# Oregon Historical Quarterly/Volume 26/Oregon Geographic Names

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The first article in a series that continued to be published in book form into the 21st century; see Oregon Geographic Names. See corrections to this installment at the beginning of Part II.
OREGON GEOGRAPHIC NAMES
By Lewis A. McArthur
INTRODUCTORY NOTE
   An enterprise of the highest order of importance for kindling and sustaining interest in Oregon history is inaugurated by Lewis A. McArthur with his first installment in this number of the Quarterly on "Oregon Geographic Names." Mr. McArthur indicates in his statement preliminary to the listing of names with their origins that he has had this project in progress for years. In addition to this, however, it needs to be said that he always works assidiously with most effective scientific methods and exercises keenest scrutiny for accuracy. Still, the nature of his objective here, that of attaining an approximately complete record of the origin of Oregon geographic names, is such that only as most generous and general co-operation in every community is elicited can this objective be realized.
   Mr. McArthur's devotion to the cause of compacting the richest meaning into the map of Oregon and his ability to achieve in this line are attested in his work on Oregon lakes (Ore. Hist. Soc. Quar. v. XXVI, p. 1) and also by the advanced stage to which he has progressed toward the completion of an adequate relief map of the state. So fully has he demonstrated a masterly expertness in the map lore of Oregon that his aid is sought whenever any project of more intensive mapping of any section of the state is undertaken by the federal agencies. It is, therefore, exceedingly fortunate that he is here committed to the task of searching out and compiling all available data on Oregon geographic names. Every item of fully authenticated information bearing on the origin of any name given to any feature of the Oregon landscape, however flatly it may contradict what he has tentatively offered here, will by him receive most grateful acknowledgement.—Editor Quarterly.
PREFACE
The origin of geographic names in Oregon may be traced roughly to five periods in the history of the state, and in most instances the names themselves indicate approximately during which epoch they were applied. These five periods may be described as follows:
First—The period of the exploration by sea along the Oregon coast line, with resulting names strongly Spanish in flavor, with an English admixture.
Second—The period of overland exploration, develop ing into the fur trading period, with the application of French, Indian and additional names of English and American origin.
Third—The pioneer period, resulting in the application of a large number of eastern place names to Oregon communities, generally for sentimental reasons, and also ​resulting in the use of many pioneer family names for Oregon features, particularly for streams and mountains.
Fourth—The Indian wars and the mining periods, resulting in the application of the names of soldiers, and also of picturesque nomenclature that always follows the early pursuit of gold.
Fifth—The modern period of made up names, real estate phraseology, and occasionally a praiseworthy effort to apply a suitable historic or Indian name to something that now bears a monstrosity.
The compiler has for many years gathered notes on the origin of Oregon geographic names, and after the publication of this information in the Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, it is hoped that the various chapters may be consolidated and issued in book form. The writer is particularly anxious to have corrections and suggestions pertaining to the names discussed in this issue, and will welcome such if addressed to Lewis A. McArthur, Gasco Building, Portland, Oregon. He is very desirous of getting additional items, as he realizes t many names have been omitted.
The work of others has been freely drawn upon. When Leslie M. Scott collated the writings of his father published them under the title History of the Oregon Country, he presented a storehouse of information about Oregon geographic names. The writer has found this information of incalculable value. Material compiled by Judge Charles H. Carey, T. C. Elliott, Will G. Steel and H. H. Bancroft has been referred to constantly, and the verbal suggestions of Geo. H. Himes have been more than welcome. Professor Edmond S. Meany's Origin of Washington Geographic Names has been used quite freely, and should be in the library of everyone interested in the history of the Oregon country. Where elevations are given for communities, they indicate the elevations of important government bench marks, expressed to the nearest foot.
​Abernethy Creek, Clackamas County. This stream rises at an elevation of about 1100 feet ten miles southeast of Oregon City and flows into the Willamette River at Oregon City. It was named for George Abernethy, first governor of Oregon under the provisional government. He was elected to this position on June 3, 1845. Be died on May 2, 1877. He was long engaged in the mercantile business in Oregon City in partnership with Hiram Clark, Thomas Pope and James R. Robb. His biography appears in the Transactions of the Oregon Pioneer Association for 1886. See also Scott's History of the Oregon Country. George Abernethy once owned the island in the Willamette River at the edge of Willamette Falls at Oregon City. It was formerly known as Governors Island but is now known as Abernethy Island. The geography of Abernethy Creek is shown on the U. S. Geological Survey maps of the Boring and Oregon City quadrangles.
In 1924 Professor Edwin T. Hodge of the University of Oregon applied the name Abernethy Island to a geographic feature in the lava fields near McKenzie Pass. This was also in commemoration of Governor Abernethy.
Abiqua Creek, Marion County. Abiqua Creek rises in the western slopes of the Cascade Range, and joins Pudding River about three miles northwest of Silverton. It was on the Abiqua that a skirmish of the Cayuse War was alleged to have been *fought in March, 1848, and some non-combatant Indians killed. For a discussion of this battle by John Minto, see The Oregonian, March 12, 1877, by James W. Nesmith, ibid. March 15, 1877; by John Minto March 20, 1877, page 1; by A. F . Johnson March 22, 1877, page 1. It is apparent from reading the above newspaper articles that the battle was neither bloody nor important, even if it was actually fought. Nothing is known of the meaning of the Indian name Abiqua. It may have referred to a small tribe or to a camping place ​along the stream. The U. S. Geographic Board has decided on the spelling of Abiqua.
Ada, Lane County. Postmaster E. Martin writes in October, 1925, that he has been unable to get any information concerning the origin of the name of this post office and nothing is known about it locally.
Adams, Umatilla County. This town is about 13 miles northeast of Pendleton on Wildhorse Creek. It was named after John F. Adams, part of whose homestead is now included in the town. The post office was established on July 9, 1883, with Wm. H. McCoy first postmaster.
Adel, Lake County. The compiler has been unable to secure information concerning the origin of this name and would welcome such.
Adrian, Malheur County. When the branch of the Oregon Short Line Railroad was built into this part of the county, there was a post office called Riverview on the east side of Snake River, and the railroad authorities did not desire to have a station of the same name on the west side. Reuben McCreary, who platted the townsite of Riverview on the west side, suggested that if that name was unsatisfactory, that the name Adrian be used, which was adopted by the railroad on February 13, 1913. It is not known why he suggested the name. Subsequently the name of the post office was made to agree with the station name.
Agate Beach, Lincoln County. This is a descriptive name. The sea beach between Newport and Yaquina Head has long been noted for the very fine agates found there. Dealers in Newport make a specialty of cutting and polishing these stones.
Agency Creek, Polk and Yamhill Counties. Agency Creek rises on the eastern slopes of the Coast Range, and flows for the greater part of its length in Yamhill County, joining South Yamhill River near Grand Ronde. It was ​named because of the United States Indian Agency at Grand Ronde, which was established in pioneer days.
Agency Hill, Klamath County. This is a prominent landmark just north of Klamath Indian Agency. The Klamath Indian name is Yanaldi, which indicates the ridge extending from Klamath Agency to a point north of Fort Klamath.
Agency Lake, Klamath County. This name is generally used in referring to the northern arm of Upper Klamath Lake, so called because of the Klamath Indian Agency nearby.
Agency Plains, Jefferson County. These plains lie at an elevation of from 2300 to 2400 feet, and are bordered on the west by the Deschutes River and on the east by Mud Springs Creek. They were so named because they were near the agency of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation.
Agness, Curry County. Agness post office was established October 16, 1897, and was named after the daughter of Amaziah Aubery, the first postmaster. Agness is situated on Rogue River. Amaziah Aubery was born in northern California December 24, 1865, and came to Curry County in 1883. He married Rachel Fry on February 22, 1887. It has been alleged that the name was improperly reported to the postal authorities, hence the unusual spelling, but the compiler has no accurate information on this point.
Ahalapam Cinder Field, Deschutes and Lane Counties. This cinder field lies on the summit of the Cascade Range just north of the Three Sisters. It was named in 1924 by Professor Edwin T. Hodge of the University of Oregon. Ahalapam is one of the forms of the Indian name Santiam, and was used because the Santiam River possibly at one time headed in this region.
Airlie, Polk County. This was the southern terminus of the narrow gauge line of the Oregonian Railway Company. The tracks were subsequently widened to standard ​gauge, and the property is now controlled by the Southern Pacific Company. The station was named for the Earl of Airlie in Scotland, who was president of the Oregonian Railway Company and who visited Oregon during the course of construction. Airlie has an elevation of 247 feet.
Albany, Linn County. "Albany was founded in 1848 by Walter and Thomas Monteith, named after Albany, New York, by request of James P. Millar, and incorporated in 1864" (Bancroft's History of Oregon, volume II, page 716). The first house in Albany, then the finest residence in Oregon, was built in 1849 by Monteith brothers, at Washington and Second streets. The first settler arrived in 1845 (The Oregonian, November 18, 1888). The first store was established in 1849. The town of Takena was started in 1849, just below Albany, and by act of January 12, 1854 (Oregon Session Laws, page 27), the legislature gave the name to both towns, but in 1855, Albany was restored by the legislature. The first school was opened in 1851, the post office in 1852, the first flouring mill in 1852. The first steamboat arrived in 1852. The Monteiths and Samuel Althouse bought the townsite in 1848 from Hiram Smead, for $400. The geography of the immediate vicinity of Albany is shown on the V. S. Geological Survey map of the Albany quadrangle. The government bench mark in the Linn County courthouse in Albany has an elevation of 214 feet.
For additional information about the Monteiths and early history of Albany, see Oregon Journal, December 5, 1925, editorial page.
Albee, Umatilla County. The author has been unable to secure information concerning the origin of the name of this community and would appreciate such.
Albina, Multnomah County. Albina is now a part of Portland, but it was originally a separate municipality. It was laid out in 1872 and incorporated in 1887. Portland, East Portland and Albina were consolidated in ​1891. It was named for Albina G. Page, daughter of William W. Page. The wife of William W. Page was Albina V. Amiraux. They were married June 20, 1861. W. W. Page was born December 4, 1838, in Westmoreland County, Virginia; came to Oregon, 1857; died at Portland April 12, 1897. Albina, the town, was named by Edwin Russell, one-time manager of the Bank of British Columbia at Portland, after Albina G. Page, daughter of W. W . Page and Albina V. Page. Mrs. Page was born in Canada; came to Oregon, 1859. Albina was settled upon (donation land claim) by James L. Loring and Joseph Delay. Litigation between them was won by Delay, who sold to W. W. Page, Edwin Russell and George H. Williams, who laid out the town. It was later purchased by William Reid and J. B. Montgomery, and settlement began in 1874. For the platting of the town, see The Oregonian, April 29, 1873, page 3; early history of Albina, ibid., April 7, 21, 1887; September 12, 1886, page 5; description, ibid., April 2, 1887; construction of railroad shops, ibid., March 21, 1887. The first city election was held February 15, 1887; the first meeting of the city council took place February 21, 1887. For notes on the growth of Albina, ibid., January 1, 1891.
Algoma, Klamath County. This town was named for the Algoma Lumber Company. The name is said to be an Indian word formed from Algonquin and goma, meaning "Algonquin waters." Various forms of the name have been used in several states. Algoma has an elevation of 4151 feet.
Alicel, Union County. This is a station on the Enterprise branch of the Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Co. It is reported that when this branch was built about 1890 that Charles Ladd, a well-known local resident, had the station named for his wife, Alice Ladd. After the death of Mr. Ladd his widow married a Mr. Tucker and subsequently lived in Seattle. Alicel ​has an elevation of 2755 feet, and is in the Grande Ronde valley.
Alkali Lake, Lake County. This playa occupies the southern portion of a broad shallow basin northeast of Lake Abert. The water is highly concentrated, the dissolved salts averaging 10 per cent of the weight of the total brine. This lake, together with many other lakes, playas and streams, received its name on account of the alkaline salts dissolved in the water.
Allegany, Coos County. Allegheny is the modern spelling of a Delaware Indian word for the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers. The word is used for many features in the United States, including the Allegheny Mountains in the eastern United States, and for a county, city and river in Pennsylvania. There are several variations of the spelling. This post office was established March 25, 1893, with Wm. Vincamp first postmaster.
Alma, Lane County. Alma, is in the southwestern part of Lane County, on the Siuslaw River. Alma is a Latin word meaning "bountiful."
Aloha, Washington County. Aloha is a station on the Southern Pacific line just west of Beaverton and has an elevation of 213 feet. Its name was chosen in 1912 by Robert Caples, and is an Hawaiian word. The meaning of the word Aloha is varied according to the relationship existing between the persons using the word and also depending upon the time of day it is used and whether it is at a meeting or a departure. It also depends to a certain extent upon what conversation took place just previous to its use and the gesture which ofttimes accompanies it. On meeting anyone in the morning the use of the word indicates "good morning" and in the evening "good evening," but on leaving at night it means "good night." If it is used at the time of departure on a journey it means "farewell," and it is also very generally used as an affectionate greeting even when addressed to strangers.
​Alpha, Lane County. The post office at Alpha was established July 23, 1890, and was named for Alpha Lundey, a young girl living in the community. Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet.
Alpine, Benton County. It is presumed that this little settlement was named because of its location in a mountainous district, although characteristics of the Coast Range in that neighborhood are not particularly suggestive of the Alps.
Alsea River, Benton and Lincoln Counties. Alsea is a corruption of Alsi, the original name of a Yakonan tribe that lived at the mouth of Alsea River. Lewis and Clark give Ulseah. Duflot de Mofras gives Alsiias in his Exploration (1844), volume II, page 335. Lt. Wm. P. McArthur gives Alseya on his chart accompanying the report of the U. S . Coast Survey for 1851. The name has numerous variations, but there is no doubt but that it was originally pronounced with three syllables, and not with two as at present. Alsea River rises in the Coast Range and flows into Alsea Bay at Waldport. The town of Alsea is in the southwest part of Benton County. The U. S. Geographic Board has adopted the form Alsea.
Altamont, Klamath County. This community is just southeast of Klamath Falls, and is said to have been named for Altamont, the famous racehorse. The word is derived from the Spanish, meaning "high mountain." It was applied to the community by Jay Beach, a prominent horseman.
Alvadore, Lane County. Alvadore is a town about 10 miles northwest of Eugene on a branch line of the Southern Pacific. It was named for Alvadore Welch of Portland, a prominent public utility promotor and manager, who built the Portland, Eugene & Eastern Railway through the community. This railway was subsequently acquired by the Southern Pacific Company.
Alvord Lake, Harney County. This is an alkali lake ​of varying size near the southern end of Steens Mountain, from which it receives its main water supply through Wildhorse Creek. In wet weather the lake overflows Alvord Desert, a playa to the north which occupies a large part of Alvord Valley. These geographic features were named by then Captain George B. Currey of the First Oregon Cavalry, during the Snake War of 1864 for Major Benjamin Alvord, who subsequently reached the rank of brigadier-general in the U. S. army. He was paymaster of the department of Oregon, 1854–62. In 1861–65 he was in command of the department of Oregon. He was born at Rutland, Vermont, August 8, 1813; died October 17, 1884. He was held in high estimation in the Pacific Northwest, and Indian depredations in eastern Oregon, after his departure, made his absence all the more regretted. For a biographical sketch, see The Oregonian, March 3, 1865..
Amity, Yamhill County. This name was the result of an amicable settlement of a local school dispute. Amity was the name of a school, first applied in 1849 by Ahio S. Watt, pioneer of 1848, who was the first teacher in a log building, that was constructed by two rival communities which were seeking school advantages. The post office was established in 1852, Jerome B. Walling, postmaster (The Oregonian, April 20, 1852). Elevation 161 feet.
Ana River, Lake County. Ana River is a short, spring-fed stream that flows into the north end of Summer Lake. W. H. Byars, who surveyed the lands bordering on the lake named the river for his small daughter, later Mrs. S. W. Thompson of Salem. Mr. Byars was a well-known pioneer resident of Oregon, and was surveyor general from 1890 to 1894.
Anchor, Douglas County. Despite repeated efforts the author has been unable to secure information concerning the origin of this name.
​Anderson Lake, Lake County. This lake is one of the Warner Lakes. It is said to have been named for Thomas A. Anderson, a nearby resident.
Anderson Spring, Crater Lake National Park, Klamath County. This spring is about a mile east of Kerr Notch in the southeast rim of Crater Lake and is one of the sources of Sand Creek and has an elevation of approximately 6800 feet. It was named for Frank M. Anderson by Captain O. C. Applegate in 1888.
Andrews, Harney County. This post office is said to have been called after a man named Pete Andrews, who settled in the Wildhorse Valley about 1890.
Ankeny Bottom, Marion County. This bottom has a general elevation of about 200 feet and is situated on the east bank of the Willamette River just north of the mouth of the Santiam River. It was named for Henry E. Ankeny, son of Captain A. P. Ankeny, who developed a farm there in the '70s. Henry E. Ankeny was born in West Virginia in 1844, came to Oregon about 1852 with his father, and died December 21, 1906. See Carey's History of Oregon, volume II, page 538.
Anlauf, Douglas County. This is a station on the main line of the Southern Pacific Company. It was named for a pioneer family of the vicinity. The post office was established May 1, 1901, with James A. Sterling first postmaster.
Anna Creek, Crater Lake National Park, Klamath County. This stream, together with Anna Spring, which is its principal source, was named for Miss Annie Gaines in 1865. She with Mrs. O. T. Brown were the first white women to descend to the waters of Crater Lake. She always spelled her name Annie, but the name of the spring and creek has been officially styled Anna by the United States Geographic Board.
Antelope, Wasco County. The Antelope Valley was probably named in 1862 by members of the party of ​Joseph H. Sherar, while packing supplies into the John Day mines. See Bancroft's History of Oregon, volume I, page 787. There were many antelope in central Oregon in pioneer days, hence the name. Antelope post office was established August 7, 1871, and Howard Maupin was first postmaster, the office having taken its name from the valley. During 1862 the Sherar party also named Muddy Creek, Cherry Creek, Burnt Ranch and laid the foundation for Bakeoven. Antelope has an elevation of 2631 feet.
Anthony Lakes, Baker and Union Counties. These lakes form a source of Anthony Fork, a tributary of North Powder River. The lakes were at one time known as North Powder Lakes, but the United States Geographic Board has officially decided on Anthony Lakes. The compiler has been unable to get the derivation of the name Anthony.
Antone, Wheeler County. Despite repeated efforts the author has been unable to secure information concerning the origin of this name.
Applegate Peak, Crater Lake National Park, Klamath County. This peak is on the south rim of Crater Lake and is just above Vidae Cliff. It has an elevation of 8135 feet and was named for Captain Oliver C. Applegate of Klamath Falls.
Applegate River, Jackson and Josephine Counties. Applegate River and its tributaries rise in the Siskiyou Mountains. It flows into Rogue River west of Grants Pass. The valley through which it flows is known as the Applegate district, and there is a post office called Applegate in Jackson County. Applegate is an honored name in Oregon history. Jesse, Lindsay and Charles Applegate came to Oregon from Missouri in 1843, and for many years were prominent in pioneer affairs. Jesse and Lindsay Applegate went into Southern Oregon on an exploring expedition in 1846, particulars of which may be found in Carey's History of Oregon, page 444, ​and it was from this and subsequent operations in that part of the state that led to the naming of the geographic features in question.
Jesse Applegate died April 22, 1888. He is considered one of the most typical of Oregon pioneers. His name is inscribed in the Vista House, near Portland. See Evans' History of Pacific Northwest, volume II, pages 195–96; Washington Quarterly, volume I, pages 217–33; Scott's History of the Oregon Country, volume II, page 233.
Arant Point, Crater Lake National Park, Klamath County. This point with an elevation of 6815 feet is about one mile south of Anna Spring. It was named for W. F. Arant of Klamath Falls, formerly superintendent of the park.
Arch Cape, Clatsop County. This cape is in the extreme southwest part of the county, and at the south end of Cannon Beach. It was named because of the natural arch in the rocks. Arch Cape post office was established June 27, 1912, with William C. Adams first postmaster. It was discontinued August 31, 1913.
Arleta, Multnomah County. Arleta is now a part of Portland. It was named for Arleta Potter, a daughter of T. B. Potter of the Potter-Chapin Realty Company, which put the addition on the market.
Arlington, Gilliam County. This town is on the south bank of the Columbia River at the mouth of Alkali Canyon, and in pioneer days the place was known as Alkali. The post office at Alkali which was then in Wasco County was established on November 7, 1881. Local residents did not consider the name Alkali as being suitable for a growing community, and at a town meeting Mr. N. A. Cornish suggested that the community be named Arlington. The U. S. Post Office Department changed the name to Arlington on December 31, 1885. There were a number of southerners living in the com​munity at the time and Mr. Cornish suggested the name of Arlington because it was the home of General Robert E. Lee.
Armin, Wallowa County. Despite repeated efforts the author has been unable to secure information concerning the origin of this name.
Ash, Douglas County. This post office was established July 24, 1894, and the first postmaster was Charles L. Parker. The post office department asked for a short name and he suggested Ash as there were a quantity of those trees in the vicinity.
Ashland, Jackson County. Ashland was named by Abel D. Hellman, whose birthplace was Ashland County, Ohio. Matthew P. Deady is authority for the statement that the town was named in honor of Henry Clay's birthplace, which was near Ashland, Virginia (Deady letter in The Oregonian, May 13, 1884). Both explanations are probably correct. Hellman was born in 1824. The town in Oregon was named in 1852 (Walling's History of Southern Oregon). The post office was first called Ashland Mills (letter of W. Beeson in The Oregonian, May 22, 1884, page 3). The flouring mill was built by Abel D. Hellman, John Hellman, Eber Emery, Jacob Emery and James Cardwell. Ashland Mills in 1855 is described by Thomas J. Dryer, ibid., June 23, T855; see also April 4, 1903. For notes on Ashland in 1855, ibid., February 2, 1885. The government bench mark in Lithia Park in Ashland has an elevation of 1950 feet.
Ashland Peak, Jackson County. This mountain lies about eight miles due south of Ashland and was named for that community. It was at one time known as Siskiyou Peak. It is frequently referred to in southern Oregon as Mt. Ashland, but the government uses the form Ashland Peak. The elevation of Ashland Peak is 7535 feet, according to the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey.
