Editing Pe Ell, Washington (section)

==Etymology==
The community was almost named Mauermanna, named after one of the first non-indigenous settlers in the area, Joe Mauermann, who objected to the honor.<ref>{{cite news |title=Pe Ell Near to County Line |url=https://www.newspaperarchive.com/us/washington/centralia/centralia-daily-chronicle/1953/06-06/page-85 |access-date=October 15, 2024 |work=[[The Chronicle (Centralia, Washington)|The Daily Chronicle]] |date=June 6, 1953 |page=25C}}</ref> The name Pe Ell was chosen and there are several versions of the backstory of the moniker, none of which can be authenticated.

The more accepted version is that the name comes from the attempts of the local Indians to pronounce the first name of an early French-Canadian settler, Pierre Charles, who was an ex-[[Hudson's Bay Company|Hudson's Bay]] employee. The account has it that the Indians could not pronounce Pierre, and their attempts turned it into Pe Ell.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=OFVOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4e4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6845%2C4107045 | title=Unusual names, odd spellings found in Washington | work=The Spokesman-Review | date=December 24, 1977 | access-date=May 20, 2015 | pages=A12}}</ref> Another rendition is that P and L were the first initials for Pierre Charles and his Indian wife. Two words were made from the initials: "Pe Ell".{{citation needed|date=May 2020}} A differing, distinct account is that Charlie Pershell, a Frenchman, settled in the area and married an Indian woman. The Indians found it difficult to sound out the "sh" in Pershell so it became Pe Ell.<ref>''A History of Pe Ell, Washington and the Upper Chehalis River Valley'', Chapter 4 by Ray Graves</ref> A separate story mentions the railroad map designated the spot as PL, and that became the name.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}