# Oregon Geographic Names (1952)/O

​OAK, Coos County. On February 28, 1901, a post office named Oak was established about eight miles by road southeast of Myrtle Creek near the banks of Middle Fork Coquille River, probably very close to Endicott Creek which flows in from the north. Solomon S. Endicott was the first and only postmaster. The office was closed August 22, 1902. It was named for the forest growth of the locality.
OAK CREEK, Benton County. Oak Creek is near Corvallis. There are many geographic features in Oregon named for oak trees. Sudworth, in Check List of Forest Trees of the United States, page 105, lists but one oak in northern Oregon, Quercus garryanna, Oregon white oak, and most of the features named for the oak are named because of the nearby existence of this species. Quercus kelloggii, California black oak, is listed as growing as far north as McKenzie River, and Quercus chrysolepis, canyon live oak, is listed as far north as Cow Creek.
OAK CREEK, Douglas County, Oak Creek, a locality about ten miles northeast of Roseburg, took its name from the stream on which it is situated. The stream name is very old and came of course from the oak trees which are so prominent in that part of the county. Oak Creek post office was established October 18, 1878, with Jeptha Thornton first postmaster. In 1896, when postal officials were in the throes of efficiency, the name was consolidated to Oakcreek, but the general public continued to use the style Oak Creek. The writer does not know when the post office was closed, but apparently it was some time between 1910 and 1912.
Oak GROVE, Clackamas County, Harvey G. Starkweather, a resident of this neighborhood, is authority for the statement that the name of Oak Grove was suggested by Edward W. Cornell, a member of the survey. ing party that platted the townsite in the early '90s. The company developing the property had not been able to secure a satisfactory name ​
and Cornell's suggestion came as a result of a crew eating lunch in a fine grove of oak trees in the northwest part of the tract. The townsite was originally served from Milwaukie post office. About 1904 Creighton post office was established to serve the community. This name was adopted in honor of Susan Creighton who took up a donation land claim where the post office then stood. Postal authorities did not use the name Oak Grove because of duplication. The first postmaster was Thomas Howell, Oregon's great botanist. What is now known as Oak Grove station was originally called Center station and what is now St. Theresa was originally known as Oak Grove station. In order to prevent the confusion created by this state of affairs, postal authorities were prevailed upon in 1907 to change the post office name to Oak Grove and the name of Center station was changed to Oak Grove station, so that peace and happiness reigned insofar as the name was concerned.
OAK GROVE, Hood River County. This was originally part of the Barrett district on the west side of Hood River Valley. The first school was called Crapper School, but when the church was constructed it was called Oak Grove Church. About 1904 when the present school was constructed, residents changed the name of Grapper district to Oak Grove district.
OAK GROVE BUTTE, Clackamas County. This butte, elevation 4626 feet, was named for Oak Grove Fork Clackamas River to the north and not because of any grove of oaks on its slopes. Oak GROVE FORK CLACKAMAS River, Clackamas County, This is a principal tributary of the Clackamas. In early days Wapinitia, on the east side of the Cascade Range, was known as Oak Grove, and because this fork headed in that general direction it was known as Oak Grove Fork. For other information see under WAPINITIA. Oak Point, Columbia County. On June 1, 1810, Nathan Winship, William Smith and others of the Winship expedition on the ship Albatross came upon a grove of oak trees on the south bank of the Columbia River. These were the first oaks the party had found since entering the river on May 26 and the locality was named Oak Point. This point is west of and across Bradbury Slough from the west end of Crims Island. Bancroft, in History of the Northwest Coast, volume II, pages 129 et seq., gives an account of the settlement and the difficulties experienced. Later the name Oak Point emigrated across the Columbia River to the Washington side where it is now the name of a community. Government maps do not show any name of this low point on the Oregon shore, which is at the north edge of a large reclamation area. Lewis and Clark passed this locality on March 26, 1806, and named what is now Crims Island Fannys Island in compliment to Frances Clark, sister of William Clark. The extensive flat or prairie on the south bank of the river was named Fannys Bottom. It is perhaps just as well that Miss Clark was unable to foresec modern English usage. The explorers mention the prominent grove of oak trees at the point at the north corner of Fannys Bottom. Oak Point and vicinity are described in Coues' Henry-Thompson Journals, volume II, pages 794-95, under date of January 11, 1814, and the name seems to have been well established. Wilkes charted Oak Point on his maps and charts as of 1841. A few years later the Abernethy mill drew the name across the river to the Washington shore and there it has remained. In 1792 Broughton applied the name Oak Point to a place on the Washing ​ton side of the Columbia River a little below the present community of St. Helens. This Oak Point seems to have been in the same locality as Caples Landing.
OAKERMAN RANCH, Harney County. The name of this ranch is frequently misspelled. It bears the name of J. Fred Oakerman, who received his land patent from the United States. The ranch is a little north of Central Oregon Highway and is well-known in central Oregon.
