Up until 1996 Bill Booth owned and operated the Cavaliers out of Cowlitz County.

1998
Booth missed the hands on aspect of running the team so he restarted the Cavaliers as a non-league team. He was still recognized as the owner of the Posse, although now in an even more hands-off role than the previous year.
Meanwhile, the Posse struggled through the season with a 5-5 record and again lost to the Thunderbolts in the first round of the playoffs.

1999
The plan for 1999 was for Booth to cut ties with the Posse. He would own and operate the Cavaliers, and Jobe would own and operate the Posse. However, Jobe moved out of town just prior to the season. Rather than let the Posse fold, Booth put his Cavaliers on hold and jumped in and ran the team until another owner could be found. The new owner, Mike Monahan, wanted to market the team under it's new name (Cougars) to get a head start on publicity for the 2000 season.

The Vancouver Cougar team had the same players as the Posse. However, because Booth was running the team the league recognized the Cavalier name. This is why the team is often referred to as the "Cougaliers" to differentiate from Monahan's 2000-'01 Columbia Cougar team.

2000
The 2000 NWFL season had the
Washington Cavaliers, owned and operated by Bill Booth,
Columbia Cougars, owned by Mike Monahan and coached by Cedric Walker
Multnomah Co Buccaneers - owned by Vancouver Cougar players Shay Dean & Victor Winselle, and operated by
....... Vancouver Cougar Head Coach Jay Atwood.

The 1999 Vancouver Cougars played at the Kiggins Bowl near downtown Vancouver, Washington. The 2000 Columbia Cougars played at McKenzie Field in East Vancouver.

The 1997-'98 Vancouver Posse ownership/franchise became the 2000 Columbia Cougars.
The 1997-'98 Vancouver Posse and '99 Cougar players became the 2000 Multnomah County Buccaneers.
The 1999 Vancouver Cougar head coach became the head coach of the 2000 Multnomah County Buccaneers.

From an ownership/franchise point of view, the Posse became the Cougars. However, from a fan point of view, the Posse became the Bucs as most of the Posse/Vancouver Cougar coaches and players became the Multnomah County Buccaneers in 2000. Shay Dean and Victor Winselle, standout players for the Posse ('97-'98) and Cougars ('99) became the owner and GM of the 2000 Bucs. 1999 Vancouver Cougar Head Coach Jay Atwood will assume the same role with the Bucs. Vancouver Posse/Vancouver Cougar Assistant Coach Cedric Walker became the Head Coach of the Columbia Cougars.

As a franchise, the Bucs will be entirely new, but with respect to players and staff, one could consider the Bucs to be an extension of the Posse.

This situation is similar to the NFL's Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens. When the Browns became the Ravens, did all of the Browns history go to the Ravens? After all, the ownership, coaches and players were all the same.
Does the new Browns franchise 'acquire' the history of the previous Cleveland Browns franchise? Is Jim Brown the all-time leading rusher for both the Browns and the Ravens? After all, he played for Art Modell's franchise, but the team he played for was the Browns.

The point is, confusing situations like this happen at all levels of football - not just the minor leagues.

2001
Former Columbia Cougar head coach Cedric Walker split off to start the Willamette Valley Raiders.