Names

I was ruminating today on local names for things and places and how some carry on.

72nd avenue is a busy road with numerous businesses now. To my Dad it was always called by it’s original name, Chacola. Not sure if that was spelled right.

Reynolds Creek is still called the middle fork of the Cowiche by most locals.

Different areas up here received nicknames due to the ethnic makeup of families living there. Hence Finn hill and Swede hill.

Dad named out different areas in Cowiche Canyon based on the homestead ownership or business. For instance Squaw Miller’s and the dude ranch. There are still a couple of long wild apple trees at Squaw Miller’s that my Mom thought were the Arkansas Black variety.

There were three sawmills in the canyon at one time. Theses, Benoits, and Pine Box. There are still some traces of these around. Kiln bricks from the Theses sight built a few backyard barbeques and retaining walls in the area.

There used to be a steel wheeled tractor on the hillside behind one. Someone was pretty ambitious to get that thing down, across the creek, and out of there.

One of my Uncle’s favorite fishing spots on the Naches was called the darn hole. No idea where that name came from.

A noxious weed called absinthe wormwood was called Splawn weed by locals.

Another thing I have noticed is how long it takes for people to get used to a new name for a place or business.

My folks called the apartments across from St. Peter’s, Lane’s apartments due to the original owner who also had a small store at the intersection. People were still calling the market in Cowiche Tate’s several years after they sold it. Quite a few still refer to it as Fred’s even though they sold it a fair number of years ago. Dad called the service station in Cowiche Jake’s even though it had been years since the Herman family ran it.

I like the idea that some of the old local names and traditions hang on.

Well that’s the end of the little local trivia lesson. Bye for now.

• Dad