OAKLAND, Douglas County. Oakland post office was established February 21, 1852. In 1856 the office was on a prairie surrounded by oak trees, about three miles north of the present town. At that time the office, which was in charge of a preacher named Hull Tower, was the terminus of four mail routes, one to Jacksonville, one to Scottsburg, one via the pass to the Coast Fork and Eugene, and the other through Yoncalla to Corvallis. All mail was carried on saddle and pack horses. The office received its name on account of the oak trees that are so plentiful in the vicinity. See University of Oregon Extension Monitor for September, 1924. The first postmaster at Oakland was David C. Underwood.
OAKLEY, Harney County. Oakley was a post office in the east part of the county, in Crane Creek Gap, a little more than a mile east of the town now known as Crane. The significance of the name Oakley has not been determined. Oakley post office was established November 4, 1889, with Philander H. Gray postmaster, who served until the office was discontinued July 29, 1895. When the office was established in 1889, Mrs. Gray suggested the name Fairview, which was well suited to the locality, but this turned out to be a duplicate of another Fairview, in Coos County, and postal officials would not approve it. Mrs. Gray then suggested Oakley, a name apparently selected at random.
OAKRIDGE, Lane County. This name was suggested by Major R. L. Edwards, a right-of-way agent of the Southern Pacific Company. It accurately describes a topography and surrounding timber cover. Oakridge post ofhce was established in 1912. In earlier days the community was known as Hazeldell.
OAKVILLE, Linn County. Oakville is a locality about six miles airline southeast of Albany, but it is not now classed as a commercial community. The prominent Oakville church has long been a landmark. The name was of course derived from the Oregon white oak trees native to the land. Oakville post office was established May 16, 1878, with James B. Coney first postmaster. This office served the area for nearly a quarter of a century and was not closed until August 15, 1902. Its demise was doubtless due to the extension of rural free delivery. Oasis, Gilliam County. Oasis post office was given a descriptive name. It was established May 5, 1884, with Thomas Fairhurst first and only postmaster. The office was closed to Arlington November 3, 1886. On August 6, 1948, J. D). Weed, early settler in Gilliam County, wrote the compiler from Condon as follows: "Oasis post office was in what is known as Eightmile Canyon, about four miles south of and up the canvon from the site ol a later post office called Montague, which was established in 1911. I was well acquainted with the son of Thomas Fairhurst and visited at the old Fairhurst home where the Oasis post office was situated. There was a large spring that broke out in this canyon and when I was a boy, there were about twenty-five acres of irrigated alfalfa land. On all ​
with the Highwayunty. O'Brien sides of this place there was dry, arid bunchgrass land." It seems apparent that Oasis post office was well named.
OATFIELD ROAD, Clackamas County. This road extends southeast from Milwaukie. It bears the name of a well-known pioneer family of the vicinity. For additional information, see obituary of Mrs. Minerva Thessing Oatheld, Oregon Journal, April 9, 1943. O'BRIEN, Josephine County. O'Brien is a community and post office on the Redwood Highway about ten miles south of Kerby, at the junction with the old stage road to the southwest up West Fork Illinois River. The place bears the name of John O'Brien, one of the first settlers of the locality. The spelling O'Bryan is wrong
OBSIDIAN CLIFF, Lane County. Dr. E. T. Hodge, in his Mount Multnomah, page 103, et seq., describes Obsidian Cliff quite fully. Obsidian is a black volcanic glass composed of acid lava which cooled so rapidly that it did not have time to crystallize. Obsidian Cliff is a prominent point west of the Three Sisters. See under Glass BUTTES.
OCEANSIDE, Tillamook County. Nothing could be simpler than this.
OCEOLA, Washington County. Oceola was a post office of pioneer days, established June 24, 1854, with Laurence Hall postmaster. Preston's Map of Oregon, 1856, shows the place near the present site of Beaverton, but spelled Oseola. It passed from the picture many years ago. There are many places in the United States named for the Seminole Indian chief, and the spelling generally used is Osceola.
OCHOCO CREEK, Crook and Wheeler counties. Ochoco Creek and other geographic features in central Oregon are said to have been named for Ochoco or Ocheco, a Snake or Piute chief, and a contemporary of Paulina and Howlock. However, this is disputed by old-timers in Crook County, who say the chief was named for the stream because he lived nearby. It is also said that the word ochoco was a local Indian word for willows and the stream was named on that account. The compiler knows no way to compose these differences in legend.
ODELL, Hood River County. This is a well-known community in the middle Hood River Valley. It was named for William Odell, who settled nearby as early as 1861, and whose son, Milton D. Odell, was the first white child born in the valley. Roswell Shelley started a store at Odell and applied the present name. William Odell was a native of Tennessee. Milton Odell was born in 1863. A news item in the Hood River Glacier, October 14, 1932, cites Mrs. Troy Shelley as authority for the statement that the name of the town was originally suggested by S. F. Blythe, the pioneer editor of the Glacier, Post office records show that when the post office was established in June, 1910, it was first called Newtown. The name was changed to Odell in March, 1911. The name Newtown did not refer to Hood River's famous apple, but to the new settlement that sprang up at the railroad station about three-quarters of a mile southeast of the old Crossroads.
