At first glance you would probably never suspect that this small town, in the hills of western Okanogan, was once the county seat. It was a beacon for prospectors all over the west. They came streaming in, first to Ruby, an overnight mining camp just south of Conconully.

It originally was known as "Salmon City" after mineralized ledges of high grade ore were discovered in the Salmon Creek area. These discoveries were made in 1886. Before long Salmon City was born. Certainly Salmon City was more suited to be the county seat then its smaller rival of Ruby and its citizens began working toward that goal.

By 1891, the name of the town had been changed to Conconully, and it had become the county seat, removing the title from Ruby.

For several years, Conconully flourished. The silver was flowing in steadily and main street became quite a showplace. In 1893 the price of silver dropped, but even that failed to halt its progress. In 1894 a wall of water from Salmon Creek swept down the main street, destroying many of the businesses in its path, the town never quite recovered.

So, gradually, Conconully began to fade. But when the county seat was lost to the town of Okanogan in 1914, a gloom had settled over the once boom town. By the 1920s much of the splendor of Conconully of old had vanished.

The town is still there today, nestled in the hills. Not much remains from the 1890s but many abandoned mines every where in the area attest to the fact that Conconully was the most important town in the Okanogan County.