Skookumchuck River
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The Skookumchuck River is a long river located in southwest
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
, United States. It is a tributary of the Chehalis River and thence to the
Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
. The Skookumchuck Dam was built in 1970, creating the Skookumchuck Reservoir. The dam provides water supply for the 1400-megawatt Centralia Steam Electric Plant and supplements flows for fish resources. The river begins with several tributaries in the
Snoqualmie National Forest Snoqualmie might refer to: People * Snoqualmie people, a Coast Salish people of Washington state :*Snoqualmie Indian Tribe, a federally recognized tribe of Snoqualmie people Places * Snoqualmie Indian Reservation *Snoqualmie Valley, ancestral home ...
in the foothills of the
Cascade Mountains The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, ...
, and flows west past the town of
Bucoda, Washington Bucoda () is a town in Thurston County, Washington, United States. The population was 600 at the 2020 census. The community refers to itself as the "World's Tiniest Town with the Biggest Halloween Spirit". History The first American settler at ...
to its confluence with the Chehalis River near
Centralia, Washington Centralia () is a city in Lewis County, Washington, United States. It is located along Interstate 5 near the midpoint between Seattle and Portland, Oregon. The city had a population of 18,183 at the 2020 census. Centralia is twinned with Ch ...
. The name ''
Skookumchuck Skookumchuck () is a Chinook Jargon term that is in common use in British Columbia English and occurs in Pacific Northwest English. '' Skookum'' means "strong" or "powerful", and "chuck" means water, so ''skookumchuck'' means "rapids" or "whitewa ...
'' derives from Chinook Jargon: in this context, "rapids". The word ''
skookum Skookum is a Chinook Jargon word that has historical use in the Pacific Northwest. It has a range of meanings, commonly associated with an English translation of "strong" or "monstrous". The word can mean "strong", "greatest", "powerful", "ultima ...
'' means "strong", and ''chuck'' means "water".


See also

*
List of Washington rivers This is a list of rivers in the U.S. state of Washington. By drainage basin This list is arranged by drainage basin. Respective tributaries are indented under each larger stream's name and are ordered downstream to upstream. Fraser River (Britis ...
*
List of Chinook Jargon placenames The following is a listing of placenames from the Chinook Jargon, generally from the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Alberta, the Canadian Yukon Territory and the American states of Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. Some ...


References


External links


Thurston County - river data
Rivers of Washington (state) Chinook Jargon place names Rivers of Lewis County, Washington Rivers of Thurston County, Washington {{Washington-river-stub