ODELL CREEK, Klamath County. Odell Creek is the name applied to the outlet of Odell Lake. The stream flows into Davis Lake. For many years there was considerable confusion about the names of the streams in the upper Deschutes River drainage basin. A committee of Forest Service officials codified the names, and the term Odell Creek was chosen to indicate the stream described above. It has come into universal use.
ODELL LAKE, Klamath County. William Holman Odell was born in ​
— sodies of water . 1). Pengra. In Diamond Pe — —tte'a says that report is.com Indiana in 1830. He came to Oregon in 1852, and engaged in farming and teaching, and later in surveying and was connected with the construction of the military wagon road up the Middle Fork Willamette River. He was appointed surveyor general for Oregon in 1871, and was a presidential elector in 1876, and later engaged in the newspaper business. He died in Portland April 27, 1922. Odell Lake, one of the finest mountain bodies of water in the state, was named for him. The name was applied in 1865, by B. J. Pengra. In July, 1865, Pengra and Odell made a reconnaissance in the vicinity of Diamond Peak for the Oregon Central Military Road, and part of Pengra's report is on file at the Oregon Historical Society. The report says that Pengra and Odell visited what is now known as Odell Butte, apparently on July 22, 1865. On July 26 Odell climbed to the top of the butte and discovered a fine lake to the northwest. On July 27 the two explorers visited the lake and Pengra named it for Odell. The report contains a very good description of Odell Lake. Odell Lake has an elevation of 4792 feet, and the Cascade line of the Southern Pacific Company skirts its southern shore. Willamette Highway is on the north bank of the lake. Other features in the neighborhood named for W. H. Odell include Odell Butte and Odell Creek, the outlet of Odell Lake. Odell Lake is fed from melting snows on Diamond Peak and Maiden Peak, and is about six miles long. Its western end is but a few minutes walk from the summit of the Cascade Range over the tunnel of the Southern Pacific. This lake occupies a depression cut by a glacier, and the terminal moraine makes the dam that impounds the water. Odell Creek connects this lake with Davis Lake to the northeast.
ODESSA, Klamath County. Odessa post office was established northwest of Klamath Falls and near Upper Klamath Lake May 16, 1902. Mrs. Blanche Griffith was one of a long string of postmasters. The office operated, with one intermission, until July 31, 1919, when it was closed to Recreation. The compiler is not satisfied with the available information about the origin of the name of this office. In 1948 Mrs. Griffith, then living in San Diego, wrote the compiler that the place was named by the wife of her husband's brother. This Mrs. Griffith had lived in France and it is said that the name Odessa came to her attention in that country, but the compiler knows of no Odessa in France. It seems more probable that the name came from the important city in the southwest part of Russia. Odin FALLS, Deschutes County. These falls are said to have been named by Joe Houston, a nearby resident. Odin was the name, in Norse mythology, of a god corresponding to the Anglo-Saxon Woden. He was considered to be the patron of culture and of heroes.
OGLE CREEK, Marion and Clackamas counties. Ogle Creek was named for Bob Ogle, of Molalla, who prospected on this stream and located some claims thereon. The stream flows into Molalla River in the south part of the county.
OJALLA CREEK, Lincoln County. Ojalla Creek is tributary to Siletz River near Ojalla Bridge. Ojalla is a Finnish name, apparently that of a local settler. It should not be confused with the Indian word olalla or olallie, meaning berries. OK GULCH, Wallowa County. This is a dry gulch about a mile and a half long. Its mouth is in section 1, township 2 south, range ​
45 east. J. H. Horner of Enterprise told the compiler that the gulch was named for John Creighton, who built a corral in the gulch and rounded up his cattle there and branded them with the letters ( K, connected. Creighton served with John W. Cullen in the Bannock War.
OLALLA, Douglas County. This was formerly a post office on Lookingglass Creek, but the community is now served through other offices. For origin of the name see under OLALLIE BUTTE.
OLALLIE BUTTE, Jefferson and Marion counties. The most important geographic feature in Oregon bearing the name Olallie is Olallie Butte at the summit of the Cascade Range between Mount Hood and Mount Jefferson. The USGS gives it an elevation of 7210 feet. The name is used in a number of other places, particularly along the Cascade Range. The word is from the Chinook jargon and means berries in general, or salmon berries. Gibbs gives it as a derivative of the Chinook word klalelli, meaning berries. Its use along the Cascade Range generally meant huckleberries. The USBGN has adopted this form of spelling
OLENE, Klamath County. Steel says this name is an Indian word meaning eddy place, or place of drift, and that it was applied by Captain 0. C. Applegate in 1884. The original location of the post office was up Lost River from the present site.
