The name Touchet derives from the similarly pronounced Sahaptin term for the river, Tu-se meaning roasting.

Nez Perce legend tells that coyote roasted salmon at this river after breaking a fish dam guarded by the seven swallow sisters at Celilo.

[1] The Touchet River is formed by several forks draining the north slope of the Blue Mountains above Dayton in Columbia County.

[12][13] The United States Geological Survey (USGS) operated a gaging station on the Touchet River at Bolles (between Waitsburg and Prescott) from 1924 to 1989.

These peoples were of the Sahaptin-speaking group which traditionally inhabited the Columbia Plateau region of the northwestern United States.

They camped about 2 miles (3 km) above modern-day Dayton on Patit Creek on May 2, 1806, before following the trail across country to the Tucannon River.

The brothers initially raised sheep and horses; in later years they, mirroring the transitions of many others in the region, cultivated dryland winter wheat.