Editing Skamania County, Washington (section)

==History==

===Etymology===
The county was founded in 1854 and derives its name from the [[Chinookan languages|Cascades Chinook]] word ''sk'mániak'', meaning 'swift waters'.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bright |first=William |author-link=William Bright |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5XfxzCm1qa4C&pg=PA450 |title=Native American placenames of the United States |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-8061-3598-4 |page=450 |access-date=April 10, 2011}}</ref>

===County beginnings===
The area delineated by the future Washington state boundary began to be colonized at the start of the nineteenth century, both by [[Americans]] and British subjects. However, the majority of British exploration and interest in the land was due to the fur trade, whereas American settlers were principally seeking land for agriculture and cattle raising. The [[Treaty of 1818]] provided for the region to be an Anglo-American [[Condominium (international law)|condominium]]. During this period, the future Washington Territory was divided into two administrative zones: [[Clark County, Washington|Clarke County]] (now Clark County) and [[Lewis County, Washington|Lewis County]] (made official in 1845).

The condominium was unwieldy and led to continual argument, and occasional conflict. The status of the Washington area was settled in 1846, when the [[Oregon Treaty]] ceded the land south of North latitude 49 degrees to American control.

On March 9, 1854, Skamania County was split from the original Clarke County and stretched east to the [[Rocky Mountains]] in present-day Montana.<ref name="Newberry-Atlas">{{cite web |editor-last=Long |editor-first=John H. |year=2007 |title=Washington: Individual County Chronologies |url=https://digital.newberry.org/ahcb/documents/WA_Individual_County_Chronologies.htm |work=Atlas of Historical County Boundaries |publisher=[[Newberry Library]] |accessdate=October 30, 2024}}</ref> [[Walla Walla County, Washington|Walla Walla County]] was split from the portions of Skamania County east of the [[Deschutes River]] on April 24.<ref name="HistoryLink">{{cite web |last=Wilma |first=David |date=June 22, 2006 |title=Skamania County — Thumbnail History |url=https://www.historylink.org/file/7811 |work=[[HistoryLink]] |accessdate=October 30, 2024}}</ref> The county lost its eastern edge during the creation of [[Klickitat County, Washington|Klickitat County]] in 1861.<ref name="Newberry-Atlas"/>

The territorial legislature dissolved Skamania County and divided its land between Clarke and Klickitat counties in January 1865 during a taxing dispute with the [[Oregon Steam Navigation Company]]. The dissolution was repealed in 1867 after intervention from the U.S. Congress.<ref name="HistoryLink"/> After that, Skamania County retained its shape, including through the period after Washington became the 42nd state of the Union in 1889.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 6, 2003 |title=Milestones for Washington State History &mdash; Part 2: 1851 to 1900 |url=http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=5380 |work=HistoryLink}}</ref> [[Fort Cascades]], built to protect the Columbia River, served as an early county seat, but the county seat has been in Stevenson since 1893.

===20th century to present day===
Skamania County is also known for enacting what has been described as the "Bigfoot Ordinance", passed by the Board of County Commissioners at its meeting of April 1, 1969, and published twice in the ''Skamania County Pioneer'', the newspaper of highest circulation in the county, as required by law. The ordinance forbids the slaying of any "nocturnal primate mammal variously described as an ape-like creature or a sub-species of Homo sapiens ... generally and commonly known as a 'Sasquatch', 'Yeti', 'Bigfoot', or 'Giant Hairy ape'", subject to a maximum penalty of a $10,000 fine and five years imprisonment. Although its passage coincided with April Fool's Day, Ordinance 69-01 was real, was amended in 1984, and has not been repealed. Its purposes included protection of residents and visitors from in the county from a very real concern, "an influx of scientific investigators as well as casual hunters, many armed with lethal weapons", who had been attracted to the area by reported sightings of a creature.<ref>[http://www.bigfootencounters.com/articles/skamania-ordinance.htm "Skamania County, Washington State Bigfoot Ordinance, No. 69-01]</ref><ref>Joe Gisondi, ''Monster Trek: The Obsessive Search for Bigfoot'' (University of Nebraska Press, 2016)</ref><ref>[https://www.courthouselibrary.ca/how-we-can-help/our-legal-knowledge-base/it-illegal-kill-sasquatch-bc Courthouse Library of British Columbia]</ref>

Mt. St. Helens, which is located in Skamania County, [[1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens|erupted in 1980]].