OLETE, Klamath County. About 1890 Mr. and Mrs. William T. Wilson of Sacramento moved into eastern Klamath County for the purpose of developing a stock ranch. They settled in or near what was known as the Horsefly Valley. The locality was so named because of the prevalence of the insect pests. Wilson was conspicuous because of his fine red beard and to distinguish him from other Wilsons in Klamath County he was familiarly known as "Horsefly" Wilson. In due season there came to be a demand for a post office which is said to have been based to some extent on Mrs. Wilson's desire to get the home papers from Sacramento. In any event a petition was sent in and also a list of suggested post office names. Accordingly Olete post office was established March 25, 1892, with Wilson first postmaster. Wilson suggested the name Olete by coining the word from the names of his daughter, Ora Letetia Wilson. That the name Olete was selected by postal authorities where there was an office not far away in the same county with the name Olene is remarkable. The post office was about twelve miles northeast of Lorella, on the road to Vistillas. Olete post office was closed to Lorella in January, 1904.
OLEX, Gilliam County. When this post office was established it was intended to honor one Alex Smith, a local resident, but the enthusiasm of the petition writer was better than his handwriting, and the authorities at Washington misread Alex into Olex, and so it has been for many decades. The office was established October 27, 1874, with James H. Butler first postmaster.
OLNEY, Clatsop County. Cyrus Olney was a native of Ohio. He was appointed supreme justice of Oregon Territory in 1853, and resigned in 1857. He was a member of the constitutional convention of 1857. He died at Astoria December 21, 1870, aged fifty-five years. The town of Olney bears his name. See Scott's History of the Oregon Country, volume V, pages 220-21.
ONA, Lincoln County. Ona is a place on Beaver Creek about three miles east of Seal Rock. It is shown as a post office in 1890, and did not have an office in 1944 nor for some years prior. Ona may have been ​
named with a Chinook jargon word. The jargon word ona generally refers to the razor clam. The community is not on the seashore and not near the clam beds, but someone may have imported the name. However, the compiler has a notion that the jargon word ee-na is the basis for the name. Ee-na means beaver and is appropriate to the location of the place on Beaver Creek.
ONEATTA, Lincoln County. Oneatta is a ghost town on the northeast side of Yaquina River and about a mile and a half upsteam from Yaquina. The place was first settled and named by Ben Simpson in 1871. See History of Benton County, page 490. A sawmill was operated there for a time and a post office was established in May, 1876. The community appears to have been named for an Indian princess, who was, as usual, beautiful, accomplished and virtuous. A. B. Meacham, in Wigwam and War-path, chapter V, gives a lugubrious story about her, but it is hard to tell whether it is fiction or fact. O'NEALS Mills, Polk County. Apparently the first post office in Polk County was O'Neals Mills, established January 8, 1850, with James A. O'Neal postmaster. The name was changed to Nesmiths on August 21, 1850, with James W. Nesmith postmaster, and the office was discontinued October 22, 1852. It was about four miles west of the present site of Dallas. For the history of the locality, see under ELLENDALE. O'NEIL, Crook County. William G. O'Neil and family immigrated from Illinois to a place near the present site of Bend about 1881. Members of the family lived at various places in central Oregon and three of the sons at one time owned a store at the place now called O'Neil, which is west of Prineville. Philip Grinder Carmical settled in this general locality and built a cabin in the spring of 1872. He brought his family in July, 1873, and the place became known as Carmical Station, as it was on a main route of travel. Carmical was born in Illinois on August 27, 1821, and died at London, near Cottage Grove, Oregon, February 18, 1909. Carmical Station was apparently a little north of O'Neil. Francis Forest established himself in the vicinity in 1876. His first place was near Carmical Station but he later moved his store to the present site of O'Neil. Forest Crossing on Crooked River nearby bears his name.
ONEONTA GORGE, Multnomah County. The origin of this name is obviously the place in New York. The compiler has not been able to find out why the name was applied to the gorge in Oregon. Oneonta is said by Gannett to mean "place of peace." A handsome steamboat of the Mississippi River side-wheel type was built at Cascades in 1863 and named the Oneonta. She was operated by the Oregon Steam Navigation Company on the Columbia River until 1877, both above and below the Cascades. While the evidence is by no means conclusive, it seems probable that Oneonta Gorge was named after the steamboat was built, and it is possible that the geographic feature was named because of some incident connected with the boat.
ONION PEAK, Clatsop County. Onion Peak, elevation 3058 feet, is one of the highest points in Clatsop County, and its rugged summit makes it an outstanding landmark. The peak is east-northeast of Arch Cape and about two miles north of the south line of the county. In December, 1945, Mrs. H. V. Alley of Nehalem informed the compiler that the peak was named for the wild onions growing near the summit. Mrs. Alley came to the Nehalem settlements as a girl in 1879 and said the ​
name was used in early days. There are a number of varieties of wild onion growing in Oregon and the compiler does not know what sort grows on Onion Peak.
