Fraser River valleys of British Columbia -- in 1858 attracted prospectors from California to the region by way of the Columbia River.

The first Okanogan City was a small and soon-defunct mining camp on the Similkameen River in 1860; the second was in a high dusty site in Douglas County and lasted only three years; and the third was a short-lived town site on the Okanogan River, near the present town of Riverside.

The legislature created Stevens County in 1863, encompassing Okanogan and Ferry counties.

Everything on the east bank of the Okanogan River was made part of the Colville Reservation in 1872.

But miners and settlers lobbied the government relentlessly until the reservation was reduced in 1886 to the contemporary Colville Indian Reservation, home to the Colville Confederated Tribes.

In 1898, the remaining 1.3 million acres of the now diminished Colville Reservation was opened to mineral exploitation.

Baines Title Company was founded in 1900 in Conconully, Washington by William Baines, who named it the Okanogan County Abstract Company.

In 1905, the town's name was changed to Pogue, in honor of Dr J. I. Pogue, a frontier orchardist.

In 1907, forest reserves owned by the federal government became national forests and the following year, Chelan National Forest was established.

County residents clamored for more direct service and finally the Great Northern laid tracks from Oroville south to Pateros by 1913 and to Wenatchee the following year.

On September 8, 1914, Okanogan easily beat Omak in a preliminary "elimination" election.

In 1916, about a third of the South Half was opened for settlement and a new land rush.

In 1921, the Biles-Coleman Lumber Company got its start and soon became an important employer.

In 1925, a new hotel called the Cariboo Inn opened to cater to that tourist trade.

A terrible freeze in 1948 wiped out a number of orchards, but the industry bounced back quickly, with help from the hydroelectric projects, which dotted the Columbia River.

The Okanogan County Historical Society was formed in 1963 to preserve and disseminate the colorful heritage of Okanogan County in north central Washington State.

In 1964, the society tried to block a regional library merger. "If the John Birch Society wants to run the City of Okanogan, they’ll have to take me into court," said Richard E. Johnson, the city attorney ("Okanogan's City Library").

In 1978, Methow Recreation, Inc. made formal application for the 3,600-acre Early Winters resort.

The matter went all the way to the United States Supreme Court, which cleared the way for the project in May 1989.

The concept reemerged in 1996 as a smaller resort called Arrowleaf, with cross-country skiing instead of downhill skiing, and with some community approval.

In 1999, United States Senator Slade Gorton sought to overturn a Clinton Administration ruling against the project by tacking an amendment onto funding for a military action in Kosovo.

A month later in January 2001, The Trust for Public Land purchased 1,020 acres once envisioned for Early Winters and preserved it from development.

A community-wide celebration commemorated the 100 year anniversary October 29, 2007.

As of 2010, Okanogan's population was estimated at 2,500, a little more than half the size of Omak.