Aspen Lake, Klamath County. Aspen Lake is west ​of Upper Klamath Lake, and is fed by streams from the east side of Aspen Butte. These features and others so named in the state are distinguished by the presence of that beautiful tree, the quaking aspen, or populus tremuloides.
In his History of the American Fur Trade, General H. M. Chittenden says: "Another species of the genus populus was the populus tremuloides, the quaking asp, or the tremble of the French. The superstitious voyageurs thought this was the wood of which the Cross was made and that ever since the crucifixion its leaves have exhibited that constant tremulous appearance which has given rise to the name. The wood of the quaking asp was preferred by the trappers as a fuel for cooking, because it had little odor and did not taint the meat."
Astoria, Clatsop County. The name Astoria is full of historic significance, for about it is woven the story of the discovery, exploration and development of the great Oregon country. It was here that Captain Robert Gray discovered the mouth of the Columbia River and gave to the United States its claim to the title of the territory. It was here that Lewis and Clark passed the winter of 1805-6 and it was here that the first commercial settlement of Americans was made on the Pacific Coast in 1811. This settlement was the direct result of the organizing of the Pacific Fur Company in 1810 by John Jacob Astor of New York, and it was fitting that his name should be given to the company's initial enterprise.
John Jacob Astor was born in Germany in 1763, and after four years in London, came to New York when he was 20. By his energy and industry he grew to be a leading figure in the commercial life of the city, where he died on March 29, 1848, leaving a large fortune, part of which founded the Astor Library. The bibliography of John Jacob Astor's relations with Oregon is unusually large. Washington Irving's Astoria strays from the ​fields of historical accuracy, but gives a good general account of Astor's enterprise. The first chapters of Scott's History of the Oregon Country treat of the founding of Astoria quite fully, and include a large number of references invaluable to those interested in the matter.
The Astor party on the ship Tonquin arrived off the mouth of the Columbia River on March 22, 1811, and after two disastrous days of fruitless effort, succeeded in landing in the estuary. Three weeks later the party began the erection of a fort and bestowed upon it the name of the originator and chief owner of the enterprise (April 12).
Lewis and Clark hibernated on what is now known as Lewis and Clark River, a few miles southwest of the present city of Astoria. Their camp was called Fort Clatsop. The city of Astoria is situated on a peninsula between the Columbia River on the north and Youngs Bay on the south, and the high ridge in between is known as Coxcomb Hill. It has an extreme elevation of about 647 feet.
Athena, Umatilla County. This town is about half way between Walla Walla and Pendleton, and for many years was known as Centerville. The name caused confusion with Centerville in Washington County, and also with Centerville in Klickitat County, Washington. In 1889 the town authorities decided on a change and asked D. W. Jarvis, local school principal, to suggest a new name. Jarvis, being of a romantically classical turn of mind, suggested Athena, which was adopted. Athena was one of the most important goddesses of Greek mythology, and with Zeus and Apollo represented the embodiment of all divine power. She was the goddess of counsel, war, female arts and industries. In Italy she was known as Minerva. No satisfactory explanation is given of the origin of the Greek name Athena. See Encyclopædia Britannica. The post office of Centerville was established ​October 11, 1878, with Wm. T. Cook as first postmaster. The name was changed to Athena May 16, 1889.
Athey Canyon, Polk County. This canyon is on the west slope of Eola Hills about two miles northeast of McCoy. It was named for a well-known pioneer family of the north Willamette Valley.
Augur Creek, Lake County. This stream is northwest of Lakeview. The compiler has been unable to locate information as to when it was named, but is certain that it was called after Captain C. C . Augur, U. S. Army, who was a participant in early Indian wars in Oregon. The name was doubtless applied during the Snake War in 1864. C. C. Augur was born in 1821, and graduated from West Point. During the Civil War he became major-general of volunteers, and was a brigadiergeneral in the regular establishment. He died in 1898.
Aumsville, Marion County. This community is on the site of Henry L. Turner's pioneer farm, and Mr. Turner and his sons and son-in-law, Amos M. Davis, built a flour mill there, and for a time the place was called Hoggum, because there were so many pigs about. Before the mill was completed, Amos Davis died, on December 26, 1863. Mr. Turner was very fond of his son-in-law, who was generally called Aumus, and after Amos' death, he named the place Aumsville. Post office authorities state that the first post office was called Condit, and was established July 10, 1862, with Cyrinus Condit postmaster. The name of this office was changed to Aumsville March 11, 1868, with John W. Cusick postmaster. The compiler has been unable to ascertain if Condit post office was in the present location of Aumsville.
Aurora, Marion County. Aurora was the center of a German colony, and is now on the main line of the Southern Pacific Company and also on the Pacific Highway about 28 miles from Portland. The town was founded by Dr. William Keil, March 20, 1857, and was named after his daughter. Keil was born in Prussia in ​1811 and died in 1877. The colony was founded in 1855, coming from Bethel, Missouri, where Dr. Keil founded a colony in 1845. After his death, private property succeeded his community system. See Scott's History of the Oregon Country, volume II, page 324, which refers to several articles on the subject.
Austin, Grant County. This community was named for Mr. and Mrs. Minot Austin, early settlers, who operated a small store and hotel not far from the present site of the town. Austin has an elevation of 4082 feet.
Avery, Benton County. This is a station on the Southern Pacific Company line about two miles south of Corvallis. It was named for Joseph C. Avery, a pioneer of 1845. He was the first owner of the site of Corvallis, which was then known as Marysville, and he sold the first town lots in 1849. Mr. Avery was a prominent and progressive citizen engaged in farming and mercantile business and was appointed postal agent for Oregon and Washington in 1853. He was several times a member of the Oregon legislature. He was born in Pennsylvania in 1817 and died at Corvallis June 16, 1876. See under Corvallis.
Awbrey Heights, Deschutes County. Awbrey Heights are just west of Bend and form a butte with an elevation of 4234 feet, covered with scattered timber. These heights together with Awbrey Falls on the Deschutes River several miles north of Tumalo were named for Marshall Awbrey, an early settler in the Deschutes Valley.
Azalea, Douglas County. Douglas County is noted for its azaleas and this post office was named on account of their abundance in that community. There are two well-known members of the Ericaceae of this type in Oregon, the azalea occidentalis or western azalea, and azaleastrum albiflorum, or small white.
Bachelor Butte, Deschutes County. Bachelor Butte has an elevation of 9044 feet as determined by the U. S. ​Coast and Geodetic Survey, and is one of the imposing isolated peaks of the middle Cascade Range of Oregon. It is just southeast of the Three Sisters, and receives its name because it stands apart from them.
Bacona, Washington County. This community is in the extreme north part of the county. When the post office was established it was named for a family of early residents by the name of Bacon.
Bade, Umatilla County. This is a station on the Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Company line between Milton and Weston. It was named for William G. Bade, a nearby resident. For many years this station was called Bates, and it is said this was because a German section foreman misinterpreted Bade's name in transmitting it to the railroad company headquarters.
Badger Creek, Hood River and Wasco Counties. The badger, taxidea americana, is so plentiful throughout Oregon, especially that part east of the Cascade Range that it is not surprising that many geographic features were named for it. Badger holes are in evidence almost everywhere, and Badger Creeks are particularly plentiful. The creek mentioned at the head of this paragraph has its source in Badger Lake, in Hood River County, with an elevation of 4435 feet. A mile southeast is Badger Butte, with an elevation of 5992 feet, a well-known landmark.
Bakeoven, Wasco County. During pioneer gold excitement in Canyon City, an enterprising trader started from The Dalles with a pack train of flour. After crossing the Deschutes River Indians drove off his horses in the night and left him with his supplies. He constructed a rough clay and stone bakeoven and made bread which he sold to miners and prospectors going to the mines. The old oven was in existence for many years after the owner abandoned it. H. H. Bancroft, in his History of Oregon, volume I, page 787, states that the baker was a German and that the event occurred when Joseph H. ​Sherar took a party to the mines in 1862. The post office of Bakeoven was established December 1, 1875, with Mrs. Ellen Burgess first postmaster. It was discontinued October 30, 1913.
Baker, Baker County. Baker was originally known as Baker City and it was, of course, named for Baker County. The post office was first established on March 27, 1866, with William F. McCrary as postmaster. In 1911 the name of the post office was changed to Baker to conform to the new style adopted by the incorporated community. For complete information about the origin of the name see the information under Baker County and also an editorial in The Oregonian, November 13, 1925, page 14.
Auburn was originally the principal metropolis in Baker County and was situated about 6 miles westerly from the present site Baker. There is nothing left on modern maps to recall the location of the mining camp of Auburn, except the Auburn Ditch now used for irrigation purposes.
Baker County. Baker County was created September 22, 1862, by the state legislature (General Laws of 1862, page 112). It was made from the eastern part of Wasco County. It was named for Edward Dickinson Baker (1808-61) who was elected United States senator from Oregon in 1860. He was killed at Balls Bluff. His biography appears in The Oregonian January 15, 1875, by Tom Merry; May 31, 1908, by Clark E. Carr; January 19, 1896. He first came to Oregon in December, 1859, and, in the following February, moved his family to Oregon. For the narrative of his death, ibid., July 16, 1893, page 4; January 7, 1892; June 1, 1895, page 9; April 25, 1878, page 4; October 21, 1906, page 49; tribute to his strong oratorical power, ibid., April 5, 1899, page 3, by P. B. Johnson; reminiscences of Baker, by George H. Williams, ibid., July 29, 1906, page 41; Baker's speech in Union Square, New York, in April, 1861, ibid., May ​30, 1906, page 8; his oration over the body of Senator Broderick, ibid., October 14, 1883; his reply to Breckenridge, ibid., July 30, 1905, page 43; description of the grave of E. D. Baker at San Francisco, ibid., March 13, 1892; June 4, 1872, page 3. For biographical narrative, by William D. Fenton, see Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, volume IX, pages 1-23.
Complete details concerning the origin of Oregon counties may be obtained from Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, volume XI, No. 1, for March, 1910, which contains an address on the subject by Frederick V. Holman.
For a description of Baker County in 1880 see The Oregonian for December 28, 1880; in 1885, ibid., October 19, 1885, by Alfred Holman; in 1881, ibid., December 6, 1881, by George H. Atkinson.
Balch Creek, Multnomah County. Danford Balch settled near what is now Willamette Heights in Portland in 1850. Balch was hanged October 17, 1859, for killing his son-in-law, Mortimer Stump, on the Stark Street ferry. For history of the tragedy of the Balch family, see Scott's History of the Oregon Country, volume III, page 352. Balch Creek was named for this family, and at one time the creek furnished the city water supply.
Bald Mountain, Polk County. This is one of the higher peaks of the Coast Range, and is in the southern part of the county. It bears a descriptive name, and has an elevation of 3230 feet,, according to Special Publication 13 of the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey where it is listed as Monmouth Peak. It is not now known by that name. There is probably a Bald Mountain in every county in the state, and more than one in some. The ease with which this descriptive name was applied does not speak well for the geographic imagination or ingenuity of early settlers.
​Baldy Lake, Grant County. This is a small lake on the north slope of Ireland Mountain, so named because at one time Ireland Mountain was known as Bald Mountain.
Bancroft, Coos County. It is reported that the Post Office Department named this office, but the reason is not known. The post office was established July 28, 1891, with Burrel R. Banning first postmaster.
Bandon, Coos County. Bandon is a community on the south side of the mouth of Coquille River. It was named by George Bennett who settled not far from the present location of the community in 1873. Mr. Bennett was a native of Ireland and named the new city for Bandon, on Bandon River, County Cork, Ireland. He married Katherine Ann Scott Harrison, and three children were born to them, two of whom have been prominent citizens of Coos County.
Banks, Washington County. A. C. Wahl, postmaster at Banks, reported in September, 1925, that the name of Banks was submitted to the post office authorities about 1890 by Joe Schulmerich and Joed Hartley, but it is not known what suggested the name. At one time the offices of Bakersfield and Banks were consolidated with Greenville, with Greenville as the name, but in 1907 the office was moved to the former site of Banks, and as a result of a petition to the authorities, the old name of Banks was readopted.
Bare Island, Klamath County. This island is in upper Klamath Lake not far from Modoc Point. It was so named because it was bare of any considerable stand of timber. The Klamath Indian name of this island was Aushme. Those Indians had a legend that it was created by one of their deities who threw a game-stick in the lake.
Barklow Mountain, Coos and Curry Counties. This mountain with an elevation of 3559 feet was named for a well-known pioneer family of Coos County.
​Barlow, Clackamas County. Barlow is on the main line of the Southern Pacific Company in Clackamas County, and also on the Pacific Highway. It was named for William Barlow. He was a son of Samuel K. Barlow, who opened the Barlow Road. William Barlow's reminiscences are printed in the Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, volume XIII, page 240, where it is stated that he was born October 26, 1822, in Marion County, Indiana, and it was in that state that his father had married Susannah Lee. The Barlows came to Oregon in 1845, traveling over the Cascade Range by what was later known as the Barlow Road, and arrived in Oregon City Christmas night. He engaged in various enterprises, and among other things, started the first black walnut trees grown in Oregon in 1859. Samuel K. Barlow bought the donation land claim of Thomas McKay on September 17, 1850, and afterwards sold this place to his son William. The railroad was built through the place about 1870, and the station was named for William Barlow. Barlow has an elevation of 101 feet.
Barlow Road, Clackamas and Wasco Counties. The Barlow Road was named for Samuel Kimbrough Barlow, a pioneer of 1845, who developed the first made road in the state of Oregon. For a description of the difficulties the Barlows had getting over the Cascade Range on what was later the Barlow Road, see Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, volume XIII, page 240. For a history of the road itself, see ibid., page 287. Barlow started the work when he came over with the emigration, and finished it the following year. From the summit of the Cascade Range westward to Sandy the Mt. Hood Loop Highway is in substantially the same location as the Barlow Road, though of course modern engineering has solved some of Samuel K. Barlow's greatest difficulties. East of the summit the Barlow Road has been in disuse for many years for a considerable distance down the eastern slope, especially where it traversed the canyon of White River. ​The Oak Grove Road from Salmon River Meadows to Wapinitia was not a part of the original Barlow Road, though frequently spoken of as such. On July 27, 1925, a memorial tablet was dedicated to Samuel Kimbrough Barlow at a point on the Mt. Hood Loop Highway just east of Government Camp. This tablet, which is on a large boulder bears the following inscription: "Samuel Kimbrough Barlow, Oregon Pioneer from Kentucky, Built the First Wagon Road over the Cascade Mountains, Passing this Spot, 1845-1846 . The Building of Railroads Since has been of Less Importance to the Community that the Opening of this Road which Enabled the Settlers to bring their Wagons and Teams Directly into the Willamette Valley. Erected by the Sons and Daughters of Oregon Pioneers 1923." The tablet was unveiled in 1923 but could not be put in place then owing to difficulties over the title to the site. On the same boulder is another tablet with the following words: "Susannah Lee Barlow, wife of S. K. Barlow. A real daughter of the American Revolution and the real Madonna of the Barlow Trail. Arrived in Oregon City December 25, 1845. Placed by Susannah Lee Barlow and Multnomah Chapters, D. A. R., 1923."
Samuel K. Barlow was born in Nicholas County, Kentucky, on January 24, 1792. He died at Canemah, Oregon, July 14, 1867, and is buried beside his wife at Barlow, Oregon.
Barnes Butte, Crook County. Barnes Butte is a spur or ridge extending from the foot hills just northeast of Prineville. It was named for Elisha Barnes, a pioneer resident of Prineville.
Barnes Road, Multnomah County. This road leads westerly from the head of Washington Street, in Portland. It was named for William Barnes, who came to Oregon in 1861, and took up land west of Portland in Washington County. He died April 4, 1909. An electric railway was opened up Barnes Road in 1893, but service ​was abandoned in the fall of that year. Traces of the old line are still visible. Barnes Heights in Portland gets its name from the same source.
Barrett, Hood River County. Dr. P. G. Barrett settled in the Hood River Valley before 1875, and for many years was the only physician in the valley, and popular throughout the entire territory. He lived about three-quarters of a mile south of the site of Barrett School, and at one time all the west side of the Hood River Valley was known as the Barrett District. He died about 1889. Barrett Spur on the north side of Mt. Hood was also named for Dr. Barrett.
Barrett, Umatilla County. This is a station on the Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Company line just west of Milton. C. A. Barrett, a pioneer storck raiser of the county, owned land at this point and the station was named for him. For Mr. Barrett's reminiscences of pioneer and farming conditions in that section of Oregon, see Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, volume XVI, page 343.
Barstow, Multnomah County. This station on the Oregon Electric Railway, just east of Garden Home, was named for W. S. Barstow, of New York City, a prominent engineer and public utility operator, who was interested in the construction of the railway.
Bartlett, Wallowa County. This place was named for Theron A. Bartlett, who owned the land on which the post office was located. The office was established on May 14, 1904, and Mr. Bartlett was the first postmaster.
Barton, Clackamas County. This place was named for Barton, Wisconsin, by an old resident, E. H. Burghardt, who had formerly lived there. He settled near the mouth of Deep Creek and started a small flour mill and store, and later had the post office established with the name of his old home in the east. His daughter, Mrs. Anna Burghardt Davis, was living at Tangent, Oregon, in 1925. Her father was born in 1851 and died in 1912. ​He came to Oregon about 1876. Barton post office was established May 16, 1896, with Mr. Burghardt first postmaster.
Bar View, Tillamook County. This community was named in 1884 by L. C . Smith. It is just north of the bar at the entrance to Tillamook Bay and affords a fine view of the bay, bar and ocean.
Bashaw Creek, Marion County. This stream drains Ankeny Bottom in the extreme southwest part of the county and flows into the Willamette River. It was named for Joseph Bashaw who was born in France in 1820 and settled on the land October 1, 1851. The Land Office plat of this township indicates the spelling Bashan, but this is an error as the original application for the donation land claim is made out Bashaw.
Baskett Slough, Polk County. This slough originates in the intermittent Boyle Lakes about two miles northwest of Rickreall. It flows eastward several miles and joins Mud Slough. It was named for George J. Baskett who was born in Kentucky in 1817 and who settled on a donation land claim near this slough in October, 1850. Baskett spelled his name with two "t's" as indicated, and this style of name for this geographic feature has been officially adopted by the U. S. Geographic Board.
Bates, Grant County. This post office is in the eastern part of the county near Austin. It was named for Paul C. Bates, a well-known insurance man of Portland. Mr. Bates was instrumental in negotiating the purchase of timber lands by the Oregon Lumber Company,and when that company began operations, it suggested the name of Bates for the post office. For biography of P. C. Bates, see Carey's History of Oregon, volume III, page 20.
Battle Axe, Marion County. This mountain is in the eastern end of the county on the western slopes of the Cascade Range, and has an elevation of 5547 feet. ​There are two stories as to how it received its name. One is to the effect that it is sharp and has the appearance of a battle axe, while the other is that it was named by an old woodsman of the North Santiam Valley for a brand of chewing tobacco which was popular in the '90s, and which he used liberally while exploring in the neighborhood of the mountain.
Battle Creek, Marion County. This stream heads on the east slopes of Prospect Hill about eight miles south of Salem and flows easterly to Mill Creek near Turner. Its name commemorates one of the few conflicts between settlers and Indians in the Willamette Valley. It was at a point near this stream that a party of Oregon Rangers engaged in a minor encounter with a band of eastern Oregon Indians in June, 1846, as a result of cattle depredations. Only one Indian was killed in the excitement, and peace was finally restored by gifts.
Battle Rock, Curry County. This historic landmark is at the shore line of Port Orford and is a long, massive block of rock standing well above the water. In June, 1851, Captain William Tichenor, who was at that time in command of the steamer Sea Gull operating between the Columbia River and San Francisco, endeavored to establish a commercial enterprise at Port Orford. He engaged J. M . Kirkpatrick and a number of others to go to Port Orford where the party was landed and provisioned on what is now kriown as Battle Rock. The party was besieged by Indians and, according to statements made by Kirkpatrick, an actual battle was fought with them June 10, 1851, at which time seventeen Indians were killed, mostly by fire from a small cannon. Kirkpatrick and his party finally succeeded in stealing away from the rock after several days' siege and made their way north along the coast until they reached settlements of the whites. When Captain Tichenor's representative returned by sea he found the contingent gone and assumed it had been murdered by the Indians. For a full ​account of this battle see Pioneer History of Coos and Curry Counties, chapter III, which consists of a statement by Captain J. M . Kirkpatrick.
Bayocean, Tillamook County. This place is on the long neck of land lying between Tillamook Bay and Pacific Ocean. It was named in 1907 by the Potter-Chapin Realty Company of Portland, which established it as a summer resort, and named it because of its proximity to the two features mentioned.
Bays. The important bays and harbors of the Pacific Ocean in Oregon, from north to south, are:
| Columbia River Nehalem Bay Tillamook Bay Netarts Bay Nestucca Bay Siletz Bay Yaquina Bay | Alsea Bay Siuslaw Inlet Umpqua River Coos Bay Port Orford Chetco Cove |
It is an interesting fact that while most of the capes and headlands of Oregon were discovered and named before Lewis and Clark arrived, few of the harbors had been seen by white men up to that time.
It is possible that in 1603 Martin de Aguilar discovered the mouth of Coos Bay and mistook it for a river. This matter is discussed under the name Cape Blanco in this series of notes. On August 17, 1775, Captain Bruno Heceta anchored off the mouth of the Columbia River, the entrance to which he gave the name of Assumption Bay. Although the currents lead him to believe he was near a river, he did not make the entrance, and thus lost the honor of discovering the Columbia. He named the north cape of the entrance Cape San Roque and the south Cape Frondoso, now Point Adams.
John Meares was the next explorer to make any important mention of Oregon bays and harbors. For details of Meares' voyage off the Oregon coast see the in​formation under Cape Meares. Meares passed the mouth of the Columbia on July 6, 1788, and while he recognized the fact that he was off a bay, he failed to identify the place as the mouth of a river. By nightfall of the same day he discovered and named Quicksand Bay, and while he says that the bay had a sand bar closing its mouth, yet his other observations indicate without much doubt that he had found Tillamook Bay.
