OCHS History

The Okanogan County Historical Society (OCHS) gathers the history of Okanogan County and adjacent areas located in north central Washington State. Okanogan County is bordered by the Cascades on the west, Canada on the north, Ferry County on the east and the Columbia River on the south.

The Society consists of The Wilson Research Center and four museums. The Research Center and the OCHS office are both located in the town of Okanogan. The museums are located in Molson near the Canadian border, in Okanogan located on the Okanogan River, in Winthrop in the Methow Valley, and in Conconully, which served as the first Okanogan County seat, nestled in the mountains.

On May 5, 1963, 50 people attended a meeting and voted to launch OCHS to preserve and disseminate the colorful heritage of Okanogan County. They wanted to record a microcosm of the Old West with native Indians, Hudson’s Bay Company fur traders, cattle drives, a battle between the Indians and whites, a gold and silver rush, boomtowns, stagecoaches, gun fights, homesteading, sheep and cattle wars, and even sheriffs driving high speed roadsters in pursuit of bootleggers. The Society is now governed by an 18-member board of trustees. Quarterly trustee meetings held in April, July, October and January are also open to the membership.

Early programs of the Society included: assisting in the preservation of Indian pictographs at the site of Wells Dam; erecting signs to mark historical sites throughout the county; collecting books, magazines, pamphlets, folders, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, manuscripts, photos, and other materials relevant to Okanogan County; and publishing a quarterly magazine, Okanogan County Heritage, which comes with membership in OCHS. Currently, the Society maintains the signs that mark historical sites, continues the collection of materials relevant to Okanogan County, and publishes the Okanogan County Heritage. The individual museums also continue to maintain their facilities and collections and present programs to the public.

Around 1,500 photos taken between 1903 and 1913 by Frank Matsura, a Japanese photographer, are an important part of the collections of OCHS. He was a prolific photographer until his death from tuberculosis in 1913 at the age of 39. His photographs of Native Americans are very valuable. In contrast to Edward Curtis, Matsura’s less formal photographs of Native Americans more closely depict their real lives .

The Matsura collection was the focus of our desire to have a better system to preserve and disseminate information in the Wilson Research Center. Past Perfect software was chosen to digitize our collections and as a vehicle to publish a portion of our collections online. Our digitization process was begun in 2017 and is ongoing. Volunteers have been scanning our paper files and photo collections and entering and editing those records in Past Perfect and adding images to the photo records. Another volunteer is cataloging our book collection. We have over 225,000 records in Past Perfect with more being added .

OCHS also has other collections from local photographers such as George Burrel Ladd, Mabel Gavin, Chet Swain, Irma Rosen off. These photographs detail the evolution of our local area and the people who have resided here.

OCHS has published multiple books and assists authors with their books and articles by researching and providing pictures from our collections. The Society also assists with exhibitions and documentaries. The Wilson Research Center is used by people researching their family history, people who are interested in the history of their homes or businesses, and people who have general questions about events and happenings of the past.