Английская Википедия:Fort Okanogan

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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 and Columbia Rivers 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.Шаблон:Sfn 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.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn 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."Шаблон:Sfn

The site of the fort was flooded in 1967 by the reservoir Lake Pateros, formed by construction of Wells Dam.Шаблон:Sfn

Pacific Fur Company

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

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.Шаблон:Sfn 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, 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.Шаблон:Sfn

North West Company

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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.Шаблон:Sfn 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.Шаблон:Sfn Besides rations of salmon and deer bought from visiting Indigenous,Шаблон:Sfn Sarsaparilla and rattlesnakes were consumed by the station's workers.Шаблон:Sfn Employees of the fort began to wear Kamleikas manufactured by Aleuts, typically made of sea-lion intestines.Шаблон:Sfn Attempts at farming weren't successful, with mice and frost destroying much of the crops.Шаблон:Sfn

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.Шаблон:Sfn 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.Шаблон:Sfn

Hudson's Bay Company

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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.Шаблон:Sfn 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, over 19,000 consumed annually, along with venison rather than imported agricultural practices.Шаблон:Sfn Additionally several quarts of Wapato and over a thousand quarts of various berries were consumed in 1826.Шаблон:Sfn

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.Шаблон:Sfn

In the last two decades of its use the station had only one employee residing there, generally with their family.Шаблон:Sfn 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.Шаблон:Sfn 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.Шаблон:Sfn 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.Шаблон:Sfn

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.Шаблон:Sfn

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..."Шаблон:Sfn

Manager Position Tenure
Alexander Ross proprietor 1811-1813Шаблон:Sfn
William Wallace Matthews clerk 1813Шаблон:Sfn
Alexander Ross proprietor 1814-1816Шаблон:Sfn
Ross Cox 1816-1817Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
William Kittson clerk 1822-1823Шаблон:Sfn
Louis Pion interpreter 1823-1824Шаблон:Sfn
James Birnie apprentice clerk 1824-1827Шаблон:Sfn
François Annance clerk 1826Шаблон:Sfn
Francis Ermatinger clerk 1826-1829Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
Jean Gingras post master 1841Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
Antoine Felix boute in charge 1842-1843Шаблон:Sfn
Joachin LaFluer interpreter 1842-1856Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
François Duchouquette interpreter 1856-1860Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn

Fort Okanogan State Park

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The site of Fort Okanogan

Until 2011, Fort Okanogan State Park Шаблон:Coord overlooked the fort site and the Columbia River. Comprising Шаблон:Convert, 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 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.[1] The center is open late May through mid September.

The park is located five miles (8 km) north of Brewster, Washington.Шаблон:Sfn It is closed during the winter.

See also

Citations

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Bibliography

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External links

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Шаблон:Protected areas of Washington (state) Шаблон:National Register of Historic Places in Washington Шаблон:Columbia Department Шаблон:Pacific Fur Company

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