Mazama boomed as the departure point for mining towns in the rugged Harts Pass area like Barron, Chancellor, and Robinson. It remains little more then a crossroads today, with a store, gas station, and post office.

Guy Waring, a leading merchant and owner of Methow Trading Company of Winthrop, suggested the name of Mazama. The place had been called "Goat Creek" by the residents for a creek that flows southward around Goat Mountain. For some unexplained reason the Post Office Department would not accept the name Goat Creek nor Goat Mountain. Mr. Waring explained that Mazama was the Greek word for mountain goat.

The first settlers in this area were squatters who afterwards became homesteaders.