[6] Until this point tribal decision-making had been carried out by small family groups as opposed to a single chief.

But as whites began to settle in the area, the Indians recognized that consolidation of power in a single representative would help them maintain control of their ancestral lands.

However, the tribe's relatively low population meant that they were largely unable to defend their territory from the ever-increasing number of miners looking for riches in the mountains.

Colonel Henry Clay Merriam of the United States Army established Camp Chelan at the foot of Lake Chelan to control and safeguard the Indian population on the Moses Columbia Reservation.

The lake was largely inaccessible because of its sheer cliffs on most sides, so a makeshift road was built from the fort to the Columbia River where a courier and mail service from Walla Walla were established and the small village of Chelan Falls would later develop.

The first European settlers in the area were William Sanders (after whom one of main streets in Chelan is named) and Henry Dumpke, who arrived in 1886.

After traversing several cliffs and streams and losing their horse, they safely arrived at the foot of the lake and were welcomed by the natives who encouraged them to stake claims.

Woodin, after whom another street is now named, arrived in the valley and paddled up the lake in a skiff.

At the same time, local ranchers were beginning to discover that orchards could be planted without the need of irrigation.

In 1903, the city gained electric lights and water service via nearby Donaldson Springs.

The town continues to grow as an agricultural center and resort community which helps it thrive to this day.

Located behind the rain shadow of the Cascade Mountains, it receives a near-desert amount of precipitation each year.