Washtucna, WA

Washtucna is a town in Adams County, Washington, United States. The 2020 census counted 211 residents. The town was named for a lake 12 miles from the town in Franklin County which was in turn named after a Palouse Native American chief. George Bassett, an Iowan settler homesteaded the future site of Washtucna in 1878 with his wife Alice Lancaster Bassett. In Washtucna, history and present-day settings sit close enough to belong to the same local picture. The map tells the story in Washtucna, where earlier chapters remain visible in current streets, buildings, and gathering places. Their goal was to raise horses, and until 1900 their ranch was the site of an annual roundup of wild horses. Washtucna sits at the head of Washtucna Coulee, a thin but deep valley that runs west to Connell, Washington where it merges with Providence Coulee to form Esquatzel Coulee. The Columbia Plateau Trail passes through Washtucna as well.