During the same year Captain John Kendrick and Captain Robert Gray brought the first American fur trading enterprise to the north Pacific Coast on the Columbia Rediviva and the Lady Washington. Robert Haswell, second mate of the Lady Washington, kept a diary, but notwithstanding the latitudes and landmarks mentioned along the Oregon coast, it is impossible to trace the course of the vessel with any degree of accuracy. Bancroft, in his History of the Northwest Coast, volume I, page 188, indicates some of the difficulties in interpreting the writing. It is possible that Alsea Bay or Yaquina Bay was seen by the ship. On August 12, 1788, the Lady Washington anchored off Tillamook Bay. On August 14 the ship crossed the bar, and at first the Americans had no trouble with the natives but on August 16, the Indians made a murderous assault and killed a member of the crew. Two days later the ship got away, and in his diary Haswell makes the following observation: "Murderers Harbour, for so it was named, is I suppose the entrance of the river of the West it is by no meens a safe place for aney but a very small vessell to enter the shoal at its entrance being so aucwardly situated the passage so narrow and the tide so strong it is scarce posable to avoid the dangers." Data on other bays in Oregon will be found under the respective items.
Bay View, Lincoln County. Bay View is on the northeast part of Alsea Bay. The post office was established about 1901, and the name was chosen by Daniel M. Oakland, the first postmaster, because of the view ​of Alsea Bay that could be had from where the office then stood.
Beatty, Klamath County. Annie E. Taylor, postmistress at Beatty, reports in 1925 that this community was named for Rev. J. L. Beatty, a missionary who lived in that section of the Klamath Indian Reservation. Beatty is on Sprague River and has an elevation of 4345 feet. It is on the state highway between Klamath Falls and Lakeview.
Beatys Butte, Harney County. This prominent butte is in the southwest part of the county, and Beatys Springs are nearby. These features were named during Colonel C. S. Drew's Owyhee Reconnoissance with the 1st Oregon Cavalry in 1864, and serve to perpetuate the memory of Sergeant A. M. Beaty, who is especially mentioned in Drew's report for the zealous performance of his "duties. The U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey gives the elevation of this butte as 7916 feet.
Beaver Creek, Clackamas County. The name of Beaver Creek community was first used for a school district in the early 50's, and came from the name of the stream that flows into the Willamette River near New Era. Beaver Creek community is south of Oregon City and has an elevation of 528 feet. The name of the post office is Beavercreek.
There are streams called Beaver creek in almost every county in the state. The beaver were very numerous through early days in Oregon, a fact that is attested by an examination of the journals of the various fur hunters. For instance, on Sunday, April 22, 1827, Peter Skene Ogden mentioned in his diary that McKay had taken 735 beaver and otter skins on two small streams discharging into Clammittee (Klamath) River in about three weeks. No wonder we have so many Beaver creeks, and so few beaver.
Beaverton, Washington County. Beaverton received its name because of the existence nearby of a large body ​of fine beaverdam land. Soil of this character was sought for by pioneer settlers because of its productivity. G . W. Tefft advises the writer in 1925 that the town was laid out in 1869 by George Betts, Joshua Welch, Charles Angel, W. P . Watson and others. Beaverton has an elevation of 188 feet.
Beckley, Harney County. Beckley is in Catlow Valley, and in 1911 Charles Beckley started a general store where the post office is now located. The community was named for Mr. Beckley.
Beetles Rest Spring, Klamath County. This is a well-known spring at Klamath Agency. The stream formed by this spring is quite short. The Klamath Indian name for the stream was Tgulutcham Kshuteleh. The first part of the name is descriptive of a small beetle with a green or purple shell. The second part of the name indicates to "live underneath or live below," indicating that the beetles lived in this particular locality. The stream flows into Crooked Creek.
Bend, Deschutes County. This city derived its name from Farewell Bend, a point on the Deschutes River, which received its descriptive name because it was at this place travelers over the pioneer stage road had their last view of the river. Elevation 3629 feet.
Bend Glacier, Deschutes County. This glacier lies on the north slope of Broken Top. It was named in 1924 by Professor Edwin T. Hodge of the University of Oregon in honor of the city of Bend.
Bendire Creek, Malheur County. Bendire Creek and Bendire Mountain are in the northern end of the county and were named for Captain and Brevet Major Charles Bendire, U. S . A . Major Bendire was a noted ornithologist and pursued the study of bird life in many parts of the Pacific northwest. After retirement from the army he was honorary curator of the department of Oology of the National Museum at Washington. He was the author of Life Histories of North American Birds, pub​lished in special bulletins of the Smithsonian Institution in 1892 and 1895.
Bennett Creek, Lane County. This creek is a tributary from the west to Coast Fork Willamette River. It originates in the hills north of Cottage Grove and flows into the Coast Fork just north of McParland Butte. It is named for Scott Bennett, a land owner near its banks.
Bennett Pass, Hood River County. This pass is the highest point on the Mount Hood Loop Highway, and has an elevation of 4675 feet. It lies about six miles southeast of Mount Hood on the ridge dividing the drainage of Hood River from White River. It is not on the main summit of the Cascade Range. The pass was named for Samuel Bennett, a Wasco County stockman.
Benton County. Benton County, which is located in the westerly part of the Willamette Valley, was created December 23, 1847, by the provisional legislature (General and Special Laws of 1843-9, page 50). It was named in honor of Thomas Hart Benton, who was born in North Carolina on March 14, 1782, and died in Washington, D. C., April 10, 1858. For 30 years he was a member of the United States senate from Missouri, and one of the great events of his active life was his espousal, with his colleague, Senator Lewis F. Linn, of the extension of the control of the United States into the Oregon county. For an excellent short biography of Senator Benton, see the Encyclopaedia Britannica. See also Scott's History of the Oregon Country. Benton County has an area according to the U. S. Bureau of the Census of 688 square miles, and an excellent map of the county is published in the Benton County Soil Survey by the U. S. Bureau of Soils of the Department of Agriculture.
Berry Creek, Marion County. This stream was named for Press Berry, an early resident in the North Santiam Valley. Berry Creek flows into North Santiam River. ​Bertha, Multnomah County. This is a station on the Southern Pacific just south of Portland where the railroad enters the Tualatin Valley. It was named for Mrs. Bertha Koehler of Portland, wife of Richard Koehler, for many years manager of the Southern Pacific Lines in Oregon and their predecessors. The post office name is Hillsdale, but the railroad company never adopted that name for the station because of the possible confusion with Hillsboro, on the same line.
Big Butte Creek, Jackson County. Mt. McLoughlin was known by the early settlers in the Rogue River Valley as Snowy Butte. Big Butte Creek had its rise near Snowy Butte and was so named on that account. It flows into Rogue River. A smaller stream rising in the same vicinity was christened Little Butte Creek.
Big Canyon Creek, Wallowa County. This stream flows into Wallowa River just east of Minam. It has been shown under various names on older maps, including Bear Creek, Deep Canyon Creek, Little Minam Creek and Sheep Creek. The United States Geographic Board has officially named it Big Canyon Creek.
Big Eddy, Wasco County. Big Eddy is at the western end of the obstructions in the Columbia River at The Dalles. It was at this point that travelers and freight began the portage around these obstructions. As far as the writer can determine the name was not used in the days of exploration but probably came into use at the time of gold discoveries in eastern Oregon just after 1860.
Biggs, Sherman County. This is the junction of the main line of Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Company and the branches to Shaniko and Bend. It was named for W. H. Biggs, a nearby land owner. It is on the south bank of the Columbia River and has an elevation of 172 feet.
Bissell, Clackamas County. It is reported by old residents that this town was named for W. S. Bissell ​who was postmaster general of the United States from 1893 to 1895. Wilson Shannon Bissell was born in New London, New York, in 1847, and was appointed to the cabinet was a practicing lawyer at Buffalo, where he was a partner of Grover Cleveland. During his incumbency as postmaster general a number of improvements were made in the postal service, including a cut in transcontinental mail time, and the turning over to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing the work of printing postage stamps, previously done by private agencies. In 1902 he was made chancellor of the University of Buffalo, and died in 1903.
Black Butte, Deschutes and Jefferson Counties. This imposing butte is one of the most important landmarks in the Deschutes Valley, not only on account of its characteristic dark color, but also on account of its symmetry. It stands well apart from the peaks of the Cascade Range, and has an elevation of about 7000 feet, with a Forest Service lookout at the summit, which is in Jefferson County. From its north base flows the Metolius River, full bodied from giant springs. It is not known who named Black Butte, but the appelation is fitting. It had this name as early as 1855, and an interesting picture of it shown in Pacific Railroad Reports, volume VI, page 90.
Black Hills, Klamath County. These hills occupy a number of square miles in the southeastern part of the Klamath Indian Reservation and were named on account of their characteristic color. They have a maximum elevation of about 6300 feet.
Black Rock, Polk County. Black Rock is on the western end of a branch line of the Southern Pacific Company extending southwesterly from Dallas. It is on the Little Luckiamute River. It is generally believed this town was named because of a ledge of black shale rock which is exposed nearby.
​Blaine, Tillamook County. Blaine is on the Nestucca River. It was named by the first postmaster, William Smith, for James G. Blaine (1830-1893), at one time republican candidate for the presidency of the United States. Mr. Smith was appointed postmaster of Blaine in 1892 by John Wanamaker.
Blalock, Gilliam County. Blalock was named for Dr. Nelson G. Blalock, a pioneer citizen of Walla Walla and a veteran of the Civil War. He had ambitions of developing an extensive horticultural establishment along the Columbia River in the neighborhood of Blalock Island. He died in Walla Walla March 14, 1913, aged 77 years. Blalock has an elevation of 216 feet.
Blitzen, Harney County. This post office was named for the Donner Und Blitzen River which flows nearby. The river was named during the Snake War of 1864, when troops under the command of Colonel George B. Currey crossed it during a thunder storm, and gave to it the German name for thunder and lightning.
Blodgett, Benton County. Said to have been named for a pioneer settler, William Blodgett. The post office was established under the name of Emrick on April 3, 1888, with James A. Wood first postmaster. The name was changed to Blodgett on May 8 of the same year.
Bloucher, Hood River County. This is a station on the Mt. Hood Railroad west of Odell. It was named for H. E. Bloucher, a local resident.
Blow, Wasco County. This small lake is near the summit of the Cascade Range just northeast of Olallie Butte. It was so named because it occupies a "blow hole" or small crater-like depression.
Blowout Lakes, Linn County. These lakes are on Blowout Creek, south of Detroit. They were so named because of a great landslide nearby resembling a blowout of the mountain side.
​Bluebucket Creek, Grant and Harney Counties. This stream rises just west of Antelope Mountain in the southeastern part of Grant County, and after flowing through Antelope Swale in Harney County, joins a tributary of Malheur River. The name has been applied in recent years to preserve an interesting Oregon romance.
The mystery of the location of the real Bluebucket Creek will probably never be solved. Members of the Meek party of 1845 picked up yellow pebbles and hung them under a wagon by means of a blue bucket. The bucket was either lost or abandoned later, and it was not until several years had elapsed that the emigrants realized that they had probably found gold. An interesting discussion of the episode and possible locations of Bluebucket Creek may be found in Scott's History of the Oregon Country, volume III, page 336. It is generally thought that the discovery must have been on a tributary of either the John Day or of Malheur River, though suggestions that the locality was near Steens Mountain and also Tygh Valley have also been advanced. Columns have been written on the subject. As far as the writer knows there is little or nothing to connect the name of the stream in Harney County with the gold discovery, but it is used to preserve the tradition, and may not be far from the true locality.
Blue Mountain, Umatilla County. This is a station on the line of the Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Company southwest of Milton. It is located on Dry Creek just north of the horseshoe curve made by the railroad in getting from Weston down into the Walla Walla Valley. When the railroad was being extended south from Walla Walla it was for some time dead ended at Blue Mountain, and as the station was the last one on the way into the Blue Mountains, it was named for those features, although no one seems to know just why the singular form was used.
​Blue Mountains. The Blue Mountains constitute one of the largest uplifts in the state and the main range together with its spurs and offshoots, extends into several counties. The backbone of the Blue Mountains begins in Grant County and runs northerly through Baker, Union, Umatilla and Wallowa Counties in Oregon and into Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield and Asotin Counties in Washington.
The Blue Mountains are separated from the Wallowa Mountains in northeastern Oregon by Powder River and Grande Ronde River. The highest point in the Blue Mountains is Rock Creek Butte, a peak on Elkhorn Ridge a few miles west of Baker. Rock Creek Butte has an elevation of 9097 feet.
One of the first references to these mountains is by Gabriel Franchere, one of the Astorians. On arriving at the Walla Walla River, he wrote: "A range of mountains was visible to the S. E., about fifty or sixty miles off." He does not give the mountains a name. On July 9, 1811, David Thompson of the North West Company of Montreal, refers to them as Shawpatin Mountains, but in his entry for August 8, 1911, he says: "Beginning of course to see the Blue Mountains, between the Shawpatin and the Snake Indians." In a footnote, T. C. Elliott, editor of the Thompson Journal, says: "Apparently the first record of this name Blue as applied to these mountains." (Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, volume XV, pages 57 and 121). Alexander Ross, J. K. Townsend, David Douglas, Peter Skene Ogden, John Work and other early travelers continued the use of the name, Blue Mountains. One of the first references is by Rev. Gustavus Hines (Exploring Expedition to Oregon, published 1851, page 323): "As you approach the Blue Mountains on the south, particularly on the Umatilla and Wall Walla Rivers, the hills disappear, and you find yourself passing over a beautifuland level country, about twenty-five or thirty miles broad, on the farther borders ​of which rise with indescribable beauty and grandeur, that range which, from its azure-like appearance, has been called the 'Blue Mountains.'"
Bly, Klamath County. Bly was a word of the Klamath Indians meaning "up" or "high." According to Captain O. C. Applegate of Klamath Falls, it meant the old village Up Sprague River from Yainax. White people appropriated the name and applied it to a town east of the Klamath Indian Reservation. A. S. Gatschet in his Dictionary of the Klamath Language (U. S. Geological Survey, Washington, D. C, 1890) gave the word as p'lai, and stated that it meant among other things the Sprague River Valley and sometimes simply the Sprague River as distinguished from the lower country along the Williamson River. P'laikni were people living high up, or along the upper reaches of Sprague River. P'laikni was also used to mean heavenly, or the Christian God. Bly has an elevation of 4356 feet.
Boardman, Morrow County. Boardman is a station on the line of the Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Company not far from the Columbia River. It was named for Sam Boardman, a well-known resident of that part of Oregon. Boardman has an elevation of 250 feet.
Bohemia Mountain, Lane County. This mountain is one of the summits of the Calapooya Mountains, a spur of the Cascade Range, and is in what is generally referred to as the Bohemia mining district. It was named for a wandering mountaineer and prospector, "Bohemia" Johnson, who was supposed to have been born in Bohemia.
Bolt, Jackson County. Bolt is on the south side of Rogue River about six miles east of the west boundary of Jackson County, at the point where the Pacific Highway crosses Foots Creek. This place together with Bolt Mountain on the Applegate Riyer about seven miles southwest of Grants Pass was named for John Bolt, a member of the firm of Kubli and Bolt, pioneer packers and merchants of southern Oregon.
​Bonanza, Klamath County. Bonanza is a Spanish word meaning prosperity. This place is said to have been named because of the presence of a large number of fine springs in the vicinity. Good water is always a source of prosperity in a country that requires irrigation.
Bonita, Washington County. This is a station on the Oregon Electric Railway a short distance south of Tigard. It was named by a local resident, Geo. W . Cassaday, who was of a romantic turn of mind and selected the Spanish word for pretty or graceful.
Bonneville, Multnomah County. This is an historic spot in Oregon, and for many decades it has been a popular picnic grounds for people living along the Columbia River between Portland and The Dalles. The railroad company maintained an "eating house" at Bonneville, where tired travelers paid a modest sum for all they could eat. The station was named for Captain (later brigadier general) Benjamin Eulalie de Bonneville, the hero of Washington Irving's The Adventures of Captain Bonneville. He was born in France in 1795, graduated from West Point and fought with gallantry through the Mexican War. He explored the west from 1832-5, and visited many parts of Oregon and seems to have been the first white man to go into the Wallowa country. He died in 1878. For details of his life and travels see Scott's History of the Oregon Country, volume I, pages 170 and 297.
In 1925 the U. S. Geographic Board, at the suggestion of J. Neilson Barry of Portland, applied the name Mt. Bonneville to a conspicuous peak about three miles south of Wallowa Lake, previously known as Middle Mountain.
Bonney Butte, Hood River County. This butte is in the extreme southwest part of the country, and has an elevation of 5593 feet. Just east of it is Bonney Meadow. These two features were named for a Wasco County stockman, Augustus A. Bonney. ​Boones Ferry, Clackamas County. Alphonso Boone was a great-grandson of Daniel Boone, and came to Oregon in 1846. He operated a ferry across the WiDamette River just east of the present site of the Oregon Electric Railway bridge at Wilsonville, and the road leading south to this ferry from Portland was and still is, known as the Boones Ferry Road. Chloe Donnelly Boone, daughter of Alphonso Boone, married George L. Curry, one time governor of Oregon, for whom Curry County was named.
Boonesville Channel, Benton County. This is a branch of the Willamette River flowing on the west side of John Smith Island and Kiger Island, a few miles south of CorvalKs. Early maps of the Willamette Valley show the community of Booneville near this point and it is presumed that the channel was named for this community, but the writer has been unable to account for the difference in spelling.
Booth Hill, Hood River. Named for George Booth, an early settler in the Hood River Valley, who is said to have set out the first commercial orchard in the valley, and who sent 20 boxes of Newtons to the Buffalo fair in 1901 and he received a gold medal and sold the apples for $7 a box. It is reported that Booth settled near the foot of the hill in 1885. For many years travelers hesitated to attempt the muddy road up Booth Hill in the winter, but the Mt. Hood Loop Highway has solved the difficulty with some change in location from the old road. The name Booth Hill is now applied to the butte or hill that separates Hood River valley from the Parkdale district.
Boring, Clackamas County. The town of Boring was named after W. H. Boring, an old resident of the neighborhood. The district was known to old settlers as the Boring neighborhood, and in 1903 a town site was platted and called Boring Junction. The Post Office Department and the predecessors of the Portland Electric Power Company adopted Boring as the official name of the com​munity. Boring is on the Estacada line of the Portland Electric Power Company and has an elevation of 502 feet.
Boulder Creek, Marion County. Boulder Creek flows into the North Santiam River east of Detroit. Boulder Creek was named in 1874 by T. W. Davenport of the Marion County road surveying party. See Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, volume IV, page 248.
Bourne, Baker County. Bourne was named for Jonathan Bourne, Jr., of Portland, who was at one time interested in eastern Oregon mines. He was United States senator from Oregon from 1907 to 1913. He was born in New Bedford, Mass., February 23, 1855, and graduated from Harvard in 1877. He came to Portland in the following year and in 1880 was admitted to the Oregon bar.
Boyd, Wasco County. This name is reported as being derived from a man named Boyd who settled in the vicinity about 1883 and operated a small flour mill. When the post office was established March 6, 1884, G. H . Barnett, a local merchant, suggested the name of Boyd as being both short and appropriate. John E. Barnett was the first postmaster.
Boyle Lakes, Polk County. These are intermittent ponds about two miles northwest of Rickreall, and they are generally dry in summer. They were named for Dr. James W. Boyle, a pioneer of Oregon, who was born in Virginia in 1815, and came to this state in 1845. Dr. Boyle settled on the land near these lakes in 1850. He married Josephine P. Ford.
Bradford Island, Multnomah County. This island in the Columbia River is easily seen from the railroad or highway just east of Bonneville. It was named for Daniel F. and Putnam Bradford, brothers, who were pioneer steamboat operators on the Columbia River. Among other things they rebuilt the portage road at the Cascades in 1856. Later another portage road was built ​on the south side of the river, and eventually both were absorbed by the Oregon Steam Navigation Company.
Breitenbush River, Marion County. Breitenbush River was named for John Breitenbush, a pioneer hunter of the North Santiam River region. The name was applied in the fall of 1873 by John Minto's official exploring party. See Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, volume IV, page 248.
Bridge, Coos County. Bridge is a post office on Middle Fork Coquille River. Many years ago there was a post office in the vicinity by the name of Angora. The Post Office Department declined to reestablish the old name and as a result the post office was named because of a nearby bridge across the stream. The present office was established July 6, 1894, and Thomas E. Manly was first postmaster.
Bridge Creek, Wheeler County. This stream heads in the mountains in the southern part of the county, and flows into John Day River. One branch flows through Mitchell. H. H. Bancroft in his History of Oregon, volume 1, page 787, states that it was named because Shoeman and Wadley, California prospectors, built a small bridge over it of juniper logs, while en route to the John Day mines. This was about 1862.
Brighton, Tillamook County. This post office and railroad station are adjacent to the entrance of Nehalem Bay, in the northwest part of the county. The town was platted about 1910 under the name of Brighton Beach although it is not directly on the ocean. This place, together with many others in the United States, was named for Brighton, the fashionable seashore resort on the south coast of England.
Brogan, Malheur County. This town was started by D. M. Brogan and was given his name in 1910. It is in the northern part of the county at the north end of the Oregon Short Line Railroad Company's branch from Vale.
​Broken Top, Deschutes County. Although badly shattered this mountain is one of the important peaks in the Cascade Range. It is southeast of the South Sister and has an elevation of 9152 feet. From the aspect of its jagged summit it is not difficult to see why it was named. On its northern slope is Bend Glacier, on its south slope is Crook Glacier.
Brookings, Curry County. This post office was named for Robert S. Brookings, of St. Louis, Missouri, in 1912. He was the largest stockholder in a lumbering enterprise that started the town.
BROOKS, Marion County. This is a station on the main line of the Southern Pacific Company nine miles north of Salem, elevation 180 feet. It was named for Linus Brooks, who was born in Ohio in 1805, and came to Oregon from Illinois in 1850 and settled near the present site of the community.
Brothers, Deschutes County. This is a post office on the stage road between Bend and Burns, in the southeast part of the county. It is said to have been named Brothers in contradistinction to Sisters, a well-known community northwest of Bend, which was named for the Three Sisters mountains.
Brownsboro, Jackson County. This place was named in 1853 for Henry R. Brown, on whose land the site of the community was located.
