Hiking Place Names the Stories Behind Names in the Backcountry
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Hiking Place Names The stories behind names in the backcountry By Jan P. Klippert Hozomeen, from the Fraser River route through the mountains between dialect, has retained its meaning “twin Twisp (“yellow jacket”) and Skagit When you’re out on the trail, or at home peaks with a rocky depression between,” Valley “a place of refuge.” However, poring over topographic maps, you’re and has been applied to a peak and a another source refers to Stehekin as quickly confronted with an abundance river in the North Cascades. Shuksan, “rough water.” of place names. Just about every peak, The mountain foothills town of Sultan alpine tarn and creek you’ll encounter in appropriately enough, means steep and was not named after an East Indian Washington’s backcountry has a name. rugged. Sahale (as in Sahale Ridge near And there are plenty of stories behind all Cascade Pass) meanss mountains of “the potentate; rather it was named after the those names. Domke Lake. Hozomeen great spirit.” Entiat in the local dialect local Indian Chief Tseul-tud. The Chi- Mountain. Cady Pass. Each name reveals meant “rapid water” Itswoot Lake is nook Jargon word for three, “klone,” was a little bit about the Native Ameri- can people, miners, UNDERLAND and forest rangers S ILL who first encntered B these places. Here’s a short ramble through some of the places you might encounter on your hikes. Native American Names For several thou- sand years, Native Americans have populated the Pacif- ic Northwest. Each tribe had its own language, tongue or dialect. None had a written language. Their place names and travel routes were transmitted What’s in a name? Some backcountry names come from Native American languages, while by tradition and others are merely descriptive. Dishpan Gap (pictured, with view to Glacier Peak) was named by story. Washington’s forest ranger and supervisor A.H. Sylvester. Sylvester named more than 1,000 geologic features geography is replete in the first half of the twentieth century. with reminders of applied to three lakes in the Icicle Creek the first Native Americans. Most counties named for the Chinook word for bear. drainage known as Klonaqua Lakes. This have names derived from the original Two different meanings for Stehekin word is a mix of Chinook “klone” and inhabitants: for example, Snohomish, appear in references for that wonderful Wenatchee word for water, “qua.” Skagit, Chelan, Clallam, Spokane, Ya- place on Lake Chelan (“deep water”). In kima and Klickitat. Local Indian tribal 1814, explorer Alexander Ross, identified names are ascribed to many geographic the meaning of Stehekin in the loca ver- The Explorers features, including the Nisqually, Still- nacular as “the way through” because it Place names in Washington also reflect iguamish, and Nooksack Rivers. was on the most northerly Indian trade the rich legacy of exploration. Those March 2006 WASHINGTON TRAILS explorers included fur trappers, min- Colville and Nezperrces. Ross was com- it honors U.S. Army Captain George. E. ers, map makers, military topographers missioned by John Jacob Astor to further Pickett who was in charge of Fort Bell- and professional foresters. Thousands of establish the Pacific Fur Company in ingham and later gained fame in the Civil square miles of Oregon Country went the Oregon Territory. His explorations War. A well-established Native American from 17th century terra incognita to 20th started at what is now known as Astoria. trail between Yakima Pass and the Cedar century terra familiaris within a short He traveled north to Steilacoom, crossed River was use used in part by explorer 200 years. the Cascade Mountains and traveled Lieutenant Abiel Tinkham in 1853 and European explorers who first arrived north as far as Twisp. The Alexander Ross 1854. Maps today put his name on local by sea, and later settlers who came explorations identified four Indian trade geological features, including Mount by land, gave names to geographical routes across the Cascade Mountains. Tinkham and Abiel Mountain. features. In 1778, Jonathan Carver of Explorations of the interior Cascades Weymouth, Massachusetts published a in 1860 by E. F. Cady and E. C. Ferguson Prospectors and Sheepherders book, Three Year’s Travel through the helped increase knowledge of the routes Prospectors and sheepherders also Interior Parts of North America. He over these mountains, just as more pio- made their mark by naming features of refers to “River Oregon, or the River neer settlers were beginning to arrive in the Cascades. For example, Ewing Basin, of the West that falls into the Pacific the Northwest. Cady and Ferguson trav- near the Chiwaukum Mountains near Ocean at the Straits of Anian.” Historic