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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1858 | 1 |
| 1883 | 1 |
| 1886 | 1 |
| 1889 | 5 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1891 | 5 |
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| 1893 | 16 |
| 1894 | 9 |
| 1895 | 15 |
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102 stories matching okanogan
- The Towns That Were Only on the Map
A federal engineer surveyed the Okanogan in 1895 and recommended improving the river. What he described was a mining country waiting for a boom that had already gone bust.
- The Steamboat Battle for the Okanogan
Ellensburg’s attempt to challenge Spokane for the lucrative Okanogan mining trade is dismissed as a fool’s errand by regional competitors.
- A Sinking Buggy, a Borrowed Team, and a Reservation About to Open
In 1892 a newspaperman packed his wife and infant into a rickety buggy to cross the soon-to-open Colville Reservation, fording the Kettle River and leaning on Native families along the way.
- The Forgotten Battle at the Mouth of the Okanogan
A newly unearthed cannonball recalls a bloody 19th-century massacre between Hudson’s Bay Company traders and local Indigenous tribes.
- Wild Goose Bill: The Frontier Ferryman Who Kept a Free Boat for the Poor
A Washington paper remembers W. H. Condon, a 68-year-old pioneer whose free Columbia River ferry, homemade roads and violent past made him a local legend.
- Relocating Nuisance Beavers to Save Orchards
Game commission transplants beavers from Okanogan orchards to mountain streams to prevent damage and boost water conservation.
- A Frontier Town Washed Away in the Night
A catastrophic flood destroyed the business district of Conconully in Okanogan County, leaving residents destitute and the town in ruins after a suspected cloudburst.
- A 1.5-Million-Acre Taking: The Colville Reservation Was About to Be Thrown Open
Federal officials and land agents anticipated a rush of white homesteaders into the southern half of the Colville Indian Reservation, framing Indigenous land as 'closed' and state growth as its natural destiny.
- The Governor’s Violin Fell Silent at the Bohemian Club
Charles B. Laughton—former acting governor, lawyer, and celebrated fiddler—died mid-sentence in Tacoma after a legislative session, leaving behind a career tangled in vetoes and a school-book scandal.
- The Townsite Battle of the Okanogan
Brewster residents are lobbying against a new government-backed townsite, citing the history of failed settlements in the valley.
- The Empty Commissioner's Chair
A legal dispute over who has the authority to fill county vacancies leaves Okanogan and Douglas counties short-handed.
- The Lynch Law in Conconully
After settlers in Okanogan County took an Indigenous prisoner from jail to hang him, local officials scrambled to arm the white population, fearing a retaliatory uprising.
- The Smoke Over the Okanogan
Forest fires fueled by arsonists are devastating the landscape and choking the residents of the Okanogan country.
- The Swarm Descends on Okanogan
Farmers in Okanogan County are battling a historic infestation of grasshoppers that threatens the region's entire wheat yield.
- A Botched Rescue on the Okanogan Road
A deputy's long ride to arrest a suspected murderer ended in a roadside gunfight, with the prisoner shot dead—apparently by his own son—and the young man still at large.
- Virginia Bill’s Riverbed Gold Rush
An enterprising miner plans to use a steamer’s machinery to pull gold from the Okanogan River, boasting a massive payout before winter arrives.
- A New Steamboat Opens the Okanogan
A shallow-draft vessel launches on the upper Okanogan River, ending the reliance on primitive ox-team freight haulage.
- The passing of 'Okanogan' Smith
A legendary frontiersman and state representative dies in Seattle, leaving behind a complex legacy of Indian diplomacy, frontier trade, and massive land ownership.
- The Wild Goose Trail: How $25,000 Chased a Mountain Pass That Wasn't There
A state commission, an over-imaginative mountaineer and a sober engineer collide over a wagon road across the Cascades — and the taxpayers pick up the bill.
- The Snowbound Expedition to Find a Cascade Pass
State road commissioners and a private party set out from Whatcom County to discover a practical route over the Baker Range, with three feet of snow already on the ground and no certainty a pass exists.
- The Twenty-Dollar Warrant That Put Okanogan County’s Credit on Trial
A Seattle trust company sues over a tiny delinquent warrant, and county scrip buyers freeze purchases as officials try to move onto a cash basis.
- Winning the Okanogan Trade
Local boosters push for a commercial alliance with the burgeoning Okanogan country to secure Seattle's economic future.
- The Disgraceful Trail to Wenatchee
Local stockmen and Seattle merchants push for a real wagon road to connect the Okanogan valley to the Great Northern railway, arguing the existing path is an obstacle to trade.
- The Columbia River in Upheaval
Unprecedented flooding devastates communities along the Columbia River, washing away homes, bridges, and livelihoods.
- The Lynching of a Teenager in Okanogan
A fifteen-year-old boy, accused of murder, was dragged from a jail cell by a masked mob and executed, igniting a cycle of violence in the Washington territory.
Also about this, in other words
- The Okanogan Murder Mystery
A brutal killing on the frontier leaves a community searching for answers.
- The Sheriff’s New Sunday Prohibition
Okanogan County’s sheriff announces a strict enforcement of Sunday saloon closures, breaking from long-standing local precedent.
- Bringing Water to the Okanogan
A new twenty-mile irrigation ditch promises to transform arid lands into fertile ground for hops and fruit.
- An Everett Miner Sees a Bonanza in the Okanogan
New silver strikes, outside capital and a planned wagon road and railroad have an Everett miner predicting the best season the district has ever seen.
- Tragedy on the Okanogan
A young businessman loses his life in a horse-crossing accident, leaving his community in shock.
- Kennewick Capital Flows into Okanogan Mines
Local investors bet on gold and silver in the north, as a new wagon road pushes into the mountains to tap untapped veins.
- A Killing Winter
A brutal freeze destroys orchards and crops, threatening the livelihoods of settlers across Okanogan County.
- The Rush for the Okanagan Mines
A party of Spokane residents returns from an 800-mile expedition to the newly opened mineral fields, predicting a massive influx of prospectors.