"... I proceeded through over a land S E with Some Ponds to the bay distance about 2 miles, thence up to the mouth of Chinnook river 2 miles, crossed this little river in the Canoe we left at its mouth and Encamped on the upper Side in an open Sandy bottom ..." [Clark, November 19, 1805]

Clark and his men reached Station Camp the next day, where they made their historic vote to spend the winter on the coast at Fort Clatsop.

According to the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) database (2019):

• "James River" ... 1798, Plan of River Oregan from actual Survey by Lt. Broughton under direction of Capt. Vancouver, Oct. 1795, pub. by A. Arrowsmith.
• "James River" ... 1840, Plan of River Oregan from actual Survey, pub. by A. Arrowsmith.
• "Wallacut River" ... 1870, U.S. Coast Survey, Columbia River, Sheet 1.
• "Wallacut River" ... 1881, Chart of mouth of Columbia River, Ore., surveyed under direction Maj. G.L. Gillespie, Corps of Engineers, U.S.
• "wallacut River" ... 1885, Entrance to Columbia River, surveyed under direction Capt. Charles F. Powell, Corps of Engineers.
• "Wallicut River" ... 1888, Chart of Columbia River from Ocean to Portland, Ore., illustrated condition of salmon fishery, season 1888-9.
• "Wallacut River" ... 1890, Map Pacific County by Jno. Davis, Co. auditor.
• From 1890 to 1926, the name varies between "Wallacut" and "Wallicut".

According to "Origin of Washington Geographic Names" (Meany, 1923):

"Wallacut River, flowing into the Columbia River near Ilwaco, in the southwestern part of Pacific County, derives its name from the Indian word "Aalihut" meaning "place of stones." The north shore of the little river, where it flows into Baker Bay, is banked with small, smoothly worn boulders. The present form of spelling was recorded by George Gibbs on March 1, 1854. (Pacific Railroad Reports, Volume I., page 465.)

According to "Place Names of Washington" (Hitchman, 1985):

"Wallacut River (T19N, R11W):   The stream of this very short river heads 3 miles north of Baker Bay, southwest Pacific County; flows southwest to Columbia River at Ilwaco. The name is a distortion of the Indian designation Walihut, meaning "place of stones". The north side of the river, near its mouth, is heavily banked with small, smoothly-worn boulders. Hudson's Bay Compaany employees used the course of the stream as a portage route, and called it Knights River." ... [???, in 1792, Lieutenant Broughton of the Captain George Vancouver Expedition, called the Cowlitz River "Knights River"]

From the 1858 United States Senate Report "The Superintendent of the Coast Survey showing the Progress of the Survey during the Year 1858":

"Baker's Bay lies between Cape Disappointment and Chinook Point. It runs 2 1/2 miles to the northward of the cape, and receives the waters of the small streams which head toward Shoalwater bay, and connect with it by a small portage. The western and largest stream is the Wal-la-khut; the eastern, half-way between the cape and Chinook Point, is the Wap-pa-loo-che."

The "Wap-pa-loo-che" is today's Chinook River, a name which didn't show up in the "Coast Pilots" until 1889. The 1889 version lists the Wallacut as the "Wallacut" with "Wal-la-khut" in parentheses.

"... The western shore of this bay is the east side of the Cape for nearly three miles in a general northerly direction; thence the shore sweeps to the eastward and southeastward for six miles to Chinook Point. The latter stretch of shore is low, bordered by extensive marshes, and receives the waters of the Wallacut and the Chinook Rivers. The Wallacut River (Wal-la-khut) enters at the northernmost bend of the bay shore; it is a small stream coming through marshes from the direction of Shoalwater Bay, which it very nearly reaches. ..."

In 1937 the U.S. Board of Geographic Names made official "Wallacut River".