20 JUDGE WILLIAM C. BROWN
the vast New Caledonia region. And again it was at Fort Okanogan that the fur from New Caledonia was transferred from the horse brigades in the spring en route for the mouth of the Columbia. It was also a regular stopping place for all the overland and upper Columbia brigades and likewise a meet- ing place where the Colville, the New Caledonia and other brigades waited to join each other on the down river trip. As a primary trading post, it was not a place of much importance after the first few years of its existence, at no time after the amalgamation of the companies was any considerable amount of fur obtained there. But as a stopping place, storage sta- tion, meeting point and particularly as the New Caledonia gateway, it was an important place for a long period of years, and this statement is substantially true of the place from the time of its very beginning under the Astor Company in 1811, till about 1847, and in some respects for ten years after that. Fort Okanogan was likewise a great horse rendezvous for both the Northwesters and the H. B. Company, and at times con- siderable herds of cattle were kept there also. Owing to its peculiar line of usefulness no officer of the company was regularly stationed there after the amalgamation in 1821, but some trusted employe of long service was left in control. It is impossible to make out who these men were at all times. The two most often mentioned in the reports, journals and his- torical writings of those times, are La Pratt and Joachin LeFleur. The former is often mentioned in the journals of Todd, Work and Douglas. Lieut. Johnson of the Wilkes expe- dition also says he was there in charge when he visited the place in 1841. This La Pratt, or La Prade, or La Prate, as name is variously spelled, is often mentioned as being in charge of Fort Okanogan, but I can find no place where he is specifically designated by his first name also as being in charge there. But on the whole it seems conclusive that he was Alexis La Prate or La Prade whose name is often men- tioned and appears in several lists. He was put in charge some time in the thirties and remained in charge a number of years he certainly was there in 1841 and 1842. His successor
