What in the Yamhill: Origin of ‘Yamhill’ uncertain

News-Register file photo/Ossie Bladine##The city of Yamhill, originally known as North Yamhill, was incorporated in 1891.

Since this weekly column is called “What in the Yamhill,” it seems fitting to learn more about the name Yamhill before we uncover the story behind other landmarks.

For those unfamiliar with the history of our county, you might imagine the name derives from a bountiful harvest of a particular tuber — at least I considered it. However, yams are not and have never been a major agricultural fixture in our region.

County officials and some local history scholars believe the best evidence indicates the name originates from the way early settlers referred to the Yamhelas band of the Kalapuya people.

The Kalapuya was a group of tribes that occupied the Willamette River Valley and northwest Oregon.

Another possible origin of the word is Che-am-il, the Yamhelas word for “bald hills,” describing the character of the landscape near the Yamhill River Falls. Other accounts claim the name comes from the Yamhill River, but the exact meaning is uncertain.

The two main branches of the river are the North Yamhill River and South Yamhill River, the latter much larger and flows into Polk County.

The first account of the place Yamhill was referred to by John Work, the Hudson’s Bay Company brigade leader, in 1834. Oftentimes it was called Yam-hill, and some referenced Yamstills.

In January 1850, a post office named Yam Hill Falls was established with Jacob Hawn as postmaster. It was the first post office in the county and closed in 1852.

The Yamhill Falls are directly south of the Joel Perkins Park Square in Lafayette and downstream near Lafayette Locks, which was also previously called Yamhill Locks.

The city of Lafayette was once called Yamhill Falls in letters by settlers. The wagon trains of 1843 and 1844 brought most original settlers to the area.

Yamhill County was created July 5, 1843, as one of four original districts of Oregon — in fact, they were the first four U.S. counties created on the West Coast. It stretched from the Willamette River to the Pacific Coast and extended north to the Columbia River and south to the California border.

The Provisional Government was created in 1843 by a vote of about 100 people at Champoeg near the Willamette River. Settlers desired a formal representative governmental body to establish laws and execute the will of the people.

By 1845, there were 2,000 settlers in the Willamette Valley. Four years later when the California gold rush started, an estimated one in three men left the valley for the goldfields.

In 1849, the Territory of Oregon was created and granted protection by the United States.

The city of Yamhill, originally called North Yamhill, was incorporated on Feb. 20, 1891.

Do you know of a local landmark, memorial or street and a story behind the name? Contact reporter Emily Bonsant at ebonsant@newsregister.com or call 503-687-1257.