Brownsmead, Clatsop County. This community has developed on the bank of the Columbia River as the result of dyking and reclamation work, carried on by W. G. Brown, a well-known engineer of Portland. His name coupled with the Anglo-Saxon word for meadow formed the name of the community. It was formerly known as Brody.
Brownsville, Linn County. Brownsville is on the Calapooya River near the foothills of the Cascade Range, and has an elevation of 338 feet. It was laid out in 1853, ​and named by James Blakely in honor of Hugh L. Brown, who started the first store there. Both these men were pioneers of 1846. Blakely built the first house there in the fall of 1846. For biography and portrait of Blakely, see The Oregonian, April 17, 1901, page 10. For description of Brownsville in 1889, ibid., January 18, 1890. For description in 1894, ibid., January 1, 1895, page 11.
Buell, Polk County. Buell is in the northern part of the county, and was named for Elias Buell, who started a mill there and a small store in pioneer days.
Buena Vista, Polk County. Spanish for "beautiful view" or "good view." It was the name of a famous battle of the Mexican War, and was doubtless applied to the Oregon community for patriotic reasons. Elevation 240 feet.
Bullards, Coos County. This town is near the mouth of Coquille River and was named for Robert W. Bullard, who was born in Iowa November 26, 1857, and died July 11, 1925. In 1882 he established a general merchandise store at what is now Bullards, and also a ferry across the river. The post office was named for him. He came to Coos County in 1877. He married Malinda A. Hamblock.
Bull Mountain, Washington County. This mountain is situated about three miles southwest of Tigard and has an elevation of 711 feet. G. W. Tefft of Beaverton advises the writer that it was named after a band of wild cattle that ranged on the hill in pioneer days. These cattle were gradually killed off with the exception of one bull and thus the descriptive name was attached to the hill in question.
Bull Run River, Clackamas and Multnomah Counties. George H. Himes, curator of the Oregon Historical Society, says that the name of Portland's water supply, Bull Run, may have started from the presence of wild cattle on that river in the pioneer period (1849-55). According to Charles B. Talbot, who arrived in Oregon in 1849, cattle escaped from the immigrants in that vicinity ​and ran wild a number of years. The place was called by the settlers Bull Run. The Barlow Road across the mountains was opened in 1845-46 . Talbot was a civil engineer. His father's (John B. Talbot) land claim included Council Crest of Portland. Many cattle escaped from the immigrants when driven across the Cascade Range on the Indian trail, north of Mount Hood, in 1841-45, prior to the opening of the Barlow Road, and also afterwards. In The Oregonian of December 6, 1851, Robert Alexander advertised having found a number of stray cattle near the summit of Cascade Range. Charles B. Talbot died at Portland April 5, 1874. He was born in Massachusetts in 1798. For further history of the name Bull Run, ibid., March 29, April 5, 1897, page 8; July 30, 1901, page 12. For description of the river in 1885, ibid., October 25, 1885.
Bunchgrass Creek, Wasco County. This stream is in the extreme northwest part of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation, and flows into Warm Springs River. There are a number of geographic features in Oregon named for the bunchgrass, a valuable natural forage of the eastern part of Oregon. Charles V. Piper lists two varieties; festuca ovina ingrata, the blue bunchgrass of the prairies, which is densly tufted and agropyron spicatum, the wheat bunchgrass which is taller and grows generally on dry hills.
Burghardts Mill, Clackamas County. This little settlement is about a mile west of Barton and is near Clackamas River. It was named for Ernest H. Burghardt, one of the early settlers in that community. It was he who secured the establishment of the Barton post office. The mill is occasionally referred to as Burkhards Mill but that form is incorrect. For additional information see under Barton.
Burns, county seat of Harney County. This community was named for Robert Burns by George Mc​Gowan, a pioneer resident who was a great admirer of the Scottish poet. Elevation 4816 feet.
Burnt Ranch, Wheeler County. Burnt Ranch is a post office on the south bank of the John Day River at the extreme western edge of Wheeler County. The name was applied in 1862. The ranch was on the old military road from The Dalles to Canyon City. The buildings were burned during an Indian uprising and from that time on the place was known by its present name. The original Burnt Ranch was near the mouth of Muddy Creek, but the post office moves about, depending upon the home of the postmaster, and in October, 1925, is several miles to the west near the mouth of Cherry Creek.
Burnt River, Baker County. Burnt River is an important stream rising in the Blue Mountains and draining the southern part of the county. It joins Snake River east of Huntington. Exact information about its name is not available, and there are two theories about the matter, one being that Burnt River was so called because of the burned timber along its banks and the other because of the burned looking rocks, especially along the lower reaches. As far as the writer knows, the first mention of Burnt River is in the Peter Skene Ogden journals for Saturday, February 4, 1826, on page 352 of the Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, volume X. T. C . Elliott, the authority on Ogden, is of the opinion that the name came from the burned woods, because the fur-traders reached the upper parts of the stream first where the burned looking rocks are not so much in evidence. During the times in question the stream was frequently mentioned as the Rivier Brule, by the French Canadians. It is of course evident that the traders named the stream, and that pioneers proceeding along the lower part of the river 25 years later had nothing to do with it, though they doubtless thought the name was appropriate because of the dry character of the country they traversed. Mr. ​Elliott thinks that the name was probably first applied to the river by Donald Mackenzie possibly as early as 1818. See Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, volume XIII, page 71.
Burnt Woods, Lincoln County. This post office is in the eastern part of Lincoln County, near Tumtum Creek, where the remains of forest fires are still much in evidence. The office was established in 1919, and a list of suggested names was sent to the Post Office Department. On the list was Burnt Woods, proposed by H. G. Downing, and this was the name chosen by the authorities.
Butte Creek, Wheeler County. This stream rises near Fossil and flows into John Day River. It was so named because of Black Butte, a prominent point near its source, which served as a landmark. Black Butte has an elevation of about 4000 feet and is about two miles northeast of Fossil.
Butte Falls, Jackson County. Settlers in the Rogue River valley referred to Mt. McLoughlin as Snowy Butte, and the two main streams draining to the northwest from that mountain were known as Big and Little Butte creeks. At the falls on Big Butte Creek a settlement sprang up that took its name from the natural feature.
Butter Creek, Umatilla County. This creek is said to have received its name from a party of immigrants who found some butter On its banks, apparently left behind by an earlier contingent. Butter Creek is a tributary of the Umatilla River, and the old pioneer road crossed it west of Echo. See Scott's History of the Oregon Country, volume III, page 316.
Butteville, Marion County. Butteville is on the east bank of the Willamette River in the extreme north part of the county and has an elevation of 102 feet. It was named for a well-known hill about a mile to the southwest, called by the early settlers on French Prairie La Butte, a form of name still used by the U. S. Geological ​Survey on its map of the Tualatin quadrangle, which shows the geography of this region. La Butte has an elevation of 427 feet. Butteville was laid out prior to 1850 by Abernethy and Beers. The Oregon Electric Railway has a station called Butteville about two miles east of the town. This station was formerly called Chopunnish, a northwest Indian tribal name, but was changed to Butteville to avoid confusion.
Buxton, Washington County. Henry T. Buxton settled in this place in 1884, and was appointed its first postmaster in 1887. He was a son of Henry Buxton, a pioneer of 1841, and the town was named for his family.
Byars Creek, Marion County. This stream flows into Breitenbush River northeast of Detroit. Byars Creek and Byars Mountain nearby were named for W. H. Byars, surveyor general for Oregon from 1890 to 1894.
Bybee Bridge, Jackson County. This bridge crossed Rogue River not far from Upper Table Rock. It was named for William Bybee who operated a ferry at this point for many years.
Bybee Lake, Multnomah County. This is a small overflow lake on the south bank of the Columbia River north of St. Johns. It was named for James F. Bybee, a pioneer of 1845.
Cabin Creek, Douglas County. This stream flows into Calapooya Creek near Oakland. Both the Southern Pacific Company line and the Pacific Highway follow along this stream between Oakland and Rice Hill. It is said that the Rev. J. A. Cornwall built a cabin on this stream in the fall of 1846, in which he and his family spent the following winter. This is said to be the first cabin built in Douglas County by citizens of the United States, and the stream was named for it.
Calapooya Mountains, Douglas and Lane Counties. These mountains are a westerly spur of the Cascade Range and constitute the dividing line between the water ​sheds of the Willamette and Umpqua rivers. Calapooya Mountains join the Cascade Range at Cowhorn Mountain with an elevation of 7666 feet in the northeast corner of Douglas County.
The Indians of the Willamette Valley were of the Kalapooian family. Calapooya Mountains bear the name. See Lewis' Tribes of the Columbia Valley, page 178. The Calapooya Indians were indolent and peaceful, and not disposed to trade (ibid.) . The name is given as Calapoosie by David Douglas in his journals, Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, volume VI, page 85; Col-lap-poh-yea-ass, by Alexander Ross, in First Settlers on the Columbia River, pages 235, 236; Call-law-poh-yea-as, in his Fur Hunters, volume I, page 108; Kala-pooyahs, in Townsend's Narrative, page 175; Callapuya, by Wilkes. Lewis and Clark give the word as Collapoewah; Parker's journal gives Calapooa; Lee and Frost, Calapooyas. Calapooya is properly the name of a division of the Kalapooian family formerly living between the Willamette and Umpqua Rivers. The U. S. Geographic Board has accepted Calapooya as the standard spelling.
Calapooya River is a stream in Linn County, rising in the western slopes of the Cascade Range and joins the Willamette River at Albany. Calapooya Creek rises on the south slopes of Calapooya Mountains in Douglas County and flows through Oakland and joins the Umpqua River at Umpqua.
Camas Valley, Douglas County. The word Camas is used to describe geographic features in many parts of the state of Oregon, including Camas Valley in Douglas County, Camas Swale in Lane County, Camas Swale in Douglas County, Camas Creek in Umatilla County, and others. The name is taken from that of a favorite food of the western Indians, camassia esculenta, a plant related to the scilla. The word was derived from the Nootka Indian word Chamass; meaning "fruit" or "sweet." It was adopted into the Chinook jargon as ​camas, kamass, lacmass and lakamass. Evidently the locality of Camas was a place where the Indians gathered supplies of the sweetish bulbs of the blue-flowered "Lackamass."
Camp Creek, Clackamas County. This stream rises near Government Camp, and flows westward into Zigzag River. Laurel Hill, the terror of the emigrant trains, lies between these two streams like a wedge, and over its brow the members of the Barlow party let their wagons down by ropes snubbed around the trees. It seems probable that this stream was named by Joel Palmer of the Barlow party on October 13, 1845. The day before Palmer made the first attempt by a white man, as far as known, to climb Mt. Hood. He did not reach the top, but went far enough to satisfy himself that the mountain could be climbed. The details in his diary are not entirely clear as to how he got down nor where he camped, but the next morning he named a nearby stream Camp Creek, and it is the belief of the compiler that it is the Camp Creek of today that was so named. See the volume containing Palmer's journal in thwaites' Early Western Travels, page 137.
Camp Sherman, Jefferson County. This post office is on the Metolius River about two miles north of its source. It was named because of the fact that a number of families from Sherman County spent their summer vacations at this camp.
Canby, Clackamas County. Canby was named for Major-General Edward R. S. Canby, commander of the department of the Columbia, who was killed by Modoc Indians on April 11, 1873, at a peace parley not far from the California-Oregon line south of what is now Klamath Falls. For a short account of the Modoc War, see Scott's History of the Oregon Country, volume II, page 334. See also Jeff C. Riddle's Indian History of the Modoc War, which gives detailed accounts of the war and subsequent happenings. Edward Richard Sprigg Canby was a vet​eran of the Seminole, Mexican and Civil Wars. In 1874 Fort Canby, Washington, at the mouth of the Columbia River, was named for him. Canby has an elevation of 152 feet.
Canemah, Clackamas County. Canemah was founded in 1845 by A. F. Hedges. During many years it was the loading and unloading point for the portage around Willamette Falls. Leslie M. Scott states that the name is supposed to have been that of an Indian chief.
Cannon Beach, Clatsop County. Lieutenant Neil M. Howison, U. S. N ., arrived in the Columbia River July 1, 1846 on board the schooner Shark for the purpose of making an investigation of part of the Oregon country for the government. For details of his visit see Carey's History of Oregon, page 451. For details of his report, see Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, volume XIV, page 59. The Shark was wrecked on attempting to leave the Columbia River on September 10, 1846, and part of her deck and a brass cannon drifted ashore south of Tillamook Head, thus giving the name to Cannon Beach. The cannon is still there, well up on the sand. For information about this disaster see Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, volume XIV, page 355.
Cannon Beach is a well-known summer resort, and is of historic interest. In January, 1806, William Clark climbed over Tillamook Head and visited the Indian camp at the north end of the beach at a place he named Ecola, or the place of the whale. At the south end of Cannon Beach is Arch Cape, which blocks automobile travel on the beach itself. Hug Point, about two miles north of Arch Cape formerly blocked traffic, but a narrow road has been cut around its face in the solid rock. Other important points are Humbug Point, Sylvan Point, and Chapman Point, which is at the north end and is a southern spur of Tillamook Head. Haystack Rock, over 300 feet high, is one of the prominent sights on the beach itself. The creek called Ecola by Clark is now known ​as Elk Creek and flows into the ocean at the north end of Cannon Beach. The community has been known by various names including Elk Creek and Ecola, but the Post Office Department a few years ago changed the office name to Cannon Beach to agree with the natural feature. Cannon Beach is about eight miles long.
Canoe Encampment Rapids, Morrow County. These rapids are in the Columbia River between Castle Rock and Blalock Island. T. C. Elliott, the authority on the Columbia River, states that the encampment at the foot of the rapids was a popular one with the fur traders and trappers. The name appears in early journals, but when first so used cannot now be determined. It has been suggested that possibly the name was originally applied by traders because of an encampment of Indians with canoes at that point, as it seems strange that the traders themselves would single out these rapids as being particularly associated with their own canoes, which they had with them at all the rapids.
Canyon City, Grant County. This historic community is the county seat of Grant County, and derives its name because of the fact that it is situated in a canyon, about two miles south of the John Day River. This part of the state was the scene of gold discoveries in the fall of 1861 and for some time there was a great influx of miners. Canyon City post office was established in what was then Wasco County on April 23, 1864. Afterward Grant County was formed from part of Wasco County.
Canyon Road, Multnomah and Washington Counties. The Canyon Road, at the head of Jefferson Street, Portland, was first opened in the fall of 1849 (letter of Joseph S. Smith in The Oregonion, July 13, 1884). Citizens of Portland formed, for improvement of the road, in 1850, the Portland and Valley Plank Road Company, which was chartered by the legislature and organized at Lafayette July 30, 1851. Subscription for funds opened March 10, 1851, at Portland, Hillsboro, Lafayette, Nes​miths Mills, Marysville (Corvallis), Albany and Salem. Grading began in 1851. Stephen Coffin took the contract for laying the planks. The first plank was laid September 27, 1851, amid ceremonies. In September, 1851, Thomas Stephens became superintendent. For further work, see advertisements in The Oregonian in 1851. The work soon lapsed for lack of funds (article by George H. Himes, ibid., August 14, 1902). The first plank was laid near the present Ladd School. The route was surveyed by Daniel H. Lownsdale. The road was badly damaged by rains in the winter of 1851–52 (ibid., January 10, 1852). A statement of the work on the road appears, ibid., April 3, 1852. The sum of $14,593.83 was expended up to that time. On May 10, 1852, the third and fourth installments to stock subscriptions were called for. In the summer of 1852 a scandal, or rupture, occurred in the company, and new directors were elected (ibid., August 7, 1852). An earlier road, built by F. W. Pettygrove, passed through what is now Washington Park.
Canyonville, Douglas County. Canyonville is an historic community of Oregon, and is situated at the north end of Canyon Creek Canyon, where this defile opens into the valley of the South Umpqua River. It was in this canyon that the immigrants of 1846 had such great hardships on their way into the Willamette Valley. The canyon was known, in pioneer days as Umpqua Canyon. For a graphic description of the difficulties experienced here by the pioneers in 1846 see Bancroft's History of Oregon, volume I, page 563. For information concerning the proposed location of a railroad in the canyon see Scott's History of the Oregon Country, volume IV, page 5. The railroad route finally selected ascended Cow Creek from Riddle and joined the old stage road not far from Glendale. The stage route for many years continued up Canyon Creek and today travelers over the Pacific Highway may see where there have been earlier ​routes along the canyon. The total descent from the pass at the head of Canyon Creek to Canyonville is nearly 1300 feet, most of which occurs at the southern part of the canyon.
Canyonville was for many years known as North Canyonville, the post office having been established with that name July 6, 1852, with John T. Boyl, postmaster. Apparently there was a small settlement further south that was known as South Canyonville, but this was not a post office. The post office name was changed to Canyonville June 1, 1892. Canyon Creek is erroneously supposed by many to be Cow Creek. The Pacific Highway does not follow up the canyon of Cow Creek although it does traverse that stream through a wide valley east of Glendale. The pass at the head of Canyon Creek is about 2025 feet in elevation. Canyonville has an elevation of 747 feet. Those who have visited this part of the state will realize that Canyon Creek and Canyonville are appropriate names.
Capes. The first exploration of the Oregon country by white people was by the sea, and on account of their presumed ease of identification, capes and promontories were sought after and named by the early navigators. Cape Blanco was the first geographic feature of the state to be named by a white man, although it is not now certain what feature was originally so identified, and for a period of nearly 200 years explorers carried on the work of naming the headlands of Oregon before the interior was touched upon.
The history of the naming of Oregon capes is therefore worthy of study, particularly in view of the fact that uncertainty exists as to what some of the early navigators saw and named on their charts. In order that the matter may be best understood, it is necessary to have a table of latitudes, which is shown below. This table gives the positions north of the equator of the important ​capes of the state, such positions being taken from the publications of the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, except for those marked (a) which are scaled from reliable maps, and are approximate. The positions marked (lt) are for the light houses on the capes, and all others are for some important triangulation point on the cape, though not necessarily in the exact center, or on its most westerly point.
| Cape | North | Latitude |
| Point Adams | 46° | 12' 33" |
| Tillamook Head | 45 | 57 55 |
| Arch Cape (a) | 45 | 47 54 |
| Cape Falcon | 45 | 45 46 |
| Neahkahnie Mountain | 45 | 44 39 |
| Cape Meares (It) | 45 | 29 13 |
| Cape Lookout (a) | 45 | 20 30 |
| Cape Kiwanda (a) | 45 | 13 10 |
| Cascade Head | 45 | 03 42 |
| Cape Foulweather | 44 | 45 23 |
| Yaquina Head (It) | 44 | 40 38 |
| Cape Perpetua (USGS) | 44 | 17 12 |
| Heceta Head (It) | 44 | 08 16 |
| Coos Head (It) | 43 | 20 30 |
| Cape Arago (a) | 43 | 18 15 |
| Coquille Point (a) | 43 | 07 |
| Cape Blanco (It) | 42 | 50 15 |
| Cape Sebastian | 42 | 19 41 |
| Crook Point | 42 | 15 08 |
| Cape Ferrelo (a) | 42 | 06 08 |
Cape Blanco is the most westerly point in Oregon and its light house is in west longitude 124° 33' 46". The most westerly triangulation station on the cape is longitude 124° 33’ 51.928" and is close to the edge of the cliff of the midde point. For detailed information on the above points see U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey Special Publication 31.
​The table of latitudes given above will be of use in considering the various discoveries on the Oregon coast, and it will also indicate why it is impossible now to determine exactly what features each early explorer recorded since in some instances the headlands are not unlike and are near together. The matter of fog and low lying clouds must also be taken into account. For instance it seems incredible that Heceta could so accurately describe the mouth of the Columbia River, then miss Tillamook Head completely and hit upon Cape Falcon. Low lying clouds gathered over Tillamook Head might well account for this.
Cape Arago, Coos County. Cape Arago is the western point of a large headland just south of the mouth of Coos Bay. The northern point of this headland is Coos Head. It may have been discovered by Martin de Aguilar in 1603 and named Cape Blanco. See under Cape Blanco for a discussion of this matter. Captain James Cook sighted it on March 12, 1778, and named it Cape Gregory for the saint of that day. Since about 1850 this cape has been known as Cape Arago, and is officially so known by the U. S. Geographic Board. The compiler has been unable to ascertain why the name was changed.
Cape Blanco, Curry County. Cape Blanco is in north latitude 42° 50' 15" and is the most westerly point in Oregon, but not as some suppose, of continental United States. Blanco is a Spanish word meaning "white."
In 1602 Sebastian Vizcaino sailed from Acapulco at the head of an exploring expedition, and after one of his ships turned back at Monterey, Vizcaino in his ship and Martin de Aguilar in a fragata, quitted Monterey on January 3, 1603, sailing northward, but during a storm the two ships separated, and Vizcaino entered San Francisco Bay. After a few days he sailed up the coast alone, reaching a point that he named Cape San Sebastian on ​January 20. He returned to Acapulco without meeting the fragata.
In the meantime de Aguilar also sailed northward, and he records that on January 19 he reached the 43rd parallel, and found a point that he named Cape Blanco. North of the cape he reported a large river. Here he turned back, and must have been very near his capitana the next day as Vizcaino was discovering Cape Sebastian. Most of the crew of the fragata, including de Aguilar, died on the way back to Acapulco. Just what de Aguilar discovered on the Oregon coast no one knows. He was 10• too far north of Cape Blanco, and there is no large river north of that cape. It has been suggested that what he really found was what is now known as Cape Arago, and the river flowing into the sea was Coos Bay. Some color is lent to this theory by the fact that on March 12, 1778, Captain James Cook writes of his discovery of Cape Arago, which he called Cape Gregory, and stated that he thought he observed the Cape Blanco of de Aguilar in proximity. He was too far away to see the mouth of Coos Bay.
On April 24, 1792, Captain George Vancouver sighted what we now know as Cape Blanco, and named it Cape Orford in honor of George, early of Orford, his "much respected friend." Vancouver determined its latitude as 42° 52", very nearly its, true position. There was some speculation on Vancouver's ship as to whether or not it was the Cape Blanco of de Aguilar, but the position, being 10' too far south, and its dark color "did not seem to intitle it to the appelation of cape Blanco."
