City of Ritzville Adams County, Washington

Name: City of Ritzville
Address: Washington

Mapped Location

City of Ritzville: The mapped location is an approximation and should not be used for navigation or wayfinding.

Information

General information on City of Ritzville

Feature Type: Incorporated

Official, historical, colloquial and alternative toponyms for City of Ritzville

A brief list of names that this geographic feature has been named

Name	Description
City of Ritzville	Official
Ritzville	Official

Origin Notes and History of City of Ritzville

References to City of Ritzville that document the origin of its place name

RITZVILLE, county seat of Adams County, named in honor of Philip Ritz who located in 1878 a homestead just south of the townsite.(N. W. Durham, Spokane and the Inland Empire, page 627.)

Edmond S. Meany in Origin of Washington Geographic Names

Meany, Edmond S., Origin of Washington Geographic Names, 1923 University of Washington, pp 245 | Origin of Washington Geographic Names

A Selected Bibliography of City of Ritzville, Adams County, Washington

A compilation of essential readings detailing the history, geography, and culture of the region.

Boyhood among the woolies growing up on a Basque sheep ranch by Richard W. Etulain

Like many Pacific Northwest sheepherders, Sebastian Etulain emigrated from Europe's Basque country. He arrived in Yakima, Washington, in May 1921, convinced that hard work could overcome a lack of formal education and other obstacles. That became his doctrine, and he advanced to ranch owner before marrying Mary Gillard Foster in 1936. The Etulain sheep ranch lay among the rock ridges, coulees, hills, and grasslands twenty miles east of Ritzville in eastern Washington. Isolated and sprawling across nearly ten thousand acres, it included a sturdy ranch house surrounded by hay barns, a water pump house, corrals, and pens for sheep, goats, dogs, and pigs. The spread also had a milking parlor and creamery as well as a blacksmith shop. The Etulains adopted seasonal rhythms: for part of the year, their pasture grasses provided sufficient fodder, and in the summer, they herded most of their animals up to mountains near St. Maries, Idaho. But in winter, the sheep and cattle needed purchased feed, and plenty of it. Sebastian's three sons reveled in a magical upbringing on the ranch-despite the demanding work. In Boyhood Among the Woolies, his youngest son, Richard, reveals the family's story, a rare look at life on an early eastern Washington sheep ranch. He recounts endless chores, lambing season, sheep shearing, efforts to keep animals safe, and fighting one of the greatest dangers-grass fires. He also describes family activities, relationships with hired staff, favorite dogs, brotherly pranks and shenanigans, schooling and church in Ritzville, Basque history, and more.

xii, 151 pages : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm

Desiderata

autobiographies (literary works) · 1st Edition · Basalt Books, Pullman, Washington, 2023
Related Catalog Items: City of Ritzville · Adams County

Adams County

Political Boundaries

Last updated: 2017-07-01