ONION SPRINGS MOUNTAIN, Jackson and Josephine counties. Onion Springs Mountain is an important geographic feature at the north joint corner of the two counties. It is a main triangulation point of the
USC&GS, and has an elevation of 5240 feet, according to that survey. The name comes from the presence of the wild onion, Allium acuminatum, which grows near the springs. This mountain is sometimes called King Mountain, but that is not its official name. There are a number of geographic features in western Oregon named for the wild onion.
ONTARIO, Malheur County. The following quotation is from the History of Baker, Grant, Malheur and Harney Counties, page 545: "Ontario was so named at the request of James W. Virtue, one of the founders, who wished thus to honor the place of his nativity – Ontario, Canada. In 1883, William Morfitt, Daniel Smith, James W. Virtue and Mrs. Mary Richardson, all of Baker City, exercised desert land rights under United States laws and took up four adjoining sections of desert land." In 1927 Robert E. Strahorn told the compiler that he laid out the town in the early '80s, presumably in connection with the construction of the Oregon Short Line Railroad, and that the name Ontario had been selected by a landowner before he got there. James W. Virtue was a prominent citizen of Baker and one-time sheriff. Inquiries made at Baker in April, 1943, to members of his family, elicted the fact that he was born in Ontario, Canada, and came to Oregon in the '60s. Family tradition is to the effect that he spent some time at what is now Ontario, Oregon, and named the townsite. Ooskan BUTTE, Lake County. This butte southeast of the Paulina Mountains was named by the Forest Service with the Chinook jargon word for cup or bowl, indicative of the crater in the top. Opal City, Jefferson County. Opal City was named for Opal Springs in the Crooked River Canyon not far away.
OPAL SPRINGS, Jefferson County. Opal Springs are the largest of the remarkable springs on the lower reaches of Crooked River. They issue in a sand-lined basin that contains small opal-like pebbles, and from this they have received their name. They discharge over 80 million gallons of water a day. Ophir, Curry County. The name Ophir occurs in the Bible, and refers to a region celebrated for its proverbially fine gold. Efforts to localize the place have not been successful. The compiler has been unable to learn who named the place on Euchre Creek in Curry County, or when the name was applied, but the word is said to have been chosen because of fine gold in the black beach sands nearby. Ophir post office was established on the Curry County list on June 5, 1891, with Elizabeth J. Burrow first postmaster. It has not been in continuous service, but was operating in April, 1948.
ORCAL, Jackson County. Orcal was a station on the Southern Pacific, near the Oregon-California line. The name was coined by railway officials who took the first parts of the names of the two states. The station was not in service in 1945.
ORD, Lane County. Ord post office was named in compliment to Ord, Nebraska. Horace N. Fiske was first postmaster of Ord in Oregon, ​
and he had formerly lived in Ord, Nebraska. When it came to naming the place in the Coast Range in Lane County, he selected the name of his old home. Ord post office in Oregon was established May 18, 1898, with Fiske postmaster. The office was in service, with one intermission, until October 31, 1912, when it was closed to Earl. It was six or seven miles northeast of Earl, on the extreme south edge of Lane County, and on the very headwaters of North Fork Smith River. Ord, Nebraska, was named for Major General Edward 0. C. Ord, U. S. A., who made a distinguished military record in the Civil War.
ORDNANCE, Umatilla County. In the fall of 1941 the War Department put into commission an establishment in the north part of Umatilla County, with the name Umatilla Ordnance Depot. On December 6, 1943, Ordnance post office was established to serve this depot with Lorena Lane Bounds first postmaster.
OREANA CANYON, Harney County. Oreana is a name applied to a canyon in the southwest part of Harney County near the outside corner of Lake County. Oreana is a word used in the cattle country to indicate a young, unbranded calf and sometimes a colt. These animals are also referred to as "slick-ears" and are liable to be branded by the first finder. Oreana Canyon was named because the young animals were frequently found therein. The spelling used in Harney County for this and some other geographic features follows that used for a post office in Idaho, named in the '80s. There is no doubt that the word is derived from the Spanish or from the Basque, but its exact origin is a little uncertain. In some places the spelling is orijana and even orina. Orijana does not appear in any Spanish dictionary available to the compiler and orina is a little impolite. It seems possible that there is some connection between the word oreana meaning a "slick-ear" and the Spanish word oreja meaning ear.
