INDIAN NAMES OF PLACES IN THE WILLAMETTE VALLEY—SOME CHIEFS.
Ni-a-kow-kow—St. Helens. A noted Indian chief here was Ke-as-no. He was made a friend by the Hudson’s Bay Company, was given fine presents, and entrusted with the duty of firing a salute to the company’s vessels as they came in sight up the river.
Nah-poo-itle—A village just across the river from Niahkowkow. The name of the chief was Sha-al, who was very large sized.
Nah-moo-itk—A point on Sauvie’s Island.
Emulthnomah—A point a little above.
Wa-kan-a-shee-shee—A point across the river from Emulthnomah; meant “white-headed duck,” or diver.
Na-quoith—On mainland, old Fort William.
Na-ka-poulth—A pond a little above Portland, on the east side, where the Indians dug wapatoes.
E-kee-sa-ti—The Willamette Falls. The name of the tribe here was Tla-we-wul-lo. The name of a chief was Wah-nach-ski; he had a nephew, Wah-shah-ams.
Han-te-uc—Point at mouth of Pudding River.
Champo-ek—Champoeg, meaning the place of a certain edible root. “Ch” pronounced hard, as in “chant.”
Che-sque-a—Ray’s Landing.
Cham-ho-kuc—A point near the mouth of Chehalem Creek; Chehalem Village, in Chehalem Valley. A Chehalem chief was Wow-na-pa.
Chemayway—Chemayway was also a name given to Wapato Lake.
Cham-hal-lach—A village on French Prairie.
It will be noticed that the names above the Willamette Falls frequently begin with “Che” or “Cham,” as the coast names often begin with “Ne.” The name for Clackamas was Ne-ka-mas, and for Molalla, Mo-lay-less. The name Tualatin was Twhah-la-ti. At Forest Grove, near the old A. T. Smith place, was an Indian village, Koot-pahl. The bare hill northwest, now called David’s Hill, was Tahm-yahn, and an open spot up Gales’ Creek Valley was Pa-ach-ti. A Tillamook chief was Tae-sahlx. The name of a chief at The Dalles was Wah-tis-con. Labonte remembers several chiefs at Spokane, one of whom was Ilmicum Spokanee, or the Chief of the Moon; another, Ilmicum Takullhalth, or the Chief of the Day, and another, Kah-wah-kim, or Broken Shoulder. A chief of the Colville tribe was Skohomich, a very old, white headed man when Labonte saw him in about 1827. A tribe at the Cascades were the Wah-ral-lah.