the region of the upper Snake river. Fremont also discusses the western limit of the buffalo range, and puts it well west into Idaho. From that section there are no natural barriers which would have prevented the species from spreading to any and all parts of old Oregon east of the Cascade range, and my theory is that the buffaloes were in the process of so doing and had found their way, at least in small numbers, as far as the Big Bend country of Eastern Washington, when the Indians began acquiring horses which enabled them to efficiently hunt the few and meager herds, with the result that the buffaloes were exterminated along the Columbia before they had reached sufficient numbers to maintain themselves against the numerous mounted Indians that began to set upon them. Had fate denied the Columbian Indian horses for another century, it is possible that the great buffalo range would have extended over the bunch grass plains of this latitude between the Cascades and the Rockies, quite the same as it did east of those mountains. This, of course, goes far into the realm of speculation, but there is much in Indian fable and tradition to support it, and it is not inconsistent with known historical facts.

The Indians must have been telling the same story in the days of Ross Cox, for he says this in his book: "The Indians allege that buffaloes were formerly numerous about the plains, and assert that remains of these animals are still found" (page 228). The "plains" referred to being the Palouse, Big Bend and Spokane countries.

The geographical nomenclature of the old days is interesting. "Okanogan Point" was the big flat at the junction of the Okanogan with the Columbia. A fine view of this flat is now to be had close at hand from the Great Northern trains, and the place where the original Astor post was built, and also the place where the later Ft. Okanogan stood so long can be plainly seen. "Okanogan Forks" was the junction of the Similkameen with the Okanogan. It is where Oroville now stands. Aeneas valley, Aeneas creek, Aeneas mountains, etc., of the present day government maps and quad

rangles, is the old-time Ignace creek, Ignace valley, etc. The French pronunciation of the same being "En-yass." The government map makers in the field heard the name and took it to be an attempt to say "Aeneas," hence the original French "Ignace" has evolved into the Greek "Aeneas" on the official maps of the government. The local pronunciation, however, remains the same as of yore, that is "En-yass." As to the "montee" mentioned by Anderson in his testimony, I am at a loss to figure out where that place could have been. The term in fur trade lingo is explained by the able editor of the Henry journals and there was a "montee" up on Fraser lake spoken of by Father Morice. Whatever it was on the Okanogan it must have been some place in the vicinity of the present towns of Okanogan and Omak. Okanogan has been spelled a dozen or more different ways since Thompson's time. The official spelling has now settled down to "Okanogan" and "Okanagan," the former American, the latter Canadian.

The course of the "Old Okanogan Trail" was up the east side of the river. It started at the old fort and kept down along the river all the way till the point of rocks at McLoughlin's canyon was reached, then the trail climbed up into the gorge known as McLoughlin's canyon, passed through the same and came out on the benches beyond and reached the river bottom again just below the mouth of Bonaparte creek, near where the town of Tonasket is now. Up till about six or eight years ago the old trail was as plain as ever in many places; now there are but few spots where it may be found. I am informed that the trail went along through the hills on the west side of Okanogan Lake to the head thereof, and then struck off through by Grand Prairie to Kamloops, pretty much the same way as the wagon road now goes from Vernon to Kamloops. The popular automobile route of today up through the Okanogan Valley and on north to Kamloops and elsewhere up that way follows very closely the general course of the old trail from the mouth of the Okanogan to Kamloops. "The Okanogan Trail"

is, however, a somewhat indefinite term, for the fur company men did not by any means travel the same path in going over the old route. They traveled up and down on both sides of the river and the lake, and by the Similkameen road as well, according to how fancy or convenience moved them. But the big heavy laden brigades followed the lines first above stated almost invariably. A four-columned article appeared in the Oregon Statesman of February 14, 1860, written by Joel Palmer, wherein he describes his trips over the Okanogan trail in 1858 and 1859. After recounting the arrival of the wagon train at Fort Okanogan he has this to say:

