Ives Landing, which later became known as Pateros was established around 1896 by its founder, Lee Ives. Having driven a herd of his horses from Kittitas Valley,he began farming near the mouth of the Methow River in company with 50 teepees of Indians and about 20 Chinese miners still placer mining from the Chinese Ditch.

In 1894-95 Ives built his landmark hotel on the banks of the Columbia River. The community became known as Ives Landing. Its first post office was in 1895.

In 1900 Charles E. Nosler, a Spanish American War veteran, acquired most of the townsite. He renamed it Pateros after a village built largely on stilts he had known in the Philippines. Three years later, Pateros having grown to four commercial establishments and nine residences, Nosler sold to J.C. Steiner who promoted the area so vigorously that for a time Pateros ranked as the principal rail shipping point between Wenatchee and Oroville.