The mining town of Barron close to the Cascade summit, in the Slate Creek area.

Overnight, Barron became a western boom town sprouting multiple saloons, stores, and assorted shelters to serve the 2,500 miners employed in the district.

Guy Waring, Methow Trading Post in the town of Barron (Photo from Okanogan County Historical Society collection)

Dance hall girls kicked up their high heels doing the can-can at the Barron Hotel. Most workers had some discretionary money and as a result, gambling was rampant.

Alex Barron (left) and Guy Waring (From Dick Webb collection)

These miners were mostly middle-aged men, and they enjoyed adult amusements while at Barron, far from the constraints of the law and "proper" ladies. During its short, hectic tenure in the Slate Creek District, the town of Barron had reaching effects. But in 1907 when the mines in the area failed to produce promised riches, apparently the inhabitants of Barron became panic-stricken and within weeks, everyone deserted the town of Barron.