eled the east sections of Snohomish and Scottish Lakes High Camp, is named maps frequently refer to the Straits of Skykomish drainage basins, and found a after a hard rock miner Howard Ewing. Anian, but, as time went on the straits low pass, now named Cady Pass in honor Also in the Chiwaukum Mountains, were given the Spanish name Strait of of one of the expedition leaders. McCue Ridge is named for 19th century Juan de Fuca. The U.S. military, which also set out to trapper Roderick McCue. Captains Gray (in 1792) and Van- explore the mountains, was responsible For many years in the 19th century, couver (in 1792 and 1798) came by sea for many Cascade place names. The sheep herding in the Pasayten and and named features they saw from the Pickett Range of the North Cascades Wenatchee areas supplied the military decks of their ships. Vancouver alone isn’t named for its sharp spires—instead, and settlers with a locally-produced food recorded 400 fea- tures on his maps, such as Hood’s LIPPERT K AN (later, Hood) Ca- J nal, Puget Sound, Mount Rainier and Mount Bak- er. S o o n a f t er Lewis and Clark’s return from their Voyage of Dis- covery in 1806, several military forts protecting commercial inter- ests and settlers were established in the Northwest, further establish- ing claims for the United States in the Oregon Ter- ritory. Forts on the 1811 map used by explorer Alexander Ross included Forts The author at Cady Ridge in the north-central Cascades. The pass was named for E.F Cady, an Astoria, Vancou- explorer who mapped the region in 1860. Explorers, prospectors and sheepherders were respon- ver, Oakinachen, sible for many of the place names in Washington’s mountains. WASHINGTON TRAILS March 2006 supply. Throughout the region geograph- (which was later mapped as Icicle Ridge) people, topographic engineers or those ic names bring to mind names of people they came across a pair of unnamed seeking commercial fortunes: fur trad- and local history: Wild Horse drainage lakes. Burne had two sisters and Sylvester ers, prospectors, railroad and road build- was a favorite grazing area, while Sheep named the lakes for them: Margaret and ers and foresters protecting the forest. Mountain, Knox Lake, Spanish Creek Mary. The next day they came across As their work developed trails into the Camp and Grass Camp all recall sheep another unnamed lake. Margaret and heart of the unknown land it was left to herding days gone by. Mary had a friend named Florence, and the recreational community to “finish” Domke Lake and Domke Mountain the lake has this name today. A fourth the work. Books such as Range of Glacier near Lake Chelan were named after a lake was to become Flora, named for the by Fred Beckey and East of the Divide pioneer settler. Pioneer Judge Navarre, wife of another ranger. Lakes throughout by Chester Marler (see review, page 29) also a civil engineer, explored much of the district were named after friends, give the reader a great deal of history what we know as Navarre Coulee and relatives, brothers, sisters and wives of of the North Cascades and insight for Navarre Peaks in the Chelan/Okanagan district employees. the naming of many features. Coulee area. The Emmons Glacier on Sylvester often assigned whimsical Today hikers and climbers enjoy the Mount Rainier is named for Samuel names. Dishpan Gap is a saddle that legacy of many generations including Franklin Emmons, a geologist studying reminded someone in his hiking party Native Americans, explorers, trappers, the mountain’s glaciers. of a dishpan. Kodak Peak got its name miners, military mapmakers and people when one member of a climbing party who worked and studied the geology and The Forest Service Era lost a new camera geography of the landscape. Perhaps Gifford Pinchot, first supervisor for In the early 1900s A. H. Sylvester came reflecting on names on the map will add U.S. Forest Service, served from 1889 to an area undiscovered by other explor- a whole new understanding and dimen- to 1912. The former Columbia National ers or map makers. He wrote, “It was an sion to the hiking experience. Forest in southwest Washington was enchanting scene. I named the group Jan Klippert is a WTA member from renamed in his honor in 1949. During Enchantment Lakes.” Later in the cen- Seattle. the Pinchot era, fire protection and tury Bill and Peg Stark visited The En- public safety demanded that natural chantments frequently and named fea- features have names so that fires could tures they encountered, many of which be located and fire fighters sent to the have an air of mystery and spirituality: To Learn More right location. Nada Lake, Many names in Dishpan Gap is a saddle that G n o m e about Place Names the Cascades were Tarn, High reminded someone in A.H. The Tacoma Public Library main- the work of A.