City of Kittitas Kittitas County, Washington
Mapped Location
City of Kittitas: The mapped location is an approximation and should not be used for navigation or wayfinding.
Information
General information on City of Kittitas
- Feature Type: Incorporated
Official, historical, colloquial and alternative toponyms for City of Kittitas
A brief list of names that this geographic feature has been named
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| City of Kittitas | Official |
| Kittitas | Official |
Origin Notes and History of City of Kittitas
References to City of Kittitas that document the origin of its place name
KITTITAS, the name of a county and town in the central part of the State. The county was established by the Legislature of Washington Territory on November 24, 1883. The name is an Indian word to which have been assigned various meanings. James Mooney is authority for the statement that a small tribe called themselves "K'tatas" and the Yakima name for them was "Pshwanapum." Lewis and Clark had alluded to them as "Shanwappoms." The words meant "shoal" and "shoal people," referring to a shoal in the Yakima River at Ellensburg. (Fourteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, Part II., page 736.) That origin and meaning are repeated in the Handbook of American Indians, (Volume II., page 527.) By another the meaning is said to be "white rock." (M. T. Simmons, Thrall, in Names MSS., Letter 468.) Students in the State Normal School at Ellensburg, in a brief history of the valley, say it was called Kittitas by the Indians because it was their "land of bread," being a favorite region for collecting camas. Wilbur Spencer, an educated son of Chief Spencer, in a letter dated April 28, 1904, says:
"In the summet of 1856 my father was sent from the upper Cascades on the Columbia into the country where Owhi and Kamiken lived. He found several lodges on the south side of the river near where Ellensburg now is. The place was called in the Indian language 'Kittatas' meaning 'clay gravel valley.'"
Kittitas County
- Beverly Junction
- Boylston
- Bristol
- Cabin Creek
- Cheviot
- City of Cle Elum
- Doris
- Driftwood Acres
- Dutch Settlement
- East Kittitas
- Easton
- Edgemont
- City of Ellensburg
- Hillside Siding
- Holmes
- Horlick
- Hyak
- Kachess Resort
- City of Kittitas
- Lakedale
- Lauderdale Junction
- Lavender
- Levering
- Liberty
- Martin
- Nelson
- Pine Glen
- Regal
- Renslow
- Ronald
- City of Roslyn
- Roza
- Rye
- Scammon Landing
- Snoqualmie Pass
- Town of South Cle Elum
- Teanaway
- Thorp
- Thrall
- Umtanum
- Vantage
- Whittier
- Wymer
Political Boundaries
Last updated: 2017-06-29