Vancouver brings up the matter again in his Voyage of Discovery Around the World in the latter part of the entry for April 25. He passed and identified Cape Gregory (now Cape Arago) of Captain Cook, and made a reasonably accurate determination of its latitude, though he noted the difference between his figures and Cook's. ​There was no other important point and he said: "This induced me to consider the above point as the cape Gregory of Captain Cook, with a probability of its being also the cape Blanco of D'Aguilar, if land hereabouts the latter ever saw." Vancouver finished his observations for the day by expressing a doubt that Cook saw Cape Blanco or any other cape south of Cape Gregory on March 12, 1778, and stated that it was fair to presume that what Cook saw was an inland mountain.
Notwithstanding all these facts the name Cape Blanco has persisted for the western cape of Oregon, even though it may not have originally been applied to it, and Vancouver's name, Cape Orford, has fallen into disuse and has been decided against by the United States Geographic Board. Part of the name is still in use in Port Orford, which is just south of the cape.
Cape Alva, Clallam County, Washington, is the most westerly point in continental United States, with a longitude of 124° 44' 5". It is in approximate latitude 48° 10'. It is more than 10' of longitude further west than Cape Blanco.
Authorities are not unanimous as to the color of Cape Blanco, but George Davidson, whose opinion carries great weight, states in the Coast Pilot for 1869 that the rocks were of a dull white appearance but bright when the sun shone on them. However, this characteristic is probably more or less true of other capes in the neighborhood.
Cape Falcon, Tillamook County. Cape Falcon is the next cape south of Arch Cape, and has been known in the past as False Tillamook Head, presumably because navigators from the south mistook it for the real Tillamook Head, which lies further north. On August 18, 1775, Captain Bruno Heceta, while cruising along the north Pacific Coast discovered a cape in latitude 45° 43' north and named it Cape Falcon. While this is not far from the correct location of what we now know as Cape Falcon, ​it is also not far from Neahkahnie Mountain, and the records of Heceta are so meager as to make it impossible exactly to identify his discovery. Cape Falcon as we now know it derived its name from Heceta, irrespective of what point he originally discovered. The present application of the name was made by George Davidson of the U. S. Coast Survey in 1853, as being preferable to a name with the word "false" in it.
Cape Falcon has been the cause of considerable misunderstanding among students of Oregon history. Greenhow, in his History of Oregon and California appears to have started the trouble by confusing Cape Falcon, or as it was sometimes known, False Tillamook Head, with Clarks Point of View. This he does in two places, once in chapter IV and another time in appendix E. This error has been perpetuated by both great authorities on the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Coues and Thwaites. As a result the latter has William Clark travel as far south as Nehalem Bay, when as a matter of fact Clarks Point of View was on Tillamook Head, and Clark only got as far as Elk Creek. See under Cannon Beach and Tillamook Head. Davidson clearly preceived this error. See Coast Pilot for 1869. However, Davidson was of the opinion that the Cape Grenville of Meares was the same as Cape Falcon, but this seems improbable to the compiler of these notes.
At the time of his discovery of Cape Falcon, Heceta also named La Mesa or The Table, putting it some 15 minutes of latitude further south than the cape, with no indication as to whether it was an inland mountain or not. It seems to the compiler that Le Mesa must have been what is now known as Cape Meares, or some flattopped mountain inland.
Cape Ferrelo, Curry County. Bartolome Ferrelo was a pilot in the expedition of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, a Portugese, who sailed from Mexico in June, 1542, for ​the purpose of exploring the coast of California. When near the 34th parallel of north latitude Cabrillo sank under the fatigue of the voyage and turned the command over to Ferrelo. The latter discovered a cape on the 41st parallel which he called Cabo de Fortunas, and on March 1, 1543, found himself to be as far north as the 44th parallel, but on the following day bad weather drove him south. It is now not easy to determine how far north Ferrelo came, nor what he actually discovered, although his description and latitude of Cabo de Fortunas are strongly suggestive of Cape Mendocino. Some authorities believe that his discovery was really as far north as the 43rd parallel. There is but little to connect Cape Ferrelo with the pilot, though it was named in his honor. See Greenhow's History of Oregon and California, chapter I.
Cape Ferrelo is but a short distance from the Oregon-California boundary line. It is the first prominent head land north of St. George Reef, and while not projecting seaward to any considerable extent, it is nevertheless noticeable on account of its bold, rugged face.
Cape Foulweather, Lincoln County. Cape Foulweather was discovered and named by Captain James Cook, the English explorer, on March 7, 1778. This was the first geographic feature that Captain Cook named in his voyage to the north Pacific Ocean. On the day of his discovery the weather was particularly inclement. The Coast Pilot for 1869 gives a detailed account of this cape and incidents surrounding its discovery, compiled by George Davidson.
Cape Kiwanda, Tillamook County. This cape has been known at times as Sand Cape. The name Kiwanda is obviously Indian, but its correct meaning and by whom first applied to this cape is not known. Kiwanda is the name adopted by the United States Geographic Board, not Sand. Cape Kiwanda is a low, yellow, rocky point, ​much broken and eroded, projecting about one-half mile from the general trend of the coast. Behind the cape are bright sand dunes, and it is probable that these rather than the sand on the cape itself suggested the name Sand Cape.
Cape Lookout, Tillamook County. Cape Lookout is one of the most prominent head lands on the Oregon Coast. It projects into the ocean one and one-half miles and has a narrow rocky promontory over 400 feet high on its seaward extremity. East of the cape the mountains rise to an elevation of over 2000 feet.
Cape Lookout bears its present name in error which will doubtless never be corrected. The name was originally applied by John Meares to what is now known as Cape Meares, which he described fully and accurately, and his description was subsequently corroborated by Vancouver. The name was probably changed to the new position on the Coast Survey charts of 1850 and 1853.
Cape Lookout is about 10 miles south of Cape Meares and is somewhat more prominent which is doubtless the reason for change. Having once become attached to the new feature it was deemed inadvisable to attempt to restore the name to the old location and as a result George Davidson applied it to the feature that Meares called Cape Lookout. For further information on this point, see the entry on Cape Meares and also refer to the United States Coast Pilot for 1869.
Cape Meares, Tillamook County. Cape Meares is just south of Tillamook Bay, and bears the name of the most interesting of all the early explorers of the north Pacific Coast. Meares is well described in the following words by Professor Edmond S. Meany in his History of Washington, page 25:
"John Meares, a retired lieutenant of the British Navy, was the most unconventional and interesting personality of all those figuring in these early marine annals. ​He sailed under double colors, he succeeded as fur hunter and geographer, he was the pioneer of two great industries, he sought to plant a colony of Chinese men with Kanaka wives, he wrote a book, he precipitated a quarrel between England and Spain which came near embroiling also the new republic of the United States in a serious war. There was nothing dull about John Meares. In 1786, he sailed from Bengal with two vessels, the Nootka and Sea-otter, names redolent of furs and adventure. Little is known of this voyage except that it was confined to the shores of Alaska. 1787, English merchants in India fitted out two ships, the Felice Adventurer and the Iphigenia Nubiana, and placed them in command of John Meares and William Douglas. To avoid excessive port charges in China and to evade licenses from the South Sea and East India monopolies, a Portuguese partner was taken in, who procured from the governor at Macao, Portuguese flags, papers and captains. In case of need the real masters would appear as clerks or supercargoes. While little use was made of this scheme, the trick of double colors is condemned as a cheat, closely akin to piracy. In May, 1788, Meares in the Felice arrived at Nootka, and for two pistols he bought some land from Chief Maquinna. He at once erected a little fort, and began an important enterprise. He had brought the framework of a schooner. His ship's company included fifty men, crew and artisans, part of each group being Chinamen. This little schooner, the North West America, was the first vessel built in this part of the world and this also was the first introduction of Chinese labor on the Pacific Coast."
While Meares' organization was engaged in these activities, he himself set sail on an exploring expedition south along the coast. He passed the mouth of the Columbia River on July 6, 1788, but he failed to identify it as a river. By nightfall of that same day he had dis​covered and named three important features, the first of which he referred to as Cape Grenville, and the next Quicksand Bay, the third feature he christened Cape Lookout, and the volume containing the story of his travels has a very fine plate showing this cape together with the remarkable rocks a little to the southwest. Having failed to discover the new river he was seeking, he returned to Nootka. For further information about the history of Nootka and the controversy between England and Spain over Meares' enterprise, see Meany's History.
It is not easy at this time to identify Cape Grenville. George Davidson supposes it to be Cape Falcon. Quicksand Bay seems to be what is now known as Tillamook Bay. Meares' description and picture of Cape Lookout, beyond all doubt, refer to what we now call Cape Meares, and the rocks that Meares christened Three Brothers are now known as Three Arch Rocks and form a bird reservation that is frequently written about.
George Davidson applied the name of Cape Meares to the feature herein described in 1857. Davidson was for many years connected with the United States Coast Survey and is considered the leading authority on the early explorations of the Pacific Coast. It appears that through some misunderstanding the Coast Survey adopted the name Cape Lookout on its charts of 1850 and 1853 for a point about 10 miles south of Mearesoriginal location. The name of Cape Lookout having become so well established in its new position and attaching to a point quite striking in appearance, it was apparently thought by Davidson, best to leave the name where it was and honor Meares by applying his own name to the feature that he discovered.
Professor Meany's remarks about Meares being the pioneer of two great industries refer to shipbuilding and timber exporting. When the Felice started for China she carried with her a deck load of spars, the first ​to be shipped from the Pacific Northwest. The spars were lost in rough weather, but this does not rob Meares of the glory of starting our lumber industry.
Cape Perpetua, Lincoln County. Cape Perpetua, which is in the extreme southwest corner of the county, is one of the historic geographical features of Oregon. It was discovered on March 7, 1778, by Captain James Cook, the famous English explorer, and it has been frequently asserted that he named the cape because the bad weather seemed to hold him perpetually in sight of it. It is apparent from a careful reading of his journals that this was not the case, but that he named the headland for St. Perpetua, who was murdered in Carthage on March 7, 203, for it was on St. Perpetua's Day that he made his discovery. A pious gentleman advises the writer that Perpetua the Martyr was a noble lady of Carthage, and in the face of her father's pleadings and tears, professed the faith and was thrown to the beasts and beheaded.
Cape Ridge, Lane and Lincoln Counties. The western extremity of Cape Ridge is Cape Perpetua, and it received its name on this account. It lies between Yachats River on the north and Cummins Creek on the south, and Cape Creek, a short stream in between the two bisects it unequally, with the larger portion to the north, this terminating in the cape. Cape Ridge rises rapidly from the cape, and about a mile and a half from the ocean, it has an elevation of 1400 feet, and about three miles from the ocean there is a well defined summit 1947 feet high. This ridge together with others extending from the ocean finally blends itself into the Coast Range at higher elevations. For the geography of this feature see the U. S. Geological Survey map of the Waldport quadrangle.
Cape Sebastian, Curry County. Cape Sebastian derives its name from the fact that on January 20, 1603, Sebastian Vizcaino on an exploring expedition north from ​Mexico sighted a high white bluff near what he determined to be the 42nd parallel. He named it in honor of the saint of that day, San Sebastian. This point marked the northern limit of his voyage. What cape he saw and named it is not now possible to determine with accuracy, but the name Sebastian is fixed on a cape in north latitude 42° 19' 41". The name was first applied to this feature by George Davidson in the U. S. Coast Survey Coast Pilot for 1869, page 112. For information about Vizcaino's voyage, see under Cape Blanco. Cape Sebastion is prominent from either northward or southward, and rises abruptly from the sea to a height of about 700 feet.
Carlton, Yamhill County, Oregon. A. E. Bones, postmaster, states in October, 1925, that the place was named for John Carl, Sr., and that it was done at the request of R. R. Thompson of Portland at the time the west side railroad established a station there about 1875. Carl was an early settler in the neighborhood and Thompson owned a farm there. It has been stated elsewhere that the town was named for Wilson Carl, an ex-county commissioner. Doubtless the two were members of the same family.
Carnahan, Clatsop County. This community is on Clatsop Plains, and was named for Hiram Carnahan, a pioneer of 1847 who settled there in that year.
Carson, Baker County. The postmaster of Carson in 1925 states that this community was apparently named for Tom Corson who settled about 1870 on a small stream flowing into Pine Creek. Neighbors pronounced his name Carson and applied it to the stream in question and subsequently to a small sawmill which was called the Carson Mill because it was located on the creek. At a later date when the post office was established the name was applied to it as well.
Carter Lake, Douglas County. This is a long, narrow lake in the extreme northwest corner of Douglas ​County about one-half mile from the Pacific Ocean. It was named for an early settler who lived on its shore.
Carver Glacier, Deschutes County. Johnathan Carver was the first person known to have used the name Oregon, which he did in a book published 1778. The only place in Oregon where his name has been perpetuated is in Carver Glacier, which is on the north slope of the South Sister and is one of the sources of Squaw Creek. It was named by Professor Edwin T. Hodge of the University of Oregon in 1924.
Carver was born at Weymouth, Massachusetts, April 3, 1710. He served in the French and Indian Wars, and subsequent thereto became an adventurous traveler. He had difficulties in getting the story of his travels published, and soured and discontented, he went to England where he was in a measure successful. He died in want in London in 1780. For his travels Carver outfitted at Mackinac and went to Green Bay, on Lake Michigan, and from there, by portage and river, to the Mississippi at Prairie du Chien, and then up the Mississippi to the Saint Peter, to spend the winter of 1766-67 . He returned by way of Lake Superior, in 1767. Carver's Travels have been criticised as to their originality, and questions of plagiarism have been discussed by historical and literary authorities for many years. He is alleged to have plagiarized freely the writings of Charlevoix, Lahontan and James Adair, and the parallelisms have been freely quoted. For narrative of Carver's travels and discussion of this "plagiarism," see The American Historical Review, volume XI, pages 287-302, by Edward Gaylord Bourne. See also Bibliography of Carver's Travels (1910) and Additional Data (1913), by John Thomas Lee, published by the Wisconsin Historical Society. For details of Carver's family and of his birth, see The Wisconsin Magazine of History, volume III, No. 3, page 229, by William Browning. While Jonothan Carver originated ​the form of the name Oregon, it is now quite certain that he did not originate the name itself. That was apparently done by Major Robert Rogers, an English army officer who was commandant at the frontier military post at Mackinac, Michigan, during the time of Carver's journey into the upper valley of the Mississippi. For full particulars of this matter see Oregon Historical Society Quarterly volume XXII, No. 2, for June, 1921, which contains an authoritative article by T. C. Elliott. See also under the name Oregon. Rogers used the form Ourigan.
Cascade Head, Lincoln County. Cascade Head is a jagged, heavily wooded cape with a cliff on the seaward side, about three miles long and in places is over 700 feet high. It was named because of the fact that its face is cut deep by gorges through which the waters of three creeks are discharged from cascades 60 feet to 80 feet high. The name was applied to it by George Davidson of the U. S. Coast Survey in the Coast Pilot for 1869.
Cascade Locks, Hood River County. The federal government adopted a plan for permanent improvements at the Cascades of the Columbia River in 1875, and began work in 1878. For the history of the construction of the Cascade locks see The Oregonian, January 1,1895, page 8. The locks were completed November 5, 1896. The community was named for the locks. Scott's History of the Oregon Country, volume III, page 190 gives a detailed history of the various aids to transportation developed at this point. Cascade Locks has an elevation of 99 feet.
Cascade Range. The Cascade Range is the great mountain backbone of Oregon and Washington, and divides both states into separate climatic and geographic provinces. Probably the first attempt at a name for the range was by the Spaniard, Manuel Quimper, 1790, who roughly mapped it as Sierra Madras de S. Antonio. In 1792, George Vancouver, the English explorer, gave ​names to a number of the most prominent peaks, but referred to the range as "snowy range," "ridge of snowy mountains," or "range of rugged mountains." Lewis and Clark, 1805-1806, mention the named peaks and frequently refer in general terms to the range of mountains. Lewis wrote: "The range of western mountains are covered with snow," and Clark wrote: "Western mountians covered with snow." (Thwaites, Original Journals of Lewis and Clark, volume IV., pages 313 and 305-306). "Western Mountains" is the nearest to a name for the range adopted by Lewis and Clark. John Work, of the Hudson's Bay Company, wrote in December, 1824: "A ridge of high mountains covered with snow." (Washington Historical Quarterly, volume III., pages 213, 215.) David Douglas, the botanist, in writing his journal had great need of a name for these mountains and he seems to have been the first one to use the name "Cascade." He refers again and again to the "Cascade Mountains" or "Cascade Range of Mountains." (Journal Kept by David Douglas, 1823-1827, pages 221-222, 252, 257, 342). Douglas does not claim to have originated the name for the range, and earlier use of it may yet come to light. William A. Slacum's report, 1836-1837, says the mountains were sometimes called "Klannet range, from the Indians of that name." (Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, volume XIII., page 200). Hall J. Kelley, an early enthusiast on the Oregon Question, sometimes referred to as "The Boston Schoolmaster," sought, 1834-1839, to change the names of the great peaks by calling them after former presidents of the United States and to christen the range "Presidents Range." The Wilkes Expedition, 1841, charted the mountains as Cascade Range.
Farnham's Travels in the Great Western Prairies was published in 1843. Page 96 describes the Presidents Range and its several peaks. He mentions ten peaks south of the forty-ninth degree (Canadian boundary). ​"Five of these latter," he says, "have received names from British navigators and traders. The other five have received from American travellers, Mr. Kelly (Hall J.) the names of deceased Presidents of the Republic." Farnham names them as follows: Mount Tyler [Baker], Mount Harrison [Rainier], Mount Van Buren [Olympus], Mount Adams, Mount Washington [Hood], Mount Jefferson, Mount Madison, [Diamond Peak?] Mount Monroe [Scott?], Mount John Quincy Adams [McLoughlin], Mount Jackson [Shasta]. It will be noticed that Mount Saint Helens is omitted, and that Mount Adams is designated either the present Mount Adams or Mount Saint Helens. "Mount Washington," says Farnham, "lies a little north of the forty-fourth degree north [error], and about twenty miles south of the Cascades." Farnham gives widely erroneous latitudes of these mountains. Hall J. Kelley applied Presidents Range to the mountains now known as Cascade Range. His memoir, dated January 31, 1839, in the report of Caleb Cushing of Massachusetts, chairman of the House committee on foreign affairs, January 4, 1839, says, on pages 53-54: "The eastern section of the distrct referred to is bordered by a mountainous range [Cascade] running nearly parallel to the spine of the Rocky Mountains and to the coast, and which, from the number of its elevated peaks, I am inclined to call Presidents Range." See Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, volume XVIII., page 282, et seq., by Fred Wilbur Powell; also supplemental report, Territory of Oregon, Report No. 101, Twenty-fifth Congress, third session, House of Representatives.
In a footnote Kelley adds: "These isolated and remarkable cones, which are now called among the hunters of the Hudson's Bay Company by other names, I have christened after our ex-Presidents, viz.:
* Washington, latitude 46 degrees, 15 minutes [Saint Helens];
* Adams, latitude 45 degrees, 10 minutes [Hood];
* Jefferson, latitude 44 degrees, 10 minutes [same];
* Madison, 43 degrees, 50 minutes [Three Sisters];
* Monroe, 43 degrees, 20 minutes [Diamond or Thielsen];
* John Quincy Adams, 42 degrees, 10 minutes [McLoughlin or Pit];
* Jackson, 41 degrees, 10 minutes [Shasta]."
These positions are erroneous, like Farnham's. It will be noted that Kelley omits Mount Hood, and names that peak Mount Adams. Farnham omits Saint Helens and applies Washington to the peak (Hood) about twenty miles south of the Cascades (of Columbia River).
These presidential names were started by Hall J. Kelley, and were confused by later writers, who adopted his names but not his locations. In this way, difference of names appears as to Mount Adams, Mount Saint Helens, Mount Hood and other peaks. The original names remain with Mounts Hood, Saint Helens, Rainier, Baker and Jefferson; otherwise with Adams, Three Sisters, McLoughlin and Shasta.
John Work, in his journal (Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, volume X, pages 308-09, by T. C. Elliott), calls Mount Adams Mount Saint Helen, Mount Saint Helens Mount Rainier, and Mount Rainier Mount Baker.
The name Cascades was first that of the narrows of the Columbia River, which yet bears the title. This name of the Columbia River narrows is used commonly by writers as far back as the Astor expedition. In the report of the committee on foreign affairs of the national House of Representatives, Caleb Cushing, chairman, February 16, 1839, is the memoir of Kelley, which names the mountains Presidents Range and also a memoir of Nathaniel J. Wyeth, dated February 4, 1839, which uses the name Cascade Mountains. In Greenhow's History of ​Oregon and California, a map, compiled in 1838, gives the name Far West Mountains. See Bancroft's History of Oregon, volume I, page 164, note.
As far as the writer knows, but one tribe of Indians had a name for the Cascade Range as such. The Klamath Indians called it Yamakiasham Yaina, literally "mountains of the northern people."
Cascade Range is the official form of name adopted by the United States Geographic Board and the feature to which it applies extends from Canada to the gap south of Lassen Peak in California. The Cascade Range is essentially volcanic in character and particularly in Oregon and in northern California its crest is made up of the remnants of a series if giant volcanoes. The Cascade Range differs essentially in construction and in origin from the Sierra Nevada of California and there is no connection between the two structurally or otherwise. The highest point in the Cascade Range in Oregon is Mt. Hood, with an elevation of 11,225 feet and the lowest pass is the gorge of the Columbia River. The important routes of travel through the Cascade Range in Oregon include the Columbia River Highway at water level, the Mt. Hood Loop Highway, which in certain sections follows closely the Barlow Road, and the Santiam Highway, which is the modern name for the Willamette Valley and Cascade Mountain Military Road. This road crosses the Cascade Range just north of Mt. Washington. Next to the south is the McKenzie Highway, which is improved over the Cascade Range throughout its entire length. The Willamette Highway or the old Oregon Central Military Road crosses the Cascade Range at Summit Lake, at an elevation of 5600. It is possible to cross the Cascade Range just north of Crater Lake, and on an improved highway at Crater Lake. The Green Springs Mountain Road from Ashland to Klamath Falls is now completely improved. The United States Forest Service ​is developing certain sections of a road extending north and south along the summit of the Cascade Range in Oregon, but it will doubtless be many years before this project is complete in its entirety.