OREGON. But one important contribution to our knowledge of the origin of the word Oregon has been made in the last hundred years. That was the discovery, not unexpected, that Jonathan Carver may have appropriated the name, but not the spelling, from a Major Robert Rogers, an English army officer who was commandant at the frontier military post at Mackinac during the time of Carver's journey into the upper valley of the Mississippi. Elliott has written on this point in the
OHQ, volume XXII, page 91. Major Rogers used the form Quragon or Ourigan in a petition or proposal for an exploring expedition into the country west of the Great Lakes. This was in London in 1765. His petition was not granted, but he was sent to Mackinac as commandant. Carver is the first person to have used the form Oregon in referring to the River of the West. For a short account of Carver see under CARVER
GLACIER. His Travels Through the Interior Parts of North America was first published in 1778 and in the introduction occurs the following passage purporting to list the names of the four great rivers of the continent: "The River Bourbon, which empties itself into Hudson's Bay; the Waters of Saint Lawrence, the Mississippi and the River Oregon, or the River of the West, that falls into the Pacific Ocean at the Straits of Annian." It is well to get clearly in mind the chronological sequence of Carver's book and the petitions prepared by Major Rogers. Carver's Travels was first published in London in 1778 from manuscript finally prepared just previous to its publication, but to use Carver's own words, Englishackinac duni. Elliott b ​
at al : by Carve, the spellin. Was dated Carver Wirthe King Ourigan was based upon "journals and charts" claimed to have been made during his journey to the west in 1766-77, and while at Mackinac in the fall of 1767. Kenneth Roberts' historical novel Northwest Passage, 1937, has a good deal to say about Carver and his relations with Rogers. Rogerspetition containing the name Ouragon was dated August, 1765, and his second petition containing the spelling Ourigan was dated February, 1772. A petition by Carver to the King's Privy Council showing the original association of Carver with Rogers for the purpose of the western exploration was acted on in May, 1769, and another petition by Carver showing that the journals and charts previously mentioned had been and were still deposited with the Board of Trade in London is dated November, 1773. Not only did Major Rogers put into writing the name Quragon during the year before he engaged Carver, but also none of Carver's petitions, so far examined, contain the name Oregon as we spell it, although he mentions other localities.The subsequent history of the word Oregon, and some of the theories of its origin were favorite themes of the late Harvey W. Scott, editor of the Oregonian. The compiler cannot do better than to reprint some of Mr. Scott's editorial comments on the subject, but it must be borne in mind that these comments were not originally printed together as they are here reproduced. "But the name Oregon came very slowly into notice. It was long after the publication of Carver's book when it again made its appearance. The name seems not to have been known either to Vancouver or to Gray, since neither uses it. The latter, entering the river as a discoverer, called the river, not the Oregon, but the Columbia, for his ship – a fact which shows that the name Oregon was quite unknown. The name was not used by Lewis and Clark in the report of their travels; in Astor's petition to Congress, presented in 1812, setting forth his claim to national assistance for his undertaking, on the ground that his efforts to establish trade here, under the sovereignty of the United States, would redound to the public security and advantage, the name Oregon is not used to designate or describe the country; nor is it used in the act of Congress passed in response to his petition, by which the American Fur Company was permitted to introduce here goods for the Indian trade. At this time, indeed, the name appears to have been quite unknown, and perhaps would have perished but for the poet Bryant, who evidently had happened, in his reading, upon the volume of Carver's travels. The word suited the sonorous movement and solemn majesty of his verse, and he embalmed it in 'Thanatopsis' published in 1817. The journal of Lewis and Clark had been published in 1814-17, and the description therein of the distant solitudes and 'continuous woods' touched Bryant's poetic spirit and recalled the name he had seen in Carver's book. There are men whose susceptibility to literary excellence, whose skill and power in producing literary effects, give us results of this kind. "The textbooks in the hands of our children in the public schools continue to furnish them with erroneous information that the name of the state of Oregon was derived from the word oregano, the Spanish name for the plant we call 'marjoram.' This is a mere conjecture, absolutely without support. More than this, it is completely disproved by all that is known of the history of the name. There is noth ​ing in the records of the Spanish navigators, nothing in the history of Spanish exploration or discovery, that indicates, even in the faintest way, that this was the origin of the name, or that the Spaniards called this country, or any part of it, by that name. There is marjoram here, indeed; and at a long time after the Spaniards had discontinued their northern coast voyages, it was suggested that the presence of marjoram (oregano) here had led the Spaniards to call the country Oregon. From the year 1535 the Spaniards, from Mexico, made frequent voy. ages of exploration along the Pacific Coast toward the north. The main object was the discovery of a passage connecting the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Consequently, the explorers paid little attention to the country itself. After a time, finding the effort to discover a passage fruitless, they desisted for a long period. But, after the lapse of