"Passing Okinakane some five miles the trail forks; with our wagons we followed the Okinakane river trail, which is a very good one, with the exception of about one mile over drifting sand hills. The other trail cuts a bend in the river and though several miles shorter, would be difficult to travel with wagons. It is probably about fifteen miles to where they unite on the bank of the river. It then follows up, passing several difficult points to near McLaughlin battle canyon, where we crossed the river. With the exception of one stony point, it is a good road onward to the mouth of the Similkameen, distant from Okinakane about sixty-five miles. Pack trains need not cross the river, but may continue on to the forks. Good camping grounds are found all along the river. I am not advised as to the particular location of the newly discovered mines, but suppose them to be within twelve or fifteen miles of the forks of the Similkameen and Okinakane. From this point there are several trails which have been used in reaching the mines on Frazer and Quenelle river. The one which we took in July 1858 with our wagons, leads northward up the valley of Okinakane to the Great Lake and along the western shore to its head; sometimes passing through gaps in the mountain ranges both in the river and lake sections; it then turns eastward (?) (westward) and strikes a stream called Salmon river, the southern fork of Thompson river, where it again diverges to the north and intersects Thompson river about twenty miles above Ft. Thompson, bearing nearly due west. Another trail—and the one I travelled going out last spring with a pack train, follows up the Okinakane valley eleven or twelve miles, where it crosses a ridge and falls upon the Similkameen, follows up

this valley some eighty miles, where it again forks, one, and the nearest turns to the right and leads through a gap in the mountains striking the Hudson's Bay Brigade trail from Fort Hope to Ft. Thompson and New Caledonia, probably eighty or ninety miles south of Ft. Thompson and following this trail to Alexander. The other fork, which is the Colville and Fort Hope trail, keeps up the Similkameen a short distance and then leads over the mountains uniting with the brigade trail about 30 miles to the southward of the other fork."

The question is often asked how it happened that the buildings of old Ft. Okanogan have so completely disappeared. There are much plainer signs and remaining traces of the former buildings at the site of the old Astor post, than on the site of the later post that was still in existence, and comprised a considerable number of buildings as late as the early sixties. Of course the great length of time since the original Ft. Okanogan of the Pacific Fur Company was abandoned (about 97 years) easily accounts for the complete disappearance of everything there except the cellars and the chimney stones, but the substantial buildings of log and adobe that were in the old Ft. Okanogan of the Hudson Bay Company in 1860, ought, under ordinary circumstances, to be to some extent still in existence. On the contrary the signs of former habitation are much dimmer there than on the site of the older post. This condition may be accounted for through the action of various agencies. The Indians say that placer diggers (both white and Chinese), working on the bars of the Columbia, used up much of the timber in their operations, and very likely the structures were raided by both whites and reds for any and all passing needs. At any rate it seems that all the buildings had disappeared before 1880. The final stroke of obliteration was given the place by the big flood of 1894, which was probably the highest water in the Okanogan and Columbia for at least a century, and perhaps several centuries. At that time the waters of the Columbia swept entirely over the place and carried away much of the bank of earth and gravel that the old-timers say existed along the shore of the river there, leaving the wide stony

beach which has ever since existed between high and low water mark at that point. The site of the old Astor post was much less affected by that flood. It was probably inundated, but there was little or no current there.

A bill is now pending before congress to grant to the Washington State Historical Society the right to acquire ground covering the sites of both old posts as and for an historical park, and the government has also just recently platted a townsite of several hundred acres on the upper end of "Okanogan Point," which townsite we are told is to be called "Astor." So, perhaps, the predictions of Ross Cox, written a hundred years ago, that a great city would some day arise in the immediate vicinity of the site of Ft. Okanogan, may yet be vindicated.

Believing that the foregoing narrative contains some facts and details that have been learned from original sources on the ground, and now appear for the first time on the printed page, and trusting that this effort may help to preserve to the future a little better chance to know the history of the past in this section, this address is respectfully submitted.

GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY OF OKANOGAN

Books

"Adventures of the First Settlers on the Oregon or Columbia River," "Fur Hunters of the Far West," "The Red River Settlement," all by Alexander Ross.

"Narrative of a Voyage to the Northwest Coast of America," by Gabriel Franchere.

"Adventures on the Columbia," by Ross Cox.

"The Henry and Thompson Journals," by Dr. Elliott Coues. "Harmon's Journal," by Daniel Williams Harmon.

"History of the Northwest Coast" and "History of British Columbia" and "Native Races," by Hubert Howe Bancroft. These works probably contain more general historical infor