The Towns That Were Only on the Map

Capt. Thomas W. Symons, corps of engineers, concurred in by the division engineer, Col. George H. Mendell, and by the chief engineer, is of the opinion that the Okanogan river is worthy of improvement by the general government. It is estimated that the survey of the river on which to base a project for its improvement will cost $1,000.

Lieut. Francis R. Shunk submits the following report to Capt. Symons:

"I have the honor to submit the following report of an examination of the Okanogan river, Washington, made by me October 11-30, 1895. The Okanogan river rises in the Dominion of Canada... It empties into the Columbia river in the state of Washington... about three miles above Virginia City. The total length of the river is about 190 miles... That part of the river, about seventy-five miles, which lies in the United States is wholly in Okanogan county, in the state of Washington.

"The total fall of the river from Osoyoos lake to the Columbia, a distance of seventy-five miles, is about eighty feet... So far as I can see, there is only one real obstruction in this portion of the river. This is McLaughlin falls, about forty-five miles above the mouth, and thirty miles below Osoyoos lake. Here the water is dammed up by a rocky reef... The falls are not falls, properly speaking, but steep rapids, having a fall of about six feet at low water. The worst obstruction in this lower stretch is Guthrie rapids, about thirty-five miles above the mouth. Here are three or four troublesome rocks and a total fall of two or three feet in two principal ripples.

"The steamer City of Ellensburg, which runs between Wenatchee and Virginia City, has made a number of trips up the Okanogan in the spring and early summer of the last two years. She ran up as far as McLaughlin falls without difficulty, but regularly ran only as far as Alma, about twenty-five miles above the mouth... I think that a stern-wheel steamer, drawing eighteen inches or two feet, could easily navigate the river from the mouth to the falls during the greater part of the year.

"The white population of the country is all on the west side of the river... There are five towns, whose positions are indicated on the map: Virginia City, Ruby, Conconully, Loomiston, and Oro. Virginia City, on the Columbia, is a collection of half a dozen houses... Ruby, the next town above Virginia, was formerly a prosperous mining town, with several hundred inhabitants. Since the decline of silver the population has shrunk to several dozen. It has a store, a hotel, a fine school building and about 100 dwelling houses. Conconully is the county seat of Okanogan county... It was half destroyed last year by a flood, caused by a cloudburst in a neighboring gorge. Its present population is 200 or 300... Loomiston is a town of 150 to 200 people. It has two hotels, a store, several saloons and a livery stable. Oro is well situated at the junction of the Okanogan and Similkameen rivers, on a level plain. It has a population of about 100, two hotels, a store and saloons. Between Loomiston and Oro is the sometime town of Golden, with fifty or sixty houses and five or six inhabitants. The other towns indicated on the map have only an imaginary existence.

"The Okanogan country is important chiefly because of its mineral deposits... The Ruby Hill mines were worked for about three months last year, but shut down because of the decline in silver. The ore was concentrated at the Ruby mill, and in the form of concentrates shipped by wagon at $20 per ton to Coulee City, and thence by railroad via Spokane to Tacoma, where it was reduced and refined. After the fall in price the freight charges ate up the profits... Specimens from many places assayed very well, but there was lack of capital and transportation was very difficult, so that the recent hard times brought everything to a standstill before it was fairly begun.

"Apart from mining, the chief resource of the country is stock raising... I regard McLaughlin falls as the only serious obstruction to the navigation of the river. I am likewise of the opinion that the river at this point can easily be improved to pass an extent that suitable boats can go up... I think there is no doubt that the upper part of the Okanogan country is rich in gold and silver, and that it will probably be developed in the near future. At present nothing is doing, and there is no commerce to speak of, but this condition of things is probably transitory."