Fort Okanogan

The post's first winter had one trader in it. David Stuart left Alexander Ross at the unfinished fort in late September 1811, with a dog Ross had bought at Monterey on the voyage out, meaning to be back within a month, and heavy snow kept him away. Ross traded with the Syilx, the Okanagan people, through the winter and took in more than 1,500 beaver pelts for trade goods worth about $160; the pelts were valued at over $10,000. He stayed on under the North West Company and married an Okanagan woman, Sally.

What the plaque says

Fort Okanogan John Jacob Astor's fur traders built Fort Okanogan in September, 1811. The British North West Company took possession in the War of 1812. The Hudson's Bay Company owned the Fort from 1821 to 1860. It was moved in the 1830s to the Columbia River. A flagpole in the distance marks the second site. Here, at the mouth of the Okanogan River, the Fort served as a trading center. The United States won authority over the region in 1846. The Hudson's Bay Company abandoned Fort Okanogan 14 years later. Erected by the Washington State Highway Commission

Where it stands