History behind local river names?

[trout chaser]

I was wondering the history behind some SW Washington rivers and creeks names. Elochoman,Abernathy Creek, Germany Creek, Coweeman, Toutle and Washougal? The one that really makes me wonder is the EF Lewis, shouldn't be South Fork Lewis? Where did they get "East" Fork from?

[ 12-19-2003, 04:25 PM: Message edited by: trout chaser ]

[Pete]

What a great topic!

Who was Wilson?

Was Kilchis really an Indian Chief?

Did a Frenchman name the Deschutes?

I love to hear the history of place names!

[Fishfeet]

Yah! Good subject! Who the heck was Santiam? I wonder if`n he was related to Carlos Santana. I`ll check around this weekend and try and find out for sure. Fishft.

[Snapset]

Never Mind!

[ 12-19-2003, 06:49 PM: Message edited by: Snapset ]

[Private-Aye-Fish]

Since I grew up fishing and living on and near this river let me start with The Willamette.

Willamette River in Oregon: Indian word said to have originally been Wallamet, derived from the same root as Walla Walla and Wallula, meaning "running water." Another authority gives its definition as "the long and beautiful river."

[Siwash]

It may not help answer any questions North of the Columbia (as originally posted to start this thread), but there's an entire book dedicated to just this topic: "Oregon Geographic Names" by Lew McArthur, published by the Oregon Historical Society Press. The seventh edition just came out, which includes an interactive map CD to help locate the placenames.

[Private-Aye-Fish]

Originally posted by Pete:

Did a Frenchman name the Deschutes?

I love to hear the history of place names!

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">Pete as a matter of fact blame the French!
:grin:
Early fur traders had called the river Riviere des Chutes which means "River of the Falls."

[Private-Aye-Fish]

Originally posted by Pete:
Was Kilchis really an Indian Chief?

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">Named for the Chief of the Tillamook Indians during the period pioneers started arriving into Tillamook.

[GutshotApe]

"Oregon Geographic Names" by Lewis A. McArthur is the best source for name origins, for example:

Willamette...from the Indian word Wal-lamt designating a place on the west bank near Oregon City

Tillamook is the name of a tribe of Indians...Lewis & Clark spelled it Kilamox and Killamuck. Corps of Discovery member Patrick Gass spelled it Callemeux and Cal-a-mex.

Elbridge Trask first came to Oregon in 1834 and settled on the Clatsop Plains in 1843 and to Tillamook County in 1852.

Nestucca is the Indian name for a place on the banks of the river...there is no known translation for the word.

Alsea is said to be a corruption of the word Alsi, the name of a local tribe. Lewis & Clark spelled it Ulseah. The original word had three syllables, not the two presently used.

Kilchis was a Tillamook Indian chief.

Miami River was referred to as "Mi-me Chuck" in pioneer days...which was a Chinook jargon word for a tributary creek coming in downstream.

Etc, etc, etc.

[Private-Aye-Fish]

Tillamook

The name of Tillamook has taken on various evolutions and meanings through history. In various documents and resources, it is spelled Kilamox, Killamuck, Callemeux, Cala-a-mex and Callemex. The initial K was changed to a T about the time the County was created


Trask (River)

Trask River, one of the five flowing into Tillamook Bay, is named for Elbridge Trask, one of the early pioneers in the county.

Wilson (River)

Henry W. Wilson is credited with founding the dairy industry in the county. Wilson drove the first cows into the county from Seaside

Miami River

Mi-me Chuch was a Chinook Indian phrase meaning a tributary creek or river coming downstream. The Indians used the expression for the area of the river down by the bay East of current day Garibaldi. Over time the name has been corrupted into the the current spelling not unlike the same name used in Florida.


And now my favorite

Whiskey Creek

I like this tale put forth in Tillamook, Land of Many Waters by Ada M. Orcutt (published 1951): Mrs. Mildred Edner says that the oldest of many versions of this name that she has heard is as follows: "Two men and their wives had started on a camping trip, arriving at this beautiful creek on a hot afternoon, they decided to camp in the nearby grove. While the men cared for the horses, the women built a fire and began the evening meal. Among the supplies was a keg of whiskey and this as well as the milk, eggs, and butter was put in the creek to cool. Soon the men were making trips to the creek instead of doing their share of the camp work. One of the women asked her husband to cut some wood, but he replied, 'There is the ax, cut it yourself.' She didn't argue much, but took the ax and walked to the creek. The men heard her chopping and thought it quite a joke. Soon she came back, however, without any wood and said, 'Now go to the creek and see if you can drink it dry, for your whiskey is really in it.' :shocked:

Never talk back to a woman with an AX!

[TonTo]

Abernathy Creek (T 9 N R 4 W) - Abernathy Creek rises twelve miles north of the Columbia River in northwest Cowlitz County and flows to the river near Oak Point. It was named for George Abernethy, an Oregon pioneer, who built a mill near Oak Point before 1850. The creek has been given a number of other names in the past, including Nequally, Negisticook, Ordway, and Mill. Alexander S. Abernethy was post master at Oak point when the post office was established February 18, 1851. George and Alexander Abernethy were brothers.


Coweman River (T.8N;Rs.1,2W&1,2E) - The Coweman River rises in the high country of Gifford Pinchot National Forest in central Cowlitz County and flows twenty-six miles west to the Cowlitz River at Kelso. An early name for the stream was Gobar's River for Anton Gobar, a sheepherder for Hudson's Bay Company. It was renamed by local people who borrowed the Indian name of Ko-wee-na, meaning short man. The name relates to a very short Indian who once lived on the creek.