The modern names for the important peaks at the summit of the Cascade Range from north to south in Oregon and their elevations are as follows:
Cascades, Hood River County. The Cascades of the Columbia River are caused by natural obstructions. Lewis and Clark, 1805-1806, the first white men to see this geographical feature, used the word "cascades," but not as a name. The Upper Cascades they called "Great Shute." Alexander Ross, in his Oregon Settlers, writing as of 1810-1813, mentions the cascades a number of times, ​indicating the obstruction in the river. David Thompson, of the North-West Company of Montreal, on July 13, 1811, referred to "Rapids and Falls" and on July 27 to "Great Rapid." John Work, of the Hudson's Bay Company, on June 22, 1825, wrote: "Embarked at 3 o'clock and reached the Cascades at 1." (Washington Historical Quarterly, volume V., page 85). David Douglas, the botanist, in his journal for 1826 uses the word often, but not always for the same locality. Rev. H. H. Spalding, writing from Fort Walla Walla on October 2, 1836, uses the words: "The Cascades or Rapids."
Castle Creek, Jackson and Klamath Counties. The various branches of Castle Creek rise on the west slopes of the rim of Crater Lake, and Castle Creek itself flows into Rogue River. It was named Castle Creek because of the many spires and pinnacles in the canyon.
Castle Rock, Gilliam County. It does not seem to have taken much imagination on the part of early settlers to build rock castles in the air, for there are Castle Rocks in most of the counties of the state, the one about a mile west of the station of that name in Gilliam County being probably the best known. It is a low bluff, but is said actually to resemble a castle from the river. It is not known when this rock was first named. The railroad company has dropped the second word of the name for the station, as a matter of simplification.
Cathlamet Bay, Clatsop County. Cathlamet Bay is on the south side of the Columbia River east of Tongue Point. Like many other Indian names, its meaning is hard to trace. Myron Eells identified the word with the Indian name Kalama, which is a town in Washington. On November 11, 1805, Lewis and Clark passed near the Indian village of Cathlamet, and referred to Calt-har-mar nation of Indians. Thwaites refers to this nation as an extinct Chinookan tribe. It was obviously a small unimportant group of natives, and there is a possibility that ​the tribe name was associated with the word calamet, meaning stone, indicating that the Indians lived in a stony place. The Indian village of Caltharmar was on the south bank of the Columbia River, possibly not far from the present site of Knappa. Thomas N. Strong of Portland is authority for the statement that after the visit of Lewis and Clark, the Caltharmar nation, much reduced by disease, crossed the Columbia River and settled near the present town of Cathlamet, Washington.
Catlow, Harney County. Catlow is a post office in Harney County. There are a number of other geographic features in the neighborhood with this name, including Catlow Valley. The U. S. Geographic Board has adopted this form of spelling as being correct rather than Catlo or Catalow. These features were named for an early settler.
Cayuse, Umatilla County. Cayuse is a railroad station and post office about 11 miles east of Pendleton and is one of the few geographic features in the state named for the Cayuse Indians. In 1924 Professor Edwin T. Hodge of the University of Oregon applied the name Cayuse Crater to a vent on the south part of Broken Top Mountain in Deschutes County.
The Cayuse Indians were a Waiilatpuan tribe, formerly living at the headwaters of Walla Walla, Umatilla and Grande Ronde rivers, and between the Blue Mountains and Deschutes River. The tribe was closely associated with the neighboring Walla Wallas and Nez Perces, but were linguistically independent. After 1855 the tribe lived at the Umatilla reservation. Their language is practically extinct, and their members have been absorbed by the other tribes. The Cayuses committed the Whitman massacre in 1847. Alexander Ross gives the name Cayouse in First Settlers, page 127; Townsend's Narrative gives Kayouse; Palmer gives Caaguas and Kioose in his Journal (1845), page 53; Hale gives Cail​loux in "Ethnology and Philology," page 214; Scouler gives Cayoose; Wyeth, Cayouse and Skiuse; George Wilkes, Kiuse; Farnham, Skyuse; John Work, Kyauses; Washington Irving gives Sciatogas. The Cayuses had linguistic affinities with the Molallas of Western Oregon. Scott's History of Oregon, volume I, page 282.
Indian horses have come to be called "cayuses" because the Indians of that name were large breeders of the animals. The name formerly had only local use, but later spread over the Pacific Northwest.
Cayuse in Umatilla County was formerly a stage staton, and was located at the bottom of what was known as Meacham Hill.
There is a Cayuse Canyon opening onto Rock Creek north east of Condon in Gilliam County. It was doubtless so named because Cayuse ponies pastured there.
Cazadero, Clackamas County. This is a station on the Estacada line of the Portland Electric Power Company, near which the Cazadero power plant of the company is located on the Clackamas River. For many years previous to the time the company made its additional development further up the river, Cazadero was the end of the interurban line. It was named by the original promoters of the line, and the word is Spanish, meaning "a place for the pursuit of game."
Cecil, Morrow County. This is a railroad station and post office in the western part of Morrow County, at an elevation of 619 feet. It derived its name from the Cecil family, large land owners in the neighborhood who donated land for the post office.
Cedar Mill, Washington County. This name was given by Elam Young to his sawmill in 1847, and has been retained ever since. There were fine woods of cedar trees in the vicinity. The place may be reached by the Barnes and Cornell roads from Portland and has an elevation of 274 feet.
​Celilo, Wasco County. This name is used for a railroad station, for the navigation canal along the south bank of the Columbia River, and for "the rather low but romantic horseshoe shaped falls at the rock reef composing the upper end of this obstruction (Dalles) below which the Indian was accustomed to stand with his spear to pierce the jumping salmon. Like all other river falls these were known to the fur traders as The Chutes, and where the name Celilo was first used or whence it came is not known. The name does not appear in print before 1859, as far as yet discovered. The earlier journals and letters of fur traders and travelers do not mention it." T. C. Elliott, Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, June 1915. Mr. Elliott states that there are several suggested meanings, including "tumbling waters, "shifting sands," the name of an Indian chief, etc., but there is little to substantiate these suggestions. The Quarterly mentioned above gives additional theories about the name, and also contains much information about the construction and dedication of the Celilo Canal. The first survey for the canal was ordered by congress in 1879. The portage railroad built by the state was finished and opened June 3, 1905, and actual construction on the canal was begun by the government in October of that year. The completion and opening of the canal was celebrated by citizens of three states during the week of May 3-8, 1915. The canal is nine miles long, and overcomes a fall of about 80 feet. It cost, including nearby channel improvements, $4,800,000. The first steamer to make a continuous trip from Portland to Lewiston through the canal, was the Undine, which left Portland April 29, 1915, and arrived in Lewiston on May 3. The dedication of the canal occurred on May 5, 1915.
Central Point, Jackson County. This community received its name because of the fact that two important pioneer wagon roads of the Rogue River Valley crossed ​at this point which was near the center of the valley. One of these roads was the north and south road from the Willamette Valley and the other was the road leading from Jacksonville, which was then the center of settlement, northeast of Table Rock, Sams Valley and other communities. The community was named by Isaac Constant who was a pioneer of 1852 and who lived near the crossroads.
Magruder Brothers established a store at this point about 1870 and the post office was given the name of Central Point. It is on the main line of the Southern Pacific Company and on the Pacific Highway and has an elevation of 1272 feet.
Champoeg, Marion County. The name Champoeg (Champooick, in early official records of the provisional government) is variously explained. According to F. X. Matthieu, the name was derived from the French words, Campment du Sable, "camp of sand" (Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, volume I, page 88). According to other tesimony, the origin is from French champ("field"), and an Indian word, probably pooich ("root"); or the word may be purely Indian, designating a root or weed. According to H. S. Lyman, the name is not of French, but of Indian origin; Cham (hard ch), as in Chehalem, Chenamus, Chemeketa, Calapooya (Oregon Historical Society Quarterly; volume I, page 176). Frederick V. Holman says Champoeg is an Indian word, Champoo, a weed (ibid., volume XI, pages 22-23). Wilkes' map of 1841 shows Champooing. Champoeg was the site of the first warehouse of the Hudson's Bay Company on the Willamette River, south of Oregon City, and the shipping place of wheat of Willamette Valley. The accessibility of Champoeg by land and water caused it to be chosen as the meeting place for establishing the provisional government.
​The site of the Champoeg meeting place and monument is on the south bank of the Willamette River about midway between Newberg and Butteville. The settlement of Champoeg is about a half mile to the south, on Mission Creek.
Events leading up to the Champoeg meeting of May 2, 1843, are clearly set forth in Scott's History of the Oregon Country, volume II, page 3, where begins Harvey W. Scott's address on the occasion of the unveiling of the Champoeg Monument on May 2, 1901. On February 15, 1841, Ewing Young died at a point not far from the present site of Newberg, and as he left considerable property and no heirs, the necessity of a civil government was manifest. Some little headway toward securing a government was made, but it was not until two years later that the movement acquired enough momentum to amount to anything. Two preliminary meetings were held in the spring of 1843, at the second of which a committee was appointed, and this committee was to report at a meeting to be held at Champoeg May 2, 1843. At the appointed time about an equal number of American and British citizens met, and by a narrow margin, the Americans gained control of the situation and started the organization that developed into the provisional government of Oregon, the first government by Americans on the Pacific Coast.
The site of the Champoeg meeting is now owned by the state of Oregon, and is a public park. The state erected a memorial building which was dedicated May 2, 1918. For further details of Champoeg Memorial Building see Scott's History, volume II, page 221.
Chapman, Columbia County. Chapman took its name from a man who operated a logging enterprise in the eastern part of Columbia County.
Chaski Bay, Crater Lake National Park, Klamath County. This bay is on the south side of Crater Lake, ​and lies between Phantom Ship and Eagle Point. It was named by Will G. Steel for a minor deity of the Klamath Indians. A . S. Gatschet in his Dictionary of the Klamath Language gives the word as Tchashkai, meaning weasel. The "Weaslet" was a mythical being often alluded to by western Indians, and conjurers frequenty mentioned weasels because of their curious freaks and jumps.
Chehalem Mountains, Washington and Yamhill Counties. These are the highest mountains in the Willamette Valley, and that section of the valley north of them is generally known as the Tualatin Valley, being drained by the Tualatin River. The Chehalem Mountains and some more or less independent spurs extend from the Willamette River east of Newberg northwest to the foothills of the Coast Range south of Forest Grove. The highest known point at the southern end is due north of Newberg, and has an elevation of 1447 feet. At a point on the northern end east of Wapato is a summit about 1675 feet in elevation, called Bald Peak. Chehalem is doubtless an Indian word, and was probably applied to a point near the mouth of what is now known as Chehalem Creek. Silas B. Smith of Clatsop County refers to such a point as Cham-ho-kuc, but gives no meaning or explanation. Chehalem may be derived from it. See Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, volume I, page 323.
Chemawa, Marion County. Chemawa is one of the Indian names in the state that has several fanciful meanings attributed to it, including "our old home," "true talk" and "gravelly soil." There is little on record to substantiate any of these meanings. Silas B. Smith, Clatsop County pioneer, is authority for the statement that Chemayway was the Indian name for a point on the Willamette River about two and a half miles south of Fairfield where Joseph Gervais settled in 1827-28 . The same name was also applied to Wapato Lake. Indian names were bestowed generally on account of physical peculiarity, and ​not for sentimental reasons, and the name may mean "gravelly soil," but gravel is neither peculiar nor abundant at either one of the places mentioned. Many Indian names began with Che and Cham, particularly those applied to places in the Willamette Valley, such as Chemawa, Chehalem, Chemeketa and Champoeg. For information on this matter see article by H. S. Lyman, Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, volume I, page 316. Chemawa has an elevation of 165 feet.
Chenoweth Creek, Wasco County. Chenoweth Creek rises in the hills west of The Dalles, and after flowing across Chenoweth Flat reaches the Columbia River southeast of Crates Point. This stream was named for Justin Chenoweth who crossed the plains in 1849 as a member of the U. S . Mounted Rifles, which was the first military organization that came to Oregon overland after the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Justin Chenoweth was accompanied by his brothers, Hardin and Francis A., who were civilians. Chenoweth served as the first government mail carrier between the Cascades and Ft. Dalles, beginning his work July 1, 1851. He subsequently served as school superintendent for Wasco County and was a prominent member of the Methodist Church. He was a land surveyor by profession and surveyed the Methodist Mission site in 1850, for which he received the sum of $10. He made settlement on his donation land claim on Chenoweth Flat June 1, 1854, and left The Dalles about 1866, according to Mrs. Lulu D. Crandall of The Dalles. Nathan Olney owned a store near Crates Point before Chenoweth settled there, and Chenoweth Creek was then known as Olney Creek, but that name did not persist. The name of the geographic features near The Dalles is frequently spelled Chenowith, but the United States Geographic Board has officially adopted the form Chenoweth. ​Cherry Creek, Jefferson and Wheeler Counties. This creek was named on account of the wild cherries growing along its banks. It flows into the John Day River near Burnt Ranch, and was one of several geographic features in central Oregon named by the pack train party of Joseph H. Sherar on the way to the John Day mines in 1862. See also Antelope, Bakeoven and Muddy Creek.
Cherry Grove, Washington County. Inquiries as to how this community received its name have produced no results. There are very few cherries in the place and the postmaster advises that he was there at the time it was named and can give no reason for the name being selected. It is supposed that its proximity to Forest Grove had something to do with the form of name selected.
Cherryville, Clackamas County. Cherryville is near the Mt. Hood Loop Highway. It is said to have been named because of the wild cherries growing in the neighborhood.
Cheshire, Lane County. Cheshire is a station on the line of the Southern Pacific Company between Corvallis and Eugene. It is near the Long Tom River. It was platted in 1913 as Hulbert, but this caused confusion with another station on the same line, Huber, so the railroad company changed the name to Cheshire in honor of an old settler, and the post office authorities followed suit.
Chesnimous Creek, Wallowa County. This stream flows into Joseph Creek, and for many years was shown on maps as Chesninimus Creek. Investigations by the U. S . Forest Service indicated that this spelling was in error, and the U. S. Geographic Board adopted the shorter form. The word is obviously Indian in its origin but the writer has been unable to get information as to its meaning.
Chetko River, Curry County. The name is applied to various features in southwestern Oregon, and is derived from the name of a small Indian tribe that lived ​along the lower reaches of the river. Early day spelling was Chetko and Chitko. For information about the Chetco Indians see Pioneer History of Coos and Curry Counties, edited by Orvil Dodge. Mt. Emily in the southwestern part of Curry County is sometimes known as Chetco Peak, but the real Chetco Peak is in the eastern part of the county and has an elevation of 4648 feet. See U. S. G. S. topographic map of the Kerby quadrangle. The spelling Chetco has been adopted by the U. S . Geographic Board.
Chewaucan Marsh, Lake County. This is a large marsh, fed principally by Chewaucan River and draining into Lake Abert. The elevation of the upper end of the marsh is 4311 feet and that of the lower end 4291, according to the Strahorn railroad survey. The name is derived from the Klamath Indian words "tchua," meaning wild potato, and "keni," a general suffix meaning locality or place. The wild potato is generally known in Oregon and Washington as the wapato, arrowhead or sagittaria. It was an article of food with many tribes. See U. S . Geological Survey Water Supply Papers 220 and 363 for information about the marsh. See also The Oregonian, September 14, 1925, page 11, for information about the wapato.
Chico, Wallowa County. Chico is a Spanish word meaning "little. " The postmaster advises in October, 1925, that there is no local information available as to how the name became attached to the Wallowa County post office.
Chief Joseph Mountain, Wallowa County. This mountain has been known at various times as Tunnel Mountain and Point Joseph, but in 1925 the U. S. Geographic Board officially named it Chief Joseph Mountain in honor of the famous Nez Perce Indian chief. Joseph, or Young Joseph as he was sometimes known, was born near the mouth of Imnaha River in June, 1837, and died ​at Nespelem, Colville Indian Reservation, September 21, 1904. He was the son of Old Joseph, who died about 1871, and the grandson of Ollicut, a Cayuse chief. Old Joseph took his wife from a band living near the mouth of Asotin Creek. In May, 1877, Young Joseph and his band began to threaten the white settlers in the Wallowa Valley, claiming the valley as his ancestral home. After some skirmishing and encounters, the Indians finally began their famous journey to Montana, pursued by troops. Chief Joseph made his last stand at the Battle of the Big Hole, August 9, 1877, and on October 4, 1877, he surrendered to Colonel Nelson A. Miles at Bear Paw, Montana. For references to this matter see Scott's History of the Oregon Country, volume II, pages 104 and 332.
Chiloquin, Klamath County. Chiloquin is the white man's form of a Klamath Indian family name Chaloquin. Chaloquin was the village chief of the old Indian town of Bosuck Siwas, or Painted Rock, and his name was given as Chaloquenas in the treaty of 1864. Two sons, George and Mose Chaloquin, served with the state troops in the Modoc war.
China Creek, Wallowa County. This is a small stream flowing into Snake River from China Gulch. In the days of placer mining all over the northwest and particularly near Lewiston there were a great many Chinamen panning for gold, and there are China Bars, China Creeks and China Flats in many parts of Oregon, Washington and Idaho. It was at these points that large colonies of Chinese carried on their mining operations.
Chinquapin Mountain, Jackson County. There are a number of geographic features in Oregon named for the western chinquapin, castenea chrysophylla, of these Chinquapin Mountain, in the southeast part of Jackson County, is probably the best known. The western chinquapin is sometimes called the golden leaved chestnut. In the lower mountain altitudes it grows into a handsome ​tree, 75 feet high in some places. On the high mountains it is generally a shrub. It is found generally on the slopes of the southern Cascade Range and the Sierra Nevada.
Chitwood, Lincoln County. This is a station on the line of the Southern Pacific Company between Corvallis and Yaquina. George T. Smith, postmaster at Chitwood, states in 1925 that the station and post office were named for Joshua Chitwood, who lived near the present site of the community when the railroad was built down the Yaquina River. This railroad was built between 1881 and 1885. For particulars of this construction see Scott's History of the Oregon Country, volume IV, page 334.
Chocktote Creek, Lake County. This creek flows into Sycan Marsh from the east, and was named for a well-known Indian chief of the Piute or Snake tribe.
Christmas Lake, Lake County. Christmas Lake is a small body of water in township 26 south, range 18 east, about 25 miles east of Fort Rock. The name is one of the puzzles in Oregon nomenclature, and it is frequently asserted that John C. Fremont discovered and named the lake in question, which is not a fact.
A map of the Oregon territory accompanying Senator Lewis F. Linn's report, prepared under the direction of Col. J. J. Abert in 1838, shows a river flowing from a lake near what is now known as Warner Valley, the river being labeled "Christmas River." It is not clear where this name was obtained, but it is possible that such a stream may have been named by Hudson's Bay Company men. Peter Skene Ogden visited central Oregon as early as 1825, and may have had something to do with the name of Christmas River.
During the second exploring expedition of then Captain Fremont, which left Kansas in May, 1843, its leader conducted the party through the Deschutes Valley, and after discovering and naming a number of geographic features, he arrived in the Warner Valley and on Decem​ber 24, 1843, he reached and named Christmas Lake. This lake is much further southeast than the lake now known by that name, and there is but little doubt that it was what is now known as Hart Lake that Fremont christened. It is an important member of the Warner Lakes group, and near the central part of the valley. There is at present no information as to how the other Christmas Lake got its name, but it is some distance from Fremont's route, and there is no evidence that he ever knew of its existence.
The surveyor general of Oregon issued a map of the state in 1863 which shows Christmas Lake in the Warner Valley in the place where Fremont discovered and named it. It has been called Hart Lake for many years.
Clackamas County. This county, together with Clackamas River and other features in Oregon, received its name from the Clackamas Indians, a Chinookian tribe, living along the river. The remnants of the tribe were moved to the Grand Ronde reservation. They were formerly a large tribe. Besides the forms of the name given on page 162 of volume II, there are Klackamus, in George Wilkes' History of Oregon and on Charles Wilkes' map of 1841; Clackamus; Nekamus, in Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, volume I, page 320; Klackamas, in Townsend's Narrative; Akimmash, Clackamis, Clackamos, Clackemus, Clackemurs, Clackamers, Klackamat, Thlakeimas, Tlakimish, and many others.
Clackamas County was one of the original four districts of early Oregon, the other three being Twality, Yamhill and Champooick. It was created July 5, 1843, and at the present time has a land area of 1868 square miles. An excellent map of Clackamas County is published by the Bureau of Soils of the Department of Agriculture. For full information concerning the name and establishment of this county see Oregon Historical So​ciety Quarterly, volume XI, No. I, which contains an article by Frederick V. Holman on the origin of Oregon counties.
Clark Glacier, Lane County. This is the westerly of the two small glaciers on the south side of the South Sister, and was named for William Clark in 1924 by Professor Edwin T. Hodge of the University of Oregon. So far as known it is the only geographic feature in the state named for the great explorer except the Lewis and Clark River in Clatsop County.
Thwaites' Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition gives a true account of the exploration, and on page XXVII of the first volume is a short biography of William Clark. He was born in Viriginia on August 1, 1770, and was the younger brother of George Rogers Clark (1752-1818). At the age of 23 he was a first lieutenant in General Anthony Wayne's western army. He retired from the army in 1796 with brevet rank of captain, and lived quietly with his family, occupied chiefly in adjusting the affairs of his older brother until 1803 when he was invited by Meriwether Lewis to join Jefferson's proposed exploring expedition to the Pacific Ocean. After the expedition Jefferson appointed Clark brigadier general of the militia of Louisiana, and also Indian agent for Louisiana. Subsequently Clark was surveyor general for Illinois, Missouri and Arkansas. He died on September 1, 1838. For details of Clark's life see Coues' History of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, volume I.
William Clark spelled his name without a final "e," though that form has been used in many places, especially in Clarke County, Washington. For editorial comment on this error see The Oregonian, December 3, 1925.
Clarnie, Multnomah County. The origin of Clarnie is obscure, but the following explanation is derived from trustworthy sources: Two locators of the Oregon Rail​way and Navigation Company decided to name the railroad station after their daughters, the name of the one being Clara, and that of the other being Jennie. They combined syllables of the two names to make Clarnie. This station is five miles west of Fairview.
