Cashmere might be famous today for candy, but long before chocolate-covered cherries, this land was home to the Sinpesquensi, a band of the Wenatchi people. Their village, Ntuatckam, sat near today’s town center, with around 400 residents sustained by the Wenatchee River’s salmon runs. Those runs are a shadow of what they were thanks to the Columbia River dams, but the river still pulses with history, memory, and a few stubborn fish.
The Wenatchi were displaced to the Colville Indian Reservation but still maintain fishing rights in the area. Their story, like many, deserves more space and attention than it often gets.
Fast-forward to 1892, when dreams of prosperity rode in on rumors of the Great Northern Railroad. Locals platted “Mission” (the pre-Cashmere name) near the proposed tracks, hoping to cash in. Unfortunately, the train didn’t stop. A “flag stop” station finally came in 1900, and today that humble section house survives as part of the Cashmere Museum and Pioneer Village.
Now for the uncomfortable truth: Cashmere had an active Ku Klux Klan chapter in the 1920s, complete with parades and church meetings. That history is part of the town, too, and shouldn’t be swept under any welcome mat.
Downtown, the 9/11 Spirit of America Memorial offers a more hopeful note: A place for remembrance, unity, and reflection.
