Pataha is a small,

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in Garfield County,

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 The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. It located about 4 miles east of Pomeroy, the Garfield County seat. Pataha is home to the historic Houser Mill, a working water-powered flour mill originally built in 1879.

Geography

Pataha is located along Pataha Creek, about four miles east of Pomeroy, the Garfield County seat.

U.S. Route 12 U.S. Route 12 (US 12) is an east–west United States Numbered Highways, United States highway, running from Aberdeen, Washington, to Detroit, Detroit, Michigan, for almost . The highway has mostly been superseded by Interstate 90 (I-90) an ...

passes from Pomeroy through Pataha as it follows the valley cut by Pataha Creek. The valley is quite steep, only about a mile wide at Pataha and rising more than 300 feet above the valley floor within a mile on the north side of the community and to heights over 500 feet above the floor immediately to the south of the community.

History

The town is located on the Pataha Creek along the Nez Perce trail. This was the path used by the

Nez Perce The Nez Percé (; autonym in Nez Perce language: , meaning "we, the people") are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who are presumed to have lived on the Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest region for at least 11,500 years.Ames, K ...

Native Americans for crossing the Rocky Mountains. The name Pataha is from the Nez Perce word for 'brush', as there was dense brush along both sides of the creek. In May 1806, Lewis and Clark passed through and spent the night here on their return journey from the Pacific coast. In 1834, Captain B. L. E. Bonneville passed through the area doing survey work for the US Government. In 1861, James Bowers settled on the site of Pataha. The next year a stagecoach line was established between

Walla Walla Walla Walla can refer to: * Walla Walla people, a Native American tribe after which the county and city of Walla Walla, Washington, are named * Place of many rocks in the Australian Aboriginal Wiradjuri language, the origin of the name of the town ...

and Lewiston which passed through the area, bringing many more settlers. These first settlers were mainly engaged in farming vegetables and cattle ranching, but this would give way to wheat farming in the 1870s. The area began to grow as a town in 1878, and was officially platted in 1882 by Angevine Titus and Company Favor. The town was briefly known as both 'Favorsburg' and 'Watertown', but the original native placename Pataha would prevail. Pataha grew into a successful town, rivalling nearby Pomeroy for some time. Pataha was briefly the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

when Garfield County was created in 1881. The Pataha Spirit newspaper was also established this same year. When the

Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company The Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company (OR&N) was a railroad that operated a rail network of running east from Portland, Oregon, United States, to northeastern Oregon, northeastern Washington, and northern Idaho. It operated from 1896 as a ...

brought a rail line to Pomeroy in 1885, the line was not extended to Pataha. Soon the town lost its competitive edge over its neighbor and began to decline. The flour mill continued to run until 1940.

References

Unincorporated communities in Garfield County, Washington Unincorporated communities in Washington (state) {{GarfieldCountyWA-geo-stub