Cosumnes River - Name

Name

The Cosumnes River is thought to have been named as the Mokelumne and Tuolumne rivers were, using the -umne suffix meaning "people of". The prefix is derived from the Miwok word "kosum" meaning "salmon". Chinook Salmon runs are rarely, if ever, seen above Rancho Murieta as a result of diversions in the area. The Cosumnes is often mis-pronounced as "ka-SOOM-ness", "kun-SOOM-ness", or "ko-SUE-meez", which is incongruent with pronunciation of other regional rivers with the same root (e.g., Tuolumne, Mokelumne) and the original linguistic origins of its name.

Cosumnes River College, a two year community college located in the southern part of Sacramento, CA is named after the river being located only a few miles off campus. CRC's mascot is the Hawk due to the number of hawks that inhabit the river area.