[3] Kittitas County comprises the Ellensburg, Washington, Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Most anthropologists and historians concede that each interpretation has some validity depending upon the particular dialect spoken.

The Kittitas Valley was a traditional gathering place for tribes east of the Cascades.

White settlers introduced livestock raising, crop farming, dairying, logging, lumber processing, and mining.

The abundant grassland and the generally-favorable terrain made beef and cattle production become the county's mainstay.

Lumber extraction was an important county activity from its early days, mostly in the west end.

Logging camps were established near the county's three largest lakes (Cle Elum, Kachess, Keechelus).

[5] The southeastern corner of the county is part of the U.S. Army's Yakima Training Center.

[6] The highest point in the county is Mount Daniel at 7,959 feet (2,426 m) above mean sea level.

[7] Among the amphibian species found are the Cascades frog and the rough-skinned newt, the latter being a common far western USA taxon; in fact, examples of neoteny have been found in individual newts of this species within the county.

[15] In terms of ancestry, 26.2% were German, 15.4% were Irish, 12.7% were English, 8.2% were Norwegian, 5.1% were Italian, 5.0% were Swedish, and 3.4% were American.

19.4% were of German, 11.7% English, 9.0% Irish, 7.8% United States or American, 6.6% Norwegian, 3.8% Italian, 3.2% Swedish, 3.1% French, 3.0% Dutch, 1.7% Polish, and 1.3% Danish ancestry.