two centuries, they began settlements on the coast of California; and then voyages toward the north were resumed by some of their navigators. In 1775 the mouth of the Columbia River was seen by Heceta, but, owing to the force of the current, he was unable to enter. The fact here to be noted is that the Spaniards of that day did not call the country Oregon, or, if they did, they have left no record of it. Others have professed or proposed to derive the name Oregon from the Spanish word oreja (the ear), supposing that the Spaniards noted the big ears of the native Indians and named the country from the circumstance. But the Spaniards themselves have left no record of the kind; nor has it been noted, so far as we are aware, that the ears of our Indians were remarkably large. The word orejon is nearer our form; it signifies 'slice of dried apple,' we may suppose, from its resemblance to the form of the ear. Many years ago Archbishop F. N. Blanchet, of Oregon, while in Peru, noted a peculiar use of the word orejon in that country, which he ingeniously conjectured might throw some light on the origin of the name Oregon. We believe it probable that the name Oregon arose out of some circumstances connected with western explorations of the French. Earlier than the English the French had pressed on westward from the Great Lakes to the Red River, to the Saskatchewan and to the foot of the Rocky Mountains. They were ranging the country of the upper Mississippi in search of furs and for trade with the natives; they were full of curiosity and active in inquiry about the great distant West and the unknown western sea. Of this sea they possessed Spanish charts and perhaps used among the natives the word Aragon as a homonym of Spain. When Jonathan Carver, of Connecticut was on his expedition to the upper Mississippi country, in 1767-68, he made all possible inquiries, he tells us, about the country toward the west, the western river, and the sea and the word Oregon. Recent writers have shown that much of Carver's book is made up of unacknowledged extracts from French explorers before him, particularly from Hennepin, Lahontan and Charlevoix; and, as Carver had no scholarship, it is believed the book was compiled in London, partly from Carver's own story and partly from the records of French and English exploration." It seems clear to the compiler that the name Oregon originated in the Mississippi Valley, and not on the Pacific Coast, for as far as known, there is not a line about early Pacific Coast explorations that contains the word. The name might have originated in the Mississippi Valley from one of the three sources, French, Indian or Spanish. T. C. Elliott, in the OHQ, mentioned in the first paragraph under this heading, associ ter as ​hern Orel by Elija? ates the names used by Major Rogers with the French word for storm, ouragan. William H. Galvani writes of the possible Spanish origin of Oregon in the OHQ, volume XXI, page 332. Joaquin Miller suggested the Spanish oye agua, hear the water, as a source of Oregon in the Oregonian, October 21, 1907, but this seems fanciful to the compiler. Thus the matter rests.
OREGON CAVES, Josephine County. This is the name of a summer post office established to serve visitors to Oregon Caves, Oregon Caves post office was established July 10, 1924. The caves were formerly known as Josephine Caves.
OREGON Caves, Josephine County. For information about the discovery of Oregon Caves, see OHQ, September, 1922, pages 271 and 274. The caves were discovered about 1874 by Elijah J. Davidson, a wellknown pioneer citizen of southern Oregon. The caves were first known as Elijah Caves and later as the Marble Halls and Josephine Caves. President Taft by proclamation dated July 12, 1909, set the caves aside as a national monument with the name Oregon Caves. See OHQ, December, 1909, page 400. For obituary of Elijah Davidson, see the Oregonian, September 11, 1927, section 1, page 21.
OREGON CITY, Clackamas County. Oregon City was laid out and named, in 1842, by Dr. John McLoughlin, chief factor of the Hudson's Bay Company, who located his land claim there in 1829. A Methodist church was built there in 1843. For narrative of the early settlement, see the Oregonian, January 1, 1895, page 15; description and location of pioneer buildings, ibid., June 16, 1893, page 9; history of Oregon City, ibid., March 11, 1900, page 13; description in 1872, ibid., July 8,1872, page 3. The paper mill at Oregon City was projected in 1889 (Oregonian, October 11, 1889). The first name of the locality was Willamette, or Willamette Falls. It is referred to by that name in correspondence of the Methodist mission, established there in 1840 on the arrival of the "great reinforcement" in the Lausanne. After 1840 the place grew as a political and trade center. According to Mrs. Mary Waller Hall, daughter of the Reverend Alvin F. Waller, who was one of the missionary party which came to Oregon on the Lausanne and settled at Oregon City in June, 1840, the first apple tree in that place grew in the lot where the Methodist church was first built, from seed that her mother threw outdoors after she had been preparing dried apples for cooking. Oregon City post office was established March 29, 1847, with David Hill first postmaster.
OREGON COAST Highway, Clatsop, Coos, Curry, Douglas, Lane, Lincoln and Tillamook counties. A short sketch of early highway projects along the Oregon coast, by Leslie M. Scott, appears in OHQ, volume XXXIII, page 268. On June 3, 1919, partly as a result of feeling aroused by World War I, a measure was passed at a special election approving a bond issue of $2,500,000 to be used in cooperation with the federal government to build the Roosevelt Coast Military Highway. The name was in honor of Theodore Roosevelt. Later it became apparent that this name was not strictly suitable. In the fall of 1928 the compiler of these notes suggested to Robert W. Sawyer, then state highway commissioner, that the name Oregon Coast Highway be adopted. This change was made by the legislature in 1931.