Toutle River (Ts.9,10N;Rs.2W-4E) - The Toutle River rises in two branches in western Skamania County and flows west over forty miles through northern Cowlitz County to the Cowlitz River north of Castle Rock. The name is from a local Indian tribal designation, Hullooetell. Wilkes simplified that name to Toutle on his 1841 charts and his title has remained. (Meany p. 315). The Toutle River received wide spread publicity in 1980 as it carried huge amounts of volcanic debris from the region of Mount Saint Helens to the Cowlitz and Columbia Rivers.


Lewis River (Ts.4-9N;Rs.1W-10E) - The main stem or North Fork of the Lewis River rises on the northwest slope of Mt. Adams in northeast Skamania County and flows southwest and west through Skamania County, between Clark and Cowlitz counties by way of Lake Merwin, to the Columbia River at Woodland. The East Fork rises near Cougar Mountain in southwest Skamania County and flows east through Skamania and Clark counties joining the main stem of the river three and a half miles above its junction with the Columbia River. It was named for Adolphus Lee Lewis, who claimed land on the river's west bank in 1845, and operated a store there for many years. His English father had been factor of a Hudson's Bay Company trading post on Hudson's Bay. In 1853, railroad surveyors mapped the North Fork as Cathlapootle River, using the Indian name. Another early name was Washington River.

I guess this is getting a bit long winded,here I'll give you a link if you want more I couldn't find any thing on Germany creek but I think Stella was once a German settlement.

try this
:grin:

[Private-Aye-Fish]

Santaim,

Santiam Indians, a Kalapooian tribe

[trout chaser]

Dang, Ask and you shall recieve! thanks TonTo

[1pump]

I've always said that the place names around here come from either the first white guy to get there or the last Indian to leave.

[Paddlefish]

And then there's Oswego Lake and Oswego Creek, previously Sucker Lake and Creek, respectively, before the invasion of the brutal and bloodthirsty real estate agents.

[BuKuBass]

Crooked River: If you've ever crossed the South Fork of the Crooked at the north end of the GI Ranch, you can see how it got its name. There, if you throw a rock far enough, it'll cross the river six times before it hits the ground.

[Dave Vedder]

No one asked this, but I will tell you anyway. The Vedder River was named for Volkert Vedder a Dutch pioneer who immigrated to B.C. from New York. He and two adult sons ran a freight line from Vancouver to Barkerville. One son was shot and killed in a poker game. Volkert moved to the area near what is now Yarrow, on the current Vedder River and began homesteading.

[Digifish]

1Pump,
I'd never heard that before but I think you couldn't be more right! Short and to the point and probably about 95% accuarate in most cases.

[Birdnest]

[img]graemlins/lurk.gif[/img]

[letsfish]

Oregon Geographical Names is a must for those with the slightest interest in Oregon history. It is a thick volume. But reads with ease and is a great book for the coffee table, bedside, or den.I would recommend it to anyone, that still needs to do some last minute Christmas shopping.

[Corkie Monster]

How about the Clackamas River?

CM

[1pump]

There's a couple of blurbs in Oregon Geographic Names about Clackamas County and Clackamas. I don't have it on CD, and I'm not gonna type the whole thing in here.
It mentions that Clackamas has been spelled about ten different ways over the years and comes from the Clackamas Indians, a Chinookan tribe. It says the remnants of the tribe were moved to the Grand Ronde reservation (probably after most of them died from smallpox) but doesn't say when. It does say that "it was formerly a large tribe". :whazzup:
Also, it was one of the four original districts of early Oregon and was created on July 5, 1843.

I have the 4th edition (1974) of this book and I every time I open it to check on something I wind up reading it for hours.
I drive to Fossil quite a bit while working, and I was curious about a little hole in the wall called Olex on OR19. Turns out the first post office there was intended to be named for an Alex Smith, but the postal authorities couldn't read the petitioner's handwriting and the place has been "Olex" since Oct 27, 1874.
The book is full of crap like that, and I can't get enough of it. Next time I go on a long drive with somebody I'll take the book along and spew forth annoying trivia about every landmark that has a name. :tongue:

[Fishfeet]

Billsan of Santiam fame PMed me and gave a very good history of the Santiam river name. Named after the Santiam band of Calapooya tribe of the Chinook nation. They used to have seasonal camps in the area. Dig the name! (Chinook). OSU has quite a collection of their relics. Thanx Bill! Fishft.

[Phil Layer]

Howabout Yaquina?

[TillamookChinook]

An interesting story about Kilchis, the Tillamook chief, is that he was very large and very dark, probably descended from a black crewman on a British or American vessel at the time of Anglo exploration.

A fairly interesting read is the book "Trask" written by a northwest author whose name I don't recall. It is a novel based on Trask being the first Anglo to travel overland to visit the mysterious Tillamook.

I think the Sandy River was named by Lewis & Clark because of the great sand delta at the mouth of the stream.

TC

[ 12-23-2003, 01:33 PM: Message edited by: TillamookChinook ]

[Fishfeet]

Hey Tillamook Chinook, The book "Trask" was written by Don Berry. He has several others out also you might wanna check out. Specially "A majority of scoundrels". Good reading! Fishft.