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: Asotin County Coordinator : WaGenWeb Project State Coordinator. |
Asotin
Asotin, a county, a town and a creek in the southeastern corner of the
state. The name is from the Nez Perce language and means "eel creek"
from the abundance of eels caught there. The town at the mouth of the
creek, where it flows into Snake River, took the same name in 1878, as
did the county when it was organized under the law of October 27, 1883.
Anatone
A town in Asotin county. What is now known as Ten Mile Creek was known
to the Indians as Anatone. It is claimed that it was so called for a
noted Indian woman who lived near the present site of Anatone. (J.C.
Packwood, in Names MSS., Letter 381.) Note: Anatone, it is on
current maps.
Bly
A postoffice in Asotin County. It is named in honor of the postmaster,
Joseph Bly.
Clarkston
A town in Asotin county, on the opposite bank of the Snake River from
Lewiston, Idaho. It is named in honor of Captain William Clark of the
Lewis and Clark Expedition, 1803-1806. It is a fine honor for the two
leaders of that great expedition to have their names thus borne by
thriving cities connected by an inter-state bridge. Clarkston was begun
with the name of "Concord," as some of the promoters of the irrigation
plans had their homes in Concord, Massachusetts. By petition of the
citizens the name was changed to Clarkston on January 1, 1900.
Silcott
A postoffice at the mouth of Alpowa Creek, in the northern part of
Asotin county.
It was named for John Silcott, the pioneer who ran the ferry
across the Clearwater, to Lewiston, before the that city was named.
(Cliff M. Wilson, Postmaster at Silcott, in Names MSS. Letter
240.) William S. Newland filed the plat for "Alpowa City" on
April 10, 1882, but nothing came of it and the place lapsed into
Silcott in 1885. (Illustrated History of Southeastern Washington,
page 697.)
Source: Meany, Edmond S. Origin of
Washington Geographic Names. Seattle, WA: University of Washington
Press, 1923. (Republished: Detroit: Gale, 1968) Meany collected these
discriptions from many sources including letters collected in Names
MSS or Names Manuscripts. These letters were written in response to
Meany's request for information. 608 responses useful replies were
numbered and used in his book. Publication was begun as a series of
articles in the Washington Historical Quarterly starting in
October 1917.
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