Spokane River
/spoʊˈkæn ˈrɪvər/noun
A river in eastern Washington and northern Idaho that flows from Lake Coeur d’Alene into the Columbia River.
Did you know?“Spokane” was originally the name of an Indigenous Salish-speaking people, while “River” is an English geographic label added to identify the waterway; popular translations such as “Children of the Sun” are not universally accepted.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-contact period
Interior Salish
Spokane
“An Indigenous name associated with the Spokane people; its precise original meaning remains debated.”
18th–19th Century
English records
Spokane
“A recorded name for the Indigenous people living in the region around the river.”
19th Century
English
Spokane River
“The English geographic name applied to the river associated with the Spokane people.”
Middle English
English
river
“A large natural stream of flowing water, borrowed through Anglo-French and Old French.”
Old French
Old French
riviere
“River or riverbank region, from Medieval Latin riparia.”
Modern English
English
Spokane River
“The established proper name of the river flowing through the Spokane region into the Columbia River.”