Schoolboys on the back of a cow. Okanogan, Washington, c.1907. The picture is captioned 'Her Daily Duty,'
Schoolboys on the back of a cow. Okanogan, Washington, c.1907. The picture is captioned 'Her Daily Duty,' In the 1800s, the Okanogan River was well-known by Native Americans, fur traders, and early pioneers. In 1833, the renowned botanist David Douglas set up camp at the confluence of a creek, which we now believe to be Salmon Creek, right where the present-day town stands. It sat along a well-trodden trail known as the Cariboo Trail, a route that had been used for generations by miners and cattle herders alike. The Cariboo Trail traced the footsteps of the indigenous peoples who had long traversed the Okanogan River, leading adventurers into the lucrative Cariboo goldfields of British Columbia. Around 1855, a steady stream of miners and prospectors journeyed along this relatively low-altitude trail to pursue gold. Not only was this route favored by miners, but it also became a lifeline for early cattlemen from the fertile pastures of the Willamette and Yakima valleys. Between...