Skamania is a small

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

Skamania County Skamania County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,036. The county seat and largest incorporated city is Stevenson, although the Carson River Valley CDP is more populous. Ska ...

in the southwestern part of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

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 ...

History

The

Stevenson Stevenson is an English language patronymic surname meaning "son of Steven". Its first historical record is from pre-10th-century England. Another origin of the name is as a toponymic surname related to the place Stevenstone in Devon, England. The ...

area has been home to Native American settlements for thousands of years.Stevenson, WA - History
/ref> Their villages were focal points for commerce and social gatherings as they came to trade and fish along the riverbanks. Some of the first explorers and missionaries in the area included Lewis & Clark, David Thompson and Dr. Spaulding. They used the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...

to get through 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 many of those in the ...

on their way to the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

. In 1843, the

Oregon Trail The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and Westward Expansion Trails, emigrant trail in North America that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon Territory. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail crossed what ...

brought the first settlers there. Pioneers portaged around the Cascade Rapids on their way to the Willamette Valley. Some of these pioneering families chose to stay there. The Stevenson family, who settled there in the 1800s from Missouri, founded the town of Stevenson on the old Shepard donation land claim. Under the supervision of the Stevenson Land Company, George Stevenson purchased the original town site for $24,000 in 1893, building the town along the lower flat near the river. Settlers expanded the original dock to serve the daily arrivals of sternwheelers unloading passengers, cargo and loading logs.

Geography

Skamania is located within the

Columbia River Gorge The Columbia River Gorge is a canyon of the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Up to deep, the canyon stretches for over as the river winds westward through the Cascade Range, forming the boundary between the state ...

National Scenic Area on

Washington State Route 14 State Route 14 (SR 14) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Washington. The highway travels east-west on the north side of the Columbia River, opposite Interstate 84 (I-84) to the south in Oregon. SR 14 forms a section ...

. The community lies between Prindle to the west and North Bonneville to the east.

Parks and recreation

Beacon Rock State Park Beacon Rock State Park is a geologic preserve and public recreation area on Washington State Route 14, Route 14 in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area (United States), National Scenic Area in Skamania County, Washington, Skamania Count ...

is located east of Skamania. The town is also near the Sams Walker Day Use Site, which is maintained by the

US Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands covering of land. The major divisions of the agency are the Chief's ...

. The community is sandwiched between Pierce National Wildlife Refuge and

Franz Lake National Wildlife Refuge Franz Lake National Wildlife Refuge is located in southwest Washington state, within the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. The refuge provides a variety of habitats including riparian wetlands, Columbia River riparian corridor block ...

, home to wintering grounds for

tundra swan The tundra swan (''Cygnus columbianus'') is a small swan of the Holarctic. The two taxa within it are usually regarded as conspecific, but are also sometimes split into two species: Bewick's swan (''Cygnus bewickii'') of the Palaearctic and the w ...

s and of wapato, previously extinct in Washington and endangered in Oregon, now scarce but stable in both states.

Education

Young students attend Skamania Elementary School.

References

Unincorporated communities in Skamania County, Washington Unincorporated communities in Washington (state) {{SkamaniaCountyWA-geo-stub