Chinook Tribe

The Natives 

Before European explorers arrived, two major tribes, the Chinook and Nootka, had developed a language to facilitate trade among various tribes. It became known as the Chinook Jargon. When the European explorers first appeared there were about 80 words in Chinook. The jargon became the language for general communication and spread rapidly. By the 1830’s missionaries preached, prayed and sang hymns using Chinook. This jargon was supplemented by English, French and Spanish terms so that by 1880’s more than 250,000 people from Klamath County Oregon to the Alaska Panhandle spoke and traded using the dialect.

Nootka Tribe

Native american names identify many places in the wilderness. Chetwoot, the Chinook word for bear, is the source of Chetwoot Lake in the heart of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. The Talapus/Olallie Lake Trail is a popular hike in the Alpine Lakes. Talapus, meaning coyote or prairie wolf, is important in Indian legend as having supernatural powers. Olallie means berry, and originally, the salmonberry. Could it be assumed that the original peoples would travel to the mystical Talapus Lake to receive special powers and pray for a favorable harvest at Lake Olallie. 

         

Early 19th 
century explorer and 
naturalist David Douglas was 
one of the first to refer to the 
mountains of the Pacific 
Northwest as the Cascades.

David Douglas

Explorer/botanist David Douglas is best remembered for a predominant  species in the PNW , the Douglas fir. During his expeditions to the northwest between 1824 and 1827, he refers to a range of rugged, rocky snow-capped mountains as the Cascade Range. However, no name took hold until the government-sponsored Wilkes Expedition of 1841 officially charted and recorded the mountains as the Cascade Range. 

Many geographic place names retain tribal identity. For example, today 16 counties are named after Indian tribes. They are also are remembered in other ways. The name Snoqualmie is associated with a city, river, mountain, and mountain pass. 

Alexander Ross, also spent time in the area during his 1811 exploration on behalf of John Jacob Astor and the Pacific Fur Company, traversed what was once the Indians’ northern trade route across Cascade Mountains. Ross’ exploration left from Cascade Pass.