How the name ’Wrencoe‘ came from a warning to a cow

Whether you spell it Wrencoe or Wrenco, the area between Sandpoint and Laclede was named after the same incident involving a Great Northern train and a local settler. At a railroad siding here, a train was stopped waiting for another one to pass. Meantime, some of Constantine Speck’s cows were frightened and one cow ran in front of the oncoming train down the track. Speck shouted, “Run cow, run! Run cow.” The train crew was so taken by the incident that they started calling the siding Run Cow. When the railway later named its sidings, the name was adapted as Wrencoe, which was considered more aesthetic.

The descriptions of how this and other Idaho places were named can be found in the book, Idaho Place Names by Lalia Boone.

– Billie Jean Plaster