 Instead, U.S. Highway 2 (known in the area as the Cascade Highway) connects it with Snohomish County to the north and through Stevens Pass (17 miles east of town) to Chelan County.The name "Skykomish" derives from the Skykomish or Skai-whamish tribe (originally considered a subdivision of the Snoqualmies) who inhabited the area before European settlement.The townsite was settled in 1889 by John Maloney, a guide for the surveying team on the Great Northern Railway.