 The first wagon roads along the Columbia River were built by American settlers in the 1880s and followed earlier routes plotted by indigenous peoples and explorers like George McClellan in the mid-19th century.The west side of the river was once used as an overland route by fur traders in the 1850s and constituted part of the Okanagan Trail and the Cariboo Trail.A wagon road on the west side of the river was added to the state highway system in 1897, connecting Wenatchee to Twisp, and a sum of $15,000 ( dollars) was appropriated to Kittitas and Okanogan counties for construction.