Clarno, Wheeler County. This post office is on the John Day River near Clarno Bridge, and in October, 1925, happens to be in Wheeler County. Clarno was named for one of the earliest white settlers on the John Day River, Andrew Clarno. Just below the post office is the site of the proposed Clarno Dam for impounding irrigation water. For information about this dam see the co-operative report on the John Day Project issued by the state engineer and by the U. S. Reclamation Service in 1916. The Clarno post office is generally located not far from the bridge, depending upon who can be prevailed upon to take the postmastership. Sometimes it is in Wasco County, sometimes in Wheeler. Clarno has an elevation of 1304 feet. Clarno post office was established September 15, 1894, with Nannie Chichester postmaster. It was then in Gilliam County, as Wheeler County had not yet been formed.
When Andrew Clarno settled on John Day River, he had no neighbors. Stockmen in those days did not feel the need of any. When he heard that a friend had settled on a homestead about 20'miles to the east, near the present site of Fossil, he rode over on horseback, and said: "Bill, don't you think you're crowding me a little?"
Clatskanie, Columbia County. Silas B. Smith, Clatsop County pioneer, is quoted in the Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, volume I, page 322, to the effect that Tlats-kani was a point in the Nehalem Valley reached by the Indians from the Columbia River either by way of what we now know as Youngs River, or by way of Clatskanie River. The Indians used the word Tlatskani by applying it to certain streams indicating the route they ​took to get to Tlatskani, and not as the name of the streams for Indians were not in the habit of naming streams. White men carelessly applied the name to the streams. Clatskanie River in Columbia County, and Klaskanine River in Clatsop County were thus named, and Clatskanie, a town, developed near the point where the former joined the Columbia River. Clatskanie is the spelling adopted by the U. S. Geographic Board for the features in Columbia County.
Clatsop County. Clatsop District was created by the Provisional Legislature by an act passed June 22, 1844, and comprised parts of the northern and western portions of Twality District. F. V. Holman's article on the history of Oregon Counties gives detailed information about the formation and boundaries of the county in the Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, volume XI, page 24. Clatsop is the name of an Indian tribe; mentioned in Lewis and Clark Journals and Gass' Journals. For description of Clatsop County in 1855, see The Oregonian, June 16,1855. For history of Clatsop County, by Preston W. Gillette, ibid., November 20, December 12, 1895; January 18, 1896. For narrative of the Clatsop Indians, by Preston W. Gillette, ibid., October 23, 1899, page 6; his narrative of Mrs. Michel, last of the Clatsops, ibid., March 10, 1903, page 3; his narrative of pioneers of Clatsop County, ibid., November 20, 1895, page 6; January 18,1896; description of Clatsop County in 1881, by Alfred Holman, ibid., September 9,1887; biography and portrait of Mrs. Michel February 26, 1905, page 22. Clatsop is given as Tlahsops by Silas B. Smith, in the Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, volume I, page 320. Townsend's Narrative gives Klatsop. Hale, in U. S. Exploring Expedition (1841) volume VI, page 215, gives Tlatsap. In Transactions of Oregon Pioneer Association (1887), page 85, the name is Tschlahtsoptchs. Hunter, "Captivity" (1823), gives Calt-sops. Dart, in Indian affairs ​Report (1851), page 214, gives Chat-sops. Scouler, in Journal, Ethnological Association, London (1846), gives Chadsops. Schoolcraft, in Indian Tribes, map (1853), gives Clasops. Lewis and Clark give Clat-sops. Farnham, in Travels, (1843), page 111, gives Clatsops. The Clatsops were of the Chinookan family, formerly at the mouth of the Columbia River, on the south side, between Tongue Point and the ocean, and south to Tillamook Head. Lewis and Clark spent the winter of 1805-06 among them at Fort Clatsop.
Clatsop County has a land area of 821 square miles, according to the U. S. Bureau of the Census. The name Clatsop has been applied to a number of geographic features in Oregon, including Clatsop Plains and Clatsop Spit.
Cleawox Lake, Lane County. This lake is about one mile south of Siuslaw Inlet and a mile east of the Pacific Ocean. It has an elevation of 82 feet. The name is ob- viously an Indian one but the writer has not been able to ascertain its meaning. The United States Geographic Board has officially adopted the name Cleawox Lake in- stead of Cleawok Lake or Buck Lake.
Cleetwood Cove, Crater Lake National Park, Klamath County. This cove was named for the boat with which Will G. Steel sounded Crater Lake for the government in 1886. In a dream Mr. Steel fancied he heard the word applied to a golden arrow. The dream was so vivid that he christened his boat Cleetwood.
Clem, Gilliam County. Clem is said to have been named for a well-known Gilliam County character, Clemmens Augustus Danneman, who owned a ranch where travelers could get accommodations. He was a native of Germany and a veteran of the Civil War. Clem is a station on the Condon branch of the Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Company.
​Cline Falls, Deschutes County. Cline Falls are on the Deschutes River about four miles west of Redmond. The McKenzie Highway crosses the river just south of the falls. They were named for Dr. C . A. Cline, a well-known dentist of Redmond, who owned the falls. Cline Buttes just southwest of the falls received their name from the same source.
Cloud Cap, Crater Lake National Park, Klamath County. Cloud Cap is the highest point on the east rim of Crater Lake, and has an elevation of 8070 feet above sea level and 1893 feet above the water of the lake. It received this somewhat fanciful name from J. S. Diller of the United States Geological Survey because of its high dome.
Coal Point, Curry County. This point is about three miles south of Port Orford and just north of Humbug Mountain. It is immediately north of Brush Creek. It is presumed that Coal Point is the one mentioned by George Davidson in the United States Coast Survey Coast Pilot for 1869, which he says was named because of the reported existence of coal in the vicinity, but he could find none after careful examination.
Coast Range. Mountains close to the sea are characteristic of almost the entire eastern shore of the Pacific Ocean. From Bering Sea to Cape Horn ranges of varying heights are constantly visible from the ocean, and Oregon is no exception to the rule.
The term Coast Range does not seem to have been used by early explorers in the Oregon country, and the name was doubtless developed by the pioneer settlers. Between the Columbia River and Siuslaw River the Coast Range is rather well defined, particularly west of the Willamette Valley, but from the Siuslaw south, the Coast Range gradually merges with spurs from the Cascade Range until fiinally both are consolidated with the Klamath Mountains, whose name is used by geologists in re​ferring to the group near the Oregon-California line, part of which is popularly referred to as the Siskiyou Mountains. The Coast Range of Oregon, is however, geologically, quite independent both of the Cascade Range and of the Klamath Mountains, and its dividing line with the latter is near the Rogue River. Some writers interpose the Rogue River Mountains between the Coast Range and the Klamath Mountains. Dr. J. S. Diller of the U. S. Geological Survey has been studying this part of the state for many years, and his investigations are ably set forth in the U. S. G. S. Bulletins 196 and 546.
The Coast Range is an irregular group of maturely dissected hills and peaks, and while the main divide is generally parallel to and about 30 miles from the coast, this divide is frequently not in line with the highest summits. From the Columbia River south to Rogue River there are several important peaks. The U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey has published the elevations given below, but in a number of cases the determinations were made many years ago, and are subject to correction.
   | PEAK | Altitude in Feet |
The style Coast Range has been officialy adopted by the U. S. Geographic Board.
The Columbia River cuts the Coast Range to water level. The next stream to find its way through the Coast Range is the Nehalem, which pursues a winding course, first east, then north, and finally west and southwest until it reaches the ocean. In the northern part of the ​range the highest summits lie in a well defined line beginning at Clatsop Crest on the Columbia River, passing through Saddle Mountain and Neahkahnie Mountain. South of the Nehalem and north of the Siuslaw there is a succession of peaks and mountains most of which are west of the drainage divide. The South Yamhill River cuts deeply into the Coast Range from the Willamette Valley with a resultant pass to the ocean of but a little over 700 feet. Yaquina River does the same, except from the west. The Siuslaw River has also cut a pass below 500 feet, and the Umpqua River does likewise.
Coburg, Lane County. Coburg is said to bear the name of a well-known Lane County stallion. A blacksmith by the name of Thomas Kane operated a smithy where Coburg is now located and because the horse was brought to his shop to be shod, Kane applied the name to the incipient community. This information has been furnished to the writer by Lucien Ward a prominent resident of the neighborhood.
Cochran, Washington County. Cochran post office and railroad station were named after Judge Joseph W. Cochran and J. Henry Cochran, brothers, of Ashland, Wisconsin, who owned a large tract of timber in that locality.
Coe Glacier, Hood River County. This is one of the important glaciers on the north slopes of Mt. Hood and has its source near the top of the mountain. It lies east of Pulpit Rock, and Coe Branch flows northeast from its base. It was named for Captain George Coe, a pioneer resident of the Hood River Valley, who with several others, operated a stage line to the mountain.
Colebrook Butte, Curry County. This butte has an elevation of 2046 feet and is about ten miles south of Port Orford and two miles east of the Pacific Ocean. Euchre Creek flows around its eastern and southern ​slopes. It was named for a pioneer settler, F. W. Colebrook, who located a homestead nearby about 1860. Mr. Colebrook was born in Scotland October 13, 1816, and came to Oregon about 1858. He died May 21, 1889.
Coles Valley, Douglas County. This valley was named for Dr. James Cole, the first settler therein. It is along the Umpqua River northwest of Roseburg.
Collard Lake, Lane County. This lake is about three miles north of Florence. It was named for Roy L. Collard, who took up a homestead near the lake.
Collier Glacier, Lane County. Collier Glacier heads on the west side of the North Sister and drains into White Branch. It is the largest glacier in the Three Sisters region and was named for Professor Arthur James Collier of the University of Oregon. Professor Collier was a student follower of Dr. Thomas Condon. It is stated that Professor Collier discovered the glacier that now bears his name while making investigations in co-operation with the United States Geological Survey in the early 90's.
Colton, Clackamas County. Colton is located on Milk Creek at an elevation of 706 feet. It was named a few years prior to 1895. Two local residents, Joshua Gorbett and a man named Cole, each wished to name it for the other, but the Post Office Department objected to Gorbett because it was too much like Corbett, in Multnomah County. As a result, Colton was selected.
Columbia City, Columbia County. This city, just north of St. Helens, was founded in 1867 by Jacob and Joseph Caples. Columbia City was ambitious to become the terminus of Ben Holladay's Willamette Valley Railroad in 1870, at the time Portland became the terminus of the west side line with a bonus of $100,000. The prospective community was named for the Columbia River, but the expected growth has not materialized.
Columbia County. This county was created Janu​ary 16, 1854, by the Territorial Legislature. It comprised the northeastern part of Washington (Twality) County as it was after Clatsop County had been created. It was named for the Columbia River, its northern and eastern boundary, and St. Helens is its county seat. The land area of Columbia County is 662 square miles (Bureau of the Census).
Columbia River, northern boundary of Oregon. This is one of the most abundantly used geographic names in America. Aside from the beauty of the word, its history reflects efforts to honor the achievements of Christopher Columbus. Its greatest use in the Pacific Northwest is as the name of the great river. Captain Robert Gray, in the American vessel Columbia, on May 11, 1792, at 8 A. M., sailed through the breakers and at 1 P. M. anchored in the river ten miles from its mouth. On May 19, Captain Gray gave his ship's name to the river. (United States Public Documents, Serial Number 351, House of Representative Documents 101). This was the American discovery and naming of the river. Prior to this, the river's existence had been suspected and other names had been suggested. In 1766-1767, Jonathan Carver, while exploring among the Indians of Minnesota, wrote about a great river of the west and called it "Oregon," a word which he may have stolen. On August 17, 1775, Bruno Heceta, Spanish explorer, noted the indications of a river there. He called the entrance Bahia de la Asuncion, the northern cape San Roque and the southern point Cape Frondoso. Later Spanish charts showed the entrance as En señda de Heceta" and the surmised river as San Roque. In 1778, John Meares, English explorer and fur trader, sought for and denied the existence of the Spanish river Saint Roc. He called the Spaniard's San Roque Cape Disappointment and the entrance he changed from Bahia de la Asuncion or Enseñada de Heceta to Deception Bay. That was the situation when Captain Gray made his dis​covery. In 1793, Alexander Mackenzie, of the NorthWest Company of Montreal, made his memorable journey to the western coast. He came upon a large river which he said the Indians called Tacootche-Tesse. This afterwards turned out to be the Fraser River, but for a time it was confused with the Columbia. Captain Meriwether Lewis mapped it as a northern branch of the Columbia, spelling it Tacoutche. William Cullen Bryant in his great poem Thanatopsis (1812) revived and gave wide circulation to Oregon as the name of the river. Another literary name was Great River of the West, which, of course, did not disturb Columbia as a geographic term. The Washington Historical Quarterly, volume XII, No. 1, for January, 1921, contains a New Log of the Columbia by John Boit. This furnishes many interesting details of the discovery of the mouth of the Columbia River by one who was there at the time.
The first examination of the mouth of the Columbia River for the U. S. Coast Survey was made in 1850 by Lieut. Commanding Wm. P. McArthur, U. S. N. For account of this survey and McArthur's comments on the Columbia River see Oregon Historical Society Quarterly volume XVI, No. 3, September, 1915, which contains an article by Lewis A. McArthur. This article, among other things, contains the first hydrographic notice ever published by the Coast Survey for the Pacific Coast. It is entitled No. 3 Columbia River, Oregon, and gives sailing directions for entering the Columbia River as far as the harbor at Astoria by Lieut. Commanding Wm. P. McArthur, U. S. N., assistant in the Coast Survey.
Comstock, Douglas County. A station on the Southern Pacific Company main line in the northern part of the county, named for James B. Comstock, an early day sawmill operator.
Concomly, Marion County. A station on the Oregon Electric Railway about three miles southwest of Gervais. ​Named for Chief Concomly, head of the Chinook tribe, who is described in Irving's Astoria, and also in Alexander Henry's journal. He died in 1830, and his grave was visited by Wilkes in 1841. For references to Chief Concomly see Scott's History of the Oregon Country, volume II, page 139. The spelling used by the railway company is a variation of the original name.
Lewis and Clark met Comcomly on November 20, 1805, and gave him medals and a flag. Irving's description of him is in a decidedly humorous vein. His daughter married Archibald McDonald of the Astor party, and their son Ranald MacDonald is an interesting figure in northwest history. Ranald MacDonald, 1824-1894, edited by Lewis and Murakami, and published in 1923 by the Eastern Washington State Historical Society contains much interesting information about Comcomly and his family, and also about MacDonald's visit to Japan in 1848-49, which is of great historic interest. An editorial in The Oregonian for November 29, 1893, treats of MacDonald's pretensions to the Chinook throne.
Condon, Gilliam County. Condon is the county seat of Gilliam County, and has an elevation of 2858 feet. It is an important trading center and is on the John Day Highway, and is also the southern terminus of the Condon branch of the Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Company. About 1883 a man named Potter owned a homestead just north of Thirtymile Creek, upon which there was a fine spring. He platted the land around the spring, but became involved in financial difficulties, and the land became the property of Condon and Cornish of Arlington. Condon and Cornish sold lots in the townsite, and in 1884 David B. Trimble took the necessary steps to secure a post office, and was appointed the first postmaster. Trimble suggested the name Condon, which was adopted by the department. The office was established July 10, 1884. Harvey C. Condon, for whom the ​place was named, was a practicing lawyer and located in Arlington, or as it was then known, Alkali, about 1882, and was a member of the firm of Condon and Cornish. He was the son of Judge J. B . Condon, a pioneer jurist of eastern Oregon, and the nephew of Dr. Thomas Condon, Oregon's great geologist.
Condon Butte, Lane County. This butte is about five miles northwest of North Sister and one mile east of the McKenzie Highway. It was named in 1924 by Professor Edwin T. Hodge of the University of Oregon in honor of Dr. Thomas Condon (1822-1907), a distinguished geologist and scientist, and for many years a member of the faculty of the University of Oregon. Dr. Condon's discoveries of the prehistoric horse had a large influence on the conclusions of scientists and went far to establish evolutionary theories. The richest field of his discoveries was in the John Day Valley. For details concerning his life and work see Scott's History of the Oregon Country, volume III, page 169. Dr. John C. Merriam of the Carnegie Institution has chosen the John Day fossil bed as the scene of intensive investigations looking toward the development of Dr. Condon's discoveries.
Conser, Linn County. Conser is a station on the Oregon Electric Railway about four miles north of Albany. This station was named'for John A. Conser, who owned land nearby. He was the son of Jacob Conser, a pioneer of 1848.
Cook Slough, Clatsop County. This is a small tidal slough that joins Youngs Bay. It is situated a short distance east of Miles Crossing. Cook Slough takes its name from Geo. W. Cook, who was an early settler on land nearby. He was born in Vermont in 1818 and came to Oregon in 1850.
Cooper Mountain, Washington County. This is a well-known hill about four miles southwest of Beaverton ​and has an elevation of 794 feet. It was named for Perry Cooper who was born in Ohio in 1825 and was a pioneer of Oregon. He settled on the slopes of this mountain in March, 1853.
Cooper Spur, Hood River County. David Cooper was an early settler in Hood River Valley, and lived not far from the present site of Mt. Hood post office. He had a camping place on the east slopes of Mt. Hood and the spur was named for him. It separates Eliot Glacier from Newton Clark Glacier.
Coos County. Coos County was created December 22, 1853, by the Territorial Legislature. It originally comprised parts of the western portions of Umpqua and Jackson Counties. Coos is an Indian name of a native tribe whose habitat was the vicinity of Coos Bay. The name is first mentioned by Lewis and Clark, who spell it Cook-koo-oose (Thwaites' Original Journals, volume VI, page 117). The explorers heard the name among the Clatsop Indians, Slacum, in his report of 1837, gives the name of Coos River, Cowis; Wilkes, in Western America, spells it Cowes. The spelling has been variously Koo'as, Kowes, Coose, and finally Coos. For description of Coos Bay, see The Oregonian, June 11, 1873, article signed "Northwest." For description of the Oregon coast south of Coos Bay, by the same writer, ibid., July 9, 1873. One Indian meaning of Coos ascribed is "lake," another, "place of pines" (ibid., August 26, 1902, page 12). Perry B. Marple, who began exploiting Coos Bay in 1853, spelled the word Coose, and said it was an Indian per- version of the English word coast, meaning a place where ships can land. See his advertisement, ibid., January 7, 1854. Another version is that the Indian word was made to resemble the name of a county in New Hampshire (ibid., December 9, 1890, page 6). The Coos Indians were of the Kusan family, formerly living at Coos Bay. Lewis and Clark estimated their population at 1500 in ​1805. The name is often used as synonymous with the family name. Hale, in Ethnology and Philology (1846), page 221, gives the name as Kwook-woos and Kaus. Parrish, in Indian affairs Report (1855), page 495, gives Co-ose. In addition to Coos County, the name is also used for Coos Bay, Coos River and Coos Head. Interesting details of the early history of southwestern Oregon may be had in Orvil Dodge's Pioneer History of Coos and Curry Counties, published in Salem in 1898.
Cooston, Coos County. Cooston is on the east shore of Coos Bay and the origin of the name is the same as that of Coos Cunty. Cooston post office was established May 13, 1908, and the first postmaster was William E. Homme.
Copeland Creek, Jackson and Klamath Counties. Copeland Creek was named for Hiram Copeland of Fort Klamath. The stream rises west of Crater Lake and flows into Rogue River.
Coquille, Coos County. This name is applied to a city, a point and a river in Coos County, south of Coos Bay. Coquille is a word of doubtful origin, probably an Indian variation of the French coquille ("shell"). Scoquel appears in The Oregonian, January 7, 1854, in an advertisement of the Coose Bay Company. The name is there said to be Indian for "eel." Coquette appears in a map of John B. Preston, surveyor-general of Oregon (1851), probably intended for Coquelle. It appears Coquille in a map of J. W. Trutch (1856). Canadian-French fur hunters may have left the name among the Indians. See Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, volume XIX, pages 73-74, by Leslie M. Scott, and also The Oregonian for September 3, 1907, where Harvey W. Scott makes some comments on the pronunciation of the name.
Corbett, Multnomah County. This post office and station on the Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Company line, as well as Corbett Heights upon the Co​lumbia River Highway above were named for Senator Henry Winslow Corbett, one of Oregon's prominent pioneer citizens, for many years a resident of Portland. Mr. Corbett owned a farm near the post office. For a concise biography of Mr. Corbett, see Carey's History of Oregon, volume II, page 305. Scott's History of the Oregon Country has biographical information about Senator Corbett in volume I, pages 108 and 280, and Harvey W. Scott's tribute to him, volume V, page 183.
Cornelius, Washington County. Cornelius was named for Colonel T. R. Cornelius, a pioneer of 1845. He was the son of Benjamin Cornelius, who with his family emigrated to Oregon during that year as a member of the Meek party. The family settled on the Tualatin Plains. Colonel Cornelius served in the Cayuse War of 1847-48, and the Yakima War of 1855-56. He served twenty years in the Oregon legislature, and in 1861 raised a regiment of volunteer cavalry. He was in the merchandising business and also for a time operated a sawmill. Colonel Cornelius was born in November, 1827, and died June 24, 1899. The town of Cornelius is between Hillsboro and Forest Grove and has an elevation of 175 feet according to the Oregon State Highway Department.
Cornucopia, Baker County. This derived from Latin words meaning "horn of plenty" and the name is frequently applied to mines and other enterprises where there are large hopes of success. In 1885 mines were discovered on the southern slopes of the Wallowa Mountains in Baker County, and among the prospectors were several who came from Cornucopia, Nevada, who suggested that name for the new camp.
Corral Creek, Clackamas County. Corral Creek drains the east slopes of Parrott Mountain and flows into the Willamette River one mile west of Wilsonville. There are many other Corral Creeks in Oregon, especially east of the Cascade Range. The word was originally Spanish ​and meant an inclosure or pen for stock. It was possibly from the same source as the South African Dutch word kraal. There were two reasons for describing creeks with this word. The first was that stockmen built their corrals with streams running through them as a matter of convenience. In the second place there were many valleys, especially in eastern Oregon where the rock formation produced natural corrals, with water running through them.
