City of Orofino, Clearwater County, Idaho

City of Orofino Clearwater County, Idaho

Mapped Location

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

Information

General information on City of Orofino

Feature Type: Incorporated

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

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

Name	Description
City of Orofino	Official
Orofino	Official

Origin Notes and History of City of Orofino

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

ORO FINO CREEK, Clearwater County.—This word is of Spanish origin brought from the south and means "Oro," "gold" and "Fino," "pure" and was applied to this stream by Capt. E. D. Pierce of California, the leader of the discovery party that struck placer diggings on this creek in 1860. The creek on which the party camped they named Oro Fino and the gulch where the gold was discovered and which opened into the creek was called Canal Gulch and is the place where placer gold was first mined to any extent in this state. Their camp grew into a town afterwards called Pierce City for Captain Pierce, the discoverer. —BANCROFT, History of Washington, Idaho and Montana.

John E. Rees, B. Sc. in Idaho Chronology, Nomenclature, Bibliography

Rees, John E., Idaho Chronology, Nomenclature, Bibliography, 1918 W.B. Conkey Company, pp. 99 | Idaho Chronology, Nomenclature, Bibliography

Related Catalog Titles

A Bibliography for City of Orofino, Clearwater County, Idaho

The Clearwater of Idaho by Cecil P. Dryden

I write about a river I feel close to, having known it for well over a half century. My father's "benchland" ranch was just over the ridge from the narrow valley through which the Clearwater plows its urgent way to sea level. I have observed this river in all its vagaries; its spring rampagings which have set ferries adrift, lifted bridges from their piers, washed out trackage, and inundated highways; its summer somnolence; and its colorful September thinness which brings into view all the sumacbedecked islands, including "turkey-man's paradise," made safe by two channels against marauding coyotes. Although I know something about the land carved by the river, for this story I have relied in large measure on the works of numerous scholars whose research has left a legacy rich in Idaho lore. The book owes a special debt of gratitude to the following: Sister Alfreda Elsensohn for her monumental two-volume History of Idaho County; the late Robert G. Bailey, who produced the indispensable River of Not Return and Hell's Canyon, and his son, R. G. Bailey, Jr., for granting permission to use the photographs from River of No Return. Further, I am indebted to Potlatch Forests, Incorporated, for making available information and photographs. This book is an informal history of the Clearwater drainage area, including borderlands whose history naturally interweaves. I have not attempted to follow in detail all the threads of growth from their beginnings, but have stressed origins and directions in a setting of unfolding dramas. If certain characters and events have been omitted, the reason lies in the selective process that has had to be employed. -The Author, Cecil Dryden

258 pages illustrations 21 cm.

CIRC [ 1 ]

History · 1st Edition · Carlton Press, New York, 1972
Related Catalog Items: City of Orofino · City of Lewiston · Clearwater County · Nez Perce County

Clearwater County

Political Boundaries

Last updated: 2017-01-10