Impach, Washington is an unincorporated populated place in east central Ferry County,

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), ''Impach, Washington''
/ref> on the

Colville Indian Reservation The Colville Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation located in Washington (state), Washington state, U.S. It is inhabited and managed by the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, which are List of federally recognized tribes in ...

. It is located within the Inchelium CDP.

Etymology

The community's name means "white lake" in the Salishan dialect of the San Poil tribe,Tacoma Public Library, ''Washington Place Names Database''
: "Impach" likely a reference to Camille Lake located about north.

History

Historically, Impach has been the site of traditional Native American dance ceremonies by members of the confederated tribes.Washington State University Libraries Digital Collection, ''State history. Native Americans. Celebrations, picnics & pow wows''. 1937-01-22
, newspaper articleWashington State University Libraries Digital Collection, ''State history. Native Americans. Ceremonies.'' 1937-01-28
, newspaper article Gold was discovered in Ferry County in 1896 and several

gold mines Gold mining is the extraction of gold by mining. Historically, mining gold from alluvial deposits used manual separation processes, such as gold panning. The expansion of gold mining to ores that are not on the surface has led to more complex ...

operated in the Impach area as late as the 1950s, including the nearby Gold Twenty Mine which produced lode gold,

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

, and

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

. During the early 1930s, a predecessor of the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...

established a small

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidder, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or trunk (botany), logs onto logging truck, trucksGreat Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. A United States post office operated at Impach, Washington, from 1922 to 1954.Jim Forte Postal History: Post Office, Washington, Ferry County: Impach (1922-1954)
/ref> The scenic valley is primarily grazing land today.

Geography

Impach is located at the mouth of a long

coulee Coulee, or coulée ( or ), is any of various different landforms, all of which are kinds of valleys or drainage zones. The word ''coulee'' comes from the Canadian French ''coulée'', from French ''couler'' 'to flow'. The term is often used ...

in rural Seylor Valley approximately west of Inchelium on County Highway 2, also known as Bridge Creek Road.Impach, Washington WA Community Profile / Ferry County, WA Data
/ref> Two prominent summits, Stranger Mountain, , and Monument Butte, , overlook Impach less than to the south.AnyplaceAmerica.com, Topographic Map Search: ''Impach, Washington''
/ref>

References

External links

Flickriver, ''United States/Washington/Impach''
photos of Impach and the Seylor Valley
Panoramio
aerial photos of Impach and vicinity {{Ferry County, Washington Populated places in Ferry County, Washington Populated places in the Okanagan Country