Corvallis, Benton County. Corvallis was first called Marysville. The legislature changed the name to Corvallis in 1853. There is much dispute as to the origin of Marysville, It may# have been named by Wayman Saint Clair for Mary Lloyd. There is some little romance about this, in that it is stated that she was the first white girl to cross Marys River. On the other hand old residents of Benton County assert that Adam E. Wimple, one of the earliest settlers named Marysville, Marys River and Marys Peak for his sister in New York. Then there is the customary Indian legend, revived by the white man, than an Indian girl named Mary was the reason for the name. For details of the first two versions see Scott's History of the Oregon Country, volume II, pages 168, 187, 188 and 313. See also under Marys River.
Joseph C. Avery was the first owner of the site of Corvallis, and he was a pioneer of 1845. He died in 1876. Avery made up the name Corvallis by compounding Latin words meaning "heart of the valley." It is said that the name was changed to prevent confusion with Marysville, California. Corvallis has an elevation of 231 feet and the geography of its immediate surroundings may be seen on the U. S. Geological Survey map of the Corvallis quadrangle.
Coryell Pass, Lane County. This pass in on the narrow shelf of ground between the Willamette River and the hills about a mile south of Springfield Junction. It ​is occupied by the tracks of the Southern Pacific Company, with the Pacific Highway just above. It was named for Stephen Coryell, a pioneer of 1847, who resided nearby, and the pioneer routes of travel led through this point. A memorial tablet stands just east of the highway at this point bearing the following inscription: "Coryell Pass. Oregon Trail 1846. Erected by Oregon Lewis and Clark Chapter, D. A. R. 1917."
Cottage Grove, Lane County. Cottage Grove is an important community in the southern part of Lane County, on the main line of the Southern Pacific Company and on the Pacific Highway. Its elevation is 640 feet and the Coast Fork Willamette River flows through it. The post office was first established east of the present site of Creswell, March 3, 1855, with G. C. Pearce as postmaster. Pearce had his home in an oak grove, and named the post office Cottage Grove. Later a man named Hamilton was made postmaster, and he moved the office to the present site of Saginaw. Still later, a new postmaster named Martin moved the office to the present site of Cottage Grove, and in each case the name moved with the office. See Scott's History of the Oregon Country, volume II, page 207.
Cotton, Multnomah County. Cotton is a station on the line of the Portland Electric Power Company about a mile west of Gresham. It was named for William Wick Cotton (1859-1918), a well-known attorney of Portland, who owned a large farm near the station. Mr. Cotton was a native of Iowa, and studied law at Columbia University, New York City. He came to Portland in October, 1889, and practiced law continuously until his death, at which time he was counsel of the Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Company and other important corporations.
Council Crest, Multnomah County. This is the highest point on a range of hills south of Portland. Its ​elevation is 1073 feet. It was a part of the John B. Talbot donation land claim and was subsequently owned successively by C. A. Beal, James Steel and Graham Glass, Sr. The hill was for a time known as Glass Hill and was later called Fairmount, which name is still retained by the boulevard which encircles it.
On July 11, 1898, delegates to the National Council of Congregational Churches met on top of this hill. Some discussion was had concerning a good name for it. A delegate from Portland, Maine, suggested Council Crest. This name was at once approved by Geo. H . Himes, who was present, and a report of this meeting was sent to newspapers.
The Indians at one time may have used the crest as a meeting place and signal station because of its wide outlook, but there is no historic record of it.
Couse Creek, Umatilla County. Couse is derived from the Nez Perce Indian word kowish, and is the name of an edible root used for making bread. Piper and Beattie in their Flora of Southeastern Washington give its botanical name as cogswellia cous. It is a member of the natural order Umbelliferae.
The stream in Umatilla County rises in the western slopes of the Blue Mountains and flows into Walla Walla River southeast of Milton. There are probably other geographic features in the state with the same name, due to the fact that the Indians found the roots plentiful in such localities.
Cove, Union County. Cove lies in a natural pocket where Mill Creek flows from the Wallowa Mountains, and it has an elevation of 2893 feet. It is on the eastern edge of the Grande Ronde Valley and at the western foot of Mount Fanny. The first family settled there on October 9, 1862, and on May 4, 1863, a post office was established which was given the name of Forest Cove, for descriptive reasons. Samuel G. French was the first ​postmaster and he probably suggested the name. On June 29, 1868, the post office authorities eliminated the first part of the name because of the confusion with Forest Grove in Washington County. As a result of this simple action there arose in Union County a feud that lasted many years.
In 1864 Union County was created, and as was frequent in pioneer days, there was dissatisfaction over the matter of the location of the county seat. In 1872 a bill was passed putting the matter to a vote, and the two communities that received the highest vote in the preliminary balloting were to be eligible for the final election. Some votes were cast for Forest Cove by old timers to whom the new name did not mean much, and as a result an attempt was made to deprive Cove of its position in the contest. T. T. Geer's Fifty Years in Oregon, chapter XXXVI gives an entertaining account of these and other matters.
Cove Orchard, Yamhill County. This is a descriptive name applied to a community in the northern part of the county. It was platted under this name by F. C . Graham of Portland.
Cow Creek, Douglas County. This stream is one of the historic land marks of southern Oregon. It is tributary to the South Umpqua River and for a large part of the way from Glendale to Riddle it occupies a narrow defile through rugged mountains. The main line of the Southern Pacific Company shares Cow Creek Canyon with the creek. For many years high water in the stream has been a menace to traffic.
It is popularly supposed that the Pacific Highway passes through Cow Creek Canyon but this is not true. South of Canyonville the Pacific Highway follows Canyon Creek, which is also in a narrow defile. Some miles to the south the Pacific Highway crosses Cow Creek, but at this point the creek occupies a wide valley. Walling's ​History of Southern Oregon, page 424, says an immigrant recovered his cattle from thievish Indians in this valley, from which fact the creek derived its name.
Coxcomb Hill, Clatsop County. This is the summit of the ridge south of Astoria, between the Columbia River and Youngs Bay. The compiler has been unable to ascertain who first applied the name. The spelling used is the customary form applied to court fools and jesters who wore an imitation coxcomb, and frequently called coxcombs. Elevation about 647 feet.
Coyote Creek, Lane County. The word Coyote is used to describe a number of geographic features in Oregon, including a station in Morrow County, a butte in Baker County known as Coyote Point, and several streams. Coyote is derived from the Mexican or Aztec name coyotl, the word for the prairie wolf, or barking wolf of western North America, canis latrans. Early settlers looked upon the coyote as a nuisance because of his noisy habits and his tendency to pay a midnight visit to the chicken roost, on which occasion he could be perfectly quiet. Creeks and points where coyotes were seen or heard had the name of the animal attached, and possibly some were named because of the fact that a coyote had been killed nearby. The Chinook jargon word for the coyote was talapus, with which was associated an idea of deity, or god of the plains.
Cozine Creek, Yamhill County. This stream rises in the eastern foothills of the Coast Range and flows through McMinnville where it joins South Yamhill River. It was named for Samuel Cozine, who was born in Kentucky in 1821 and was a pioneer of Oregon. He settled on land adjacent to the present site of McMinnville in August, 1849.
Crabtree Creek, Linn County. Crabtree Creek rises in the west slopes of the Cascade Range and flows into the South Santiam River just east of the forks of the ​Santiam. The stream together with a station on a branch of the Southern Pacific north of Lebanon was named for John J. Crabtree, a native of Virginia, who crossed the plains in 1845. After wintering on the Tualatin Plains, Mr. and Mrs. Crabtree took up a claim near the forks of the Santiam in the spring of 1846. See editorial page Oregon Journal, December 3 and 4, 1924, and Carey's History of Oregon, volume II, page 203.
Craig Lake, Deschutes County. Craig Lake is near the summit of McKenzie Pass. It is a pond about a mile from the McKenzie Highway. It was named for John T. Craig, one of the original founders of the McKenzie toll road, who died of exposure in the winter of 1878, while in the pursuance of his duties as mail-carrier across the pass. See article on editorial page of the Portland Telegram, September 17, 1925.
Crater Lake, Crater Lake National Park, Klamath County. A lake between five and six miles in diameter, with an area of about 21 square miles, situated in the caldera of the extinct volcano, Mount Mazama, on the summit of the Cascade Range. It is fed by small streams from melting snowbanks on the inner slopes of the rim, and has no visible outlet. Elevation 6177 feet.
This lake is one of the deepest in the world, and soundings have been made of 1996 feet. The highest point on the rim is Glacier Peak, 8156 feet above the sea. The water is of an intense blue. Crater Lake was discovered on June 12, 1853, by John W. Hillman and a party of prospectors, and was christened Deep Blue Lake. It has been known at times as Mysterious Lake, Lake Majesty, Lake Mystery, and other similar names, but on August 4, 1869, it was named Crater Lake by a party of visitors from Jacksonville, Oregon.
Crater Lake National Park was created by an act of congress May 22, 1902, and embraces about 250 square miles of land in Douglas and Klamath counties. The lake ​may be reached by road from Medford, Fort Klamath or Bend. A full description of the lake and its geology will be found in Professional Paper 3 of the U. S. Geological Survey. The Geological Survey also publishes an excellent map showing the topography of Crater Lake National Park. For particulars concerning the unveiling of the tablet in memory of J. W. Hillman see The Oregonian for September 21, 1925, page 1 and editorial.
Crater Peak, Crater Lake National Park, Klamath County. This peak was named by engineers of the U. S. Geological Survey because of the extinct crater in its summit. It has an elevation of 7265 feet.
Crater Rock, Clackamas and Hood River Counties. Crater Rock is a well-known point on the south slope of Mt. Hood. It was so named because of the smouldering crater on its north side, between the rock and the slope of the mountain. Crater Rock was once near the central axis of the mountain, but the preponderance of precipitation on the southwest slope of Mt. Hood has resulted in the slope wearing away more rapidly than the other sides, which has caused the summit to be shifted gradually northeast.
Crates Point, Wasco County. This is a well-known promontory west of The Dalles, around the toe of which flows the Columbia River changing its course from north to west. It is part of the east portal of the Columbia River Gorge. A nearby railroad station is known as Crates. These features were named for Edward Crate, a French-Canadian who came to Oregon as an employee of the Hudson's Bay Company. Mrs. Lulu D. Crandall of The Dalles is authority for the statement that Crate came to the Oregon country as early as 1832. (See The Dalles Chronicle for September 14, 1924). Crate passed through The Dalles in 1837, and also just after the Whitman massacre in 1847 when he was one of those who manned the boat that brought down the river the sur​vivors rescued from the Indians by Peter Skene Ogden. He stayed in Oregon City until 1850 and in April of that year went to The Dalles to settle. The records of the land office indicate that he made settlement on his claim on April 1, 1851. Mrs. Crate was from the Red River of the North, and the couple had 14 children, the fourth being John Crate, who was an infant when his parents went to The Dalles, and who lived in Wasco County for three-quarters of a century. Mrs. Crate came to Oregon about 1845, and her maiden name was Sophia Berchia or Berchier. The Crate claim was near the river under the slope of the bluff. The name on the original application at the land office is spelled Crete, but the family apparently abandoned this form of spelling long ago.
Crawford, Yamhill County. This is a station between Lafayette and Newberg, and was named for Medorem Crawford, who was born in Orange County, New York, June 24, 1819. He came to Oregon in 1842 with Dr. Elijah White, and took a prominent part in the affairs of the state. He died December 27, 1891. For biographical information, see Scott's History of the Oregon Country. Medorem Crawford was esteemed by all who knew him and his narrative of the emigration of 1842 appeared in the Transactions of the Oregon Pioneer Association for 1881.
Crawfordsville, Linn County. Crawfordsville is on the Calapooya River in the southern part of the county, and was named for George F. Crawford, who was born in Virginia in 1818, came to Oregon in 1853 and died in Albany in 1899.
Crescent, Klamath County. This town, with an elevation of 4453 feet, is an important trading point on The Dalles-California Highway about 50 miles south of Bend. It was at this place that the proposed junction of the Harriman north and south and east and west railroads was to have been located, under the name of Odell, ​for Odell Lake. There was another Odell in the state, in the Hood River Valley, so the promoters of the townsite changed the name to Crescent for Crescent Lake, one of the large lakes of the Cascade Range, ocated 15 miles to the west.
Crescent Lake, Klamath County. One of the impressive mountain lakes of Oregon, on the east slope of the Cascade Range not far from Diamond Peak. It is fed by Summit Creek, which flows into East Fork Deschutes River. Its south shore is skirted by the Willamette Highway, formerly the Oregon Central Military Road. Elevation 4837 feet. Named because of its shape. Professional Paper 9 of the U. S. Geological Survey describes this lake in detail. The geography of the lake and its immediate surroundings is shown on the Geological Survey's map of the Diamond Lake quadrangle.
Creswell, Lane County. Creswell post office was established March 4, 1876. The place was named by Ben Holladay for John A. J. Creswell, postmaster-general from 1869-74. Creswell has an elevation of 543 feet and is on the main line of the Southern Pacific Company and the Pacific Highway. Creswell Butte, about a mile to the south, has an elevation of 982 feet. John A. J. Creswell was born in Maryland in 1828, and served as U. S. representative and as senator before joining the cabinet. In 1874 he was appointed counsel of the United States in the Alabama Claims matter and served until 1876. He died December 23, 1891. Creswell station was named by Holladay several years before the post office was established.
Creswell Canyon, Marion County. This is a canyon in the hills north of Jefferson and its lower end is crossed by the Pacific Highway. It was named for Donald E. Creswell, who was born in Ilinois in 1830 and setted near the canyon in October, 1853. He spelled his name without a "t."
​Cripple Creek, Clackamas County. This stream flows into the Clackamas River from the east in township 5 south, range 6 east. W. C. Elliott, civil engineer of Portland, is authority for the statement that a surveyor in his employ cut his foot with an ax at this point in 1897.
Cripple Criterion, Wasco County. It is understood that a number of homesteaders suggested several names to the Post Office Department when the application was made for a post office at this point. The first preference was for "Three Notches" and the second was for "Criterion." The Post Office Department objected to the first name because it was composed of two words and adopted the second name. The writer has been unable to ascertain why this name was suggested. The word means a standard by which to judge of the character or excellence of an object or thing.
Croisan Ridge, Marion County. Croisan Ridge and Croisan Gulch lie not far from the east bank of the Willamette River just southwest of Salem. These features are named for a prominent Marion County pioneer family. The first member of this family to live in Oregon was born in Bavaria in 1817 of Huguenot parents. He emigrated to the United States in 1839 and came to Oregon over the Applegate route in 1846. After various pioneer experiences, including a trip to California, he settled on a donation land claim southwest of Salem in March, 1850. See editorial page, Oregon Journal, December 18 and 19, 1925.
The original application for the land claim shows the name spelled in various ways, including Croisant, Croisint and Crossint. The given names of this pioneer settler were John Henry. While the Land Office records seem to indicate that the spelling Croisint was the corerct one, present members of the family state that the name was really Croisant. The second generation in Oregon found the name so frequently mispronounced that the final "t" ​was dropped and the name has become Croisan. The Croisan family tradition says the name originally meant "growing," the French for which would be Croissant. Croissant is also the French for "crescent."
Cripple Creek. Crook County was created October 24, 1882, from a part of Wasco County after Lake County had been taken off on the south. (Special Laws of 1882, page 178). For many years it was one of the large counties of central Oregon, but is now diminished in size as the result of the creation of Deschutes and Jefferson Counties. It has an area of 2934 square miles, according to the U. S. Bureau of the Census. Prineville is its county seat.
Crook County was named for George Crook, major-general in the U. S. Army, who was born near Dayton, Ohio, September 8, 1829; died at Chicago March 21, 1890. He graduated from West Point in 1852. Prior to the Civil War he served in the west, and was wounded in 1857 in the Pit River country. He made a brilliant record in the Civil War, and afterwards in Indian wars of the west. See Scott's History of the Oregon Country, volume II, page 184 and volume V, pages 223-25.
Crook Point, Curry County. This point is in approximate latitude 42° 15’, and is within 20 miles of the Oregon-California boundary line. Crook Point is moderately low, but terminates seaward in a rocky knoll 160 feet high, with lower ground immediately back of it.
Crooked Creek, Klamath County. This is a stream near Klamath Agency, tributary to Wood River. It bears a descriptive name. The Klamath Indian name is Yanaldi Koke, literally, "Stream bordered by the Yanaldi Ridge." Koke is the Klamath word for stream. For additional information see under Agency Hill.
Crooks Creek, Linn County. This stream is in the extreme north part of the county and is intermittent in character and the waters from it eventually find their ​way into the Willamette River about eight miles north of Albany. This stream was named for John T. Crooks, who took up a donation land claim nearby.
Crowley, Malheur County. This post office and creek nearby were named for James Crowley, who settled there and established a ranch about July, 1874.
Crowley, Polk County. This station is on the Southern Pacific Company line between Holmes Gap and Rickreall, and was named for Solomon K. Crowley, an early resident of the neighborhood.
Crystal, Klamath County. This name was originally applied to a fine clear stream flowing into Upper Klamath Lake near Pelican Bay. In 1925, Postmaster S. A. Brown reports that he thinks the stream was named in 1891 by G. W. Maylone and John Young. Crystal, as the name of the office was proposed by the first postmaster, D. G. Brown, in 1892, when it was established through his efforts.
Cucamonga Creek, Harney Creek. This stream rises on the northwestern slopes of Steens Mountain, and enters Kiger Creek, a tributary of Donner und Blitzen River. The name is apparently derived from Cucamonga Creek, San Bernardino County, California, but how the Oregon stream got the name the writer has been unable to ascertain. Cucamonga is an Indian name and according to Mrs. Nellie Van de Grift Sanchez, in her book Spanish and Indian Place Names of California, was originally applied to a native village about 42 miles east of Los Angeles, and later to a land grant.
Cullaby Lake, Clatsop County. A lake on Clatsop Plains, about two miles long, fed by small streams. The present outlet is through a ditch into Skipanon River. Many years ago this lake drained through Necoxie Creek, which first flowed northward and then turned south and emptied into the estuary of Necanicum River. Shifting sands damned that part of Necoxie Creek nearest the ​ocean, where the stream flowed south, and formed a long narrow body of water known as Necoxie Lake. From Necoxie Lake to Cullaby Lake, Necoxie Creek now flows in a direction opposite to its original flow, and drains into Cullaby Lake. South of Necoxie Lake, the other portion of Necoxie Creek still flows into Necanicum River estuary. In recent times extensive cranberry culture has been developed around the shores of Cullaby Lake. Its elevation is near sea level.
Silas B. Smith is authority for the statement that the Indian name for this lake was Ya-se-ya-ma-na-la-tslas-tie. See Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, volume I, page 322. It was later named for Cullaby, a well-known Indian character on Clatsop Plains. Cullaby had a peculiar light complexion, and was the son of the Indian whom Lewis and Clark saw on the last day of the year 1805, and whom they described as "freckled with long duskey red hair, about 25 years of age, and must certainly be half white at least."
Cultus Lake, Deschutes County. Cultus is a Chinook jargon word, quite expressive, meaning bad or wholly worthless. It is used in many places in the northwest, generally because of the lack of one or more of the pioneer traveler's greatest needs, "wood, water or grass." Cultus Creek generally meant that the water was unfit for use. Cultus Prairie meant that the horse feed was poor. The word found its way into the jargon from the Chinook Indian word kaltas.
In addition to Cultus Lake in Deschutes County, there is also a Little Cultus Lake and Cultus Mountain. The latter was doubtless named for the lakes. Cultus has been spelled in many ways including Kultus, Cultas and Cultis, but the U. S. Geographic Board has adopted the form Cultus.
Culver, Jefferson County. In the latter part of 1900 at a dinner party of old settlers living in the Haystack ​country O. G. Collver was requested to make an application for a post office and to act as postmaster. A number of names of old settlers were submitted to the department, and Culver was adopted, this being the ancestral name of Mr. Collver. O. G . Collver was born at Roseburg February 10, 1854, and went into central Oregon in June, 1877. He was appointed postmaster of Culver October 31, 1900.
Currinsville, Clackamas County. This is a station on the line of the Portland Electric Power Company two miles north of Estacada. It was named for George and Hugh Currin, who were pioneer settlers in Clackamas County and took up donation land claims near this point.
Curry County. Curry County was created December 18, 1855, and comprised a part of the southern part of Coos County. It was named for George Law Curry, who was born at Philadelphia July 2, 1820; died at Portland July 28, 1878. On arrival at Oregon City he acted as editor of the Oregon Spectator, from October 1, 1846, until the end of 1847, and in March, 1848, published the Oregon Free Press. He represented Clackamas County in the provisional legislature of 1848-49, served as chief clerk of the territorial council of 1850-51, and represented Clackamas in the house of the territorial legislature in 1851. In 1853, President Pierce appointed Curry secretary of the territory of Oregon. A few days after taking that office, he became acting governor through resignation of Governor Joseph Lane. In December, 1853, Governor John W. Davis arrived, but in August, 1854, Davis resigned, and Curry was acting governor until appointed governor, a few months later. He served as governor until the territory became a state, in 1859. "He was of singularly amiable disposition, honorable, and gifted with a versatility of talents of such degree that whatever he undertook was well performed" (Transactions of Oregon Pioneer Association for 1878, page 80). He was editor ​of the Portland Advertiser, the third daily newspaper at Portland, first published January 1, 1861, and the Evening Journal, January 25 to April 25,1876. For biography of himself and his wife, Chloe Boone Curry, see The Oregonian, February 12,1899. For his narrative of early history of Oregon, ibid., March 15, 1872, page 3; February 28, 1872, page 3. Curry was territorial governor when Curry County was created. For early history of Curry County, see The Oregonian for February 14, 1886, by O. W. Olney. See also Scott's History of the Oregon Country, volume V, page 222, for a tribute to Curry. The Pioneer History of Coos and Curry Counties edited by Orvil Dodge contains much interesting material about early days in Curry County.
Curtin, Douglas County. This place was named for Daniel Curtin, who operated a sawmill there in the early '90s.
Cushman, Lane County. Cushman is a station and post office on the Coos Bay line of the Southern Pacific Company, and is on the north bank of the Siuslaw River. It is about a mile east of Cushman community, which was formerly Acme. It was named by the railroad company for C. C . and I. B . Cushman, local residents. The company already had an Acme on its lines and did not wish to duplicate that name, and after the station name was changed, the post office authorities followed suit. The name Acme was originally applied by Mrs. W. A. Cox, an early settler. It is said that Mrs. Cox dreamed she was to live in a place called Acme, so when her husband platted a townsite in Lane County, the place was called Acme.