Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 15.djvu/41



OLD FORT OKANOGAN AND OKANOGAN TRAIL 33

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 Thomp- son'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 McLough- lin'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 auto- mobile 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"