OREGON TRAIL. Nearly a hundred years ago Francis Parkman coined ​
a geographic name of ideal simplicity, the Oregon Trail. These two words captured the interest of millions of Americans and visitors from abroad. For almost a century the name Oregon Trail stood every test. However, in recent years efforts have been made to call this great route of travel the Old Oregon Trail, which is just a touch of overripe sentimentality. It is unfortunate that the name Oregon lends itself to alliteration with the adjective Old. The possibilities of this sort of thing are very great. We may have the Pure Pacific Ocean, the Cute Cascade Range, Perpetual Portland. Perhaps the worst feature of the business is the official use of the name Old Oregon Trail for a modern high-speed highway, many parts of which are not close to the routes used by the great immigrations to the Pacific Northwest.
ORENCO, Washington County. Orenco is a community about four miles east of Hillsboro on the Oregon Electric Railway. Railway officials made up the name in 1908 by taking parts of the title of the Oregon Nursery Company, which operated several large plantations in the locality.
ORETOWN, Tillamook County. James B. Upton and S. H. Rock settled in this part of the state in 1875-76 and in 1877 sent a petition to Senator John H. Mitchell asking for a mail route to Grand Ronde and a post office. Upton had a seal with Oregon City cut in the die, and he suggested that the proposed post office be named Ore City, for he had an idea that he could alter the seal in such a way that it could be used for the new community. Senator Mitchell knew that confusion would result with Oregon City and suggested to the postal authorities that Oretown would be a better name, which was adopted. C. C. Christensen was the first postmaster. The subsequent history of the seal has not transpired.
ORIENT, Multnomah County. Stories about the origin of the name of this well-known place southeast of Gresham are decidedly contradictory and the compiler has found it impossible to reconcile the discrepancies. The following information is furnished for what it may be worth. Orient had a locality name long before it had a post office. This locality name came from the Orient School. The disagreement has to do with the origin of the school name. In August, 1946, Mrs. Louise M. Nelson wrote that she was a pioneer in that part of the country and the name Orient was given to the school because it was the most eastward in Multnomah and Clackamas counties. Mrs. Nelson says that her father moved into the community in 1872. A new school building was built in 1875 and the ground was dedicated by her father to school purposes. On the other hand the compiler has been told that the name Orient was applied because a Scot named Andrew McKinnon and a Captain Robert Smith brought a few Japanese to the place in the early seventies. It is asserted that these young Japanese were the first to live in Oregon since its admission as a territory. One of these young Japanese is said to have been one of the first students at the Orient School. Local people adopted the name Orient because of the presence of these few Japanese. As in many other disputes the reader will have to make his own choice. Orient post office was established in March, 1896, with James N. Campbell first postmaster. This office was discontinued November 30, 1908, and the business was turned over to Gresham. It is probable that the post office had previously operated with the name Pleasant Home. The Pleasant Home office was moved several times and when it was shifted to Orient the name was changed. ​
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ORLEANS, Linn County. The compiler has been unable to get much information about this pioneer community, in fact none at all about the origin of the name. The place was established a little before 1850 on the Moore donation land claim, just east of and across the river from what is now Corvallis. Floods in the '60s eliminated the settlement but not the name, which is now used for an important voting precinct in Linn County. There is also an Orleans school. The name Orleans does not appear on any of the Oregon post office lists.
ORODELL, Union County. Orodell is a locality, a ghost town, on Grande Ronde River just northwest of La Grande. It is where the river leaves the canyon and enters the valley, Paul Van Scoy of La Grande wrote the compiler in January, 1944, that a man named Fox started a sawmill at this point in the early '60s, the first mill in Grande Ronde Valley. A store and a post offce followed in due time. The post office was named Orodell, and the name was apparently originated by a Captain Harlow, who worked for W. J. Snodgrass, storekeeper and for a time the postmaster. The name was coined by taking part of the Greek word oros, meaning a mountain, and adding the English word dell as a suffix. The place is still known as Orodell, but there has been no community there for many years.
OROVILLE, Harney County. Oroville is a synthetic name derived from the Spanish word oro meaning gold. The word has been applied in many places by miners and prospectors. In March, 1947, Archie McGowan of Burns wrote the compiler as follows: "Oroville post office was situated at the Melvin Doan ranch near the base of Pueblo Mountain, in the south part of the county, about five miles south of the place now known as Fields. The locality was long known for its various minerals and float quartz. Messrs. Catlow and Doan were always interested in this mineral showing and gathered more or less quartz for exhibition. Presumably they named the post office for this rock." Oroville post office was established July 19, 1911, with Byron T. Tiscal first postmaster. Edwin J. Catlow was appointed postmaster January 8, 1914, and the office was closed to Fields on June 30, 1915.
ORPHAN BUTTE, Deschutes County. Orphan Butte, which is northeast of Paulina Mountains, received its name because it stands alone.
ORTLEY, Wasco County. Ortley was named for the Ortley apple, a variety that was planted there in considerable numbers. About 1911 it was planned to develop Ortley as a model orchard or fruit growing community and the growers were to live in the town and operate their orchards from there. The place is on the heights above Rowena and is about seven miles southeast of Mosier. The post office was established about 1911, with L. D. Firebaugh first postmaster. It was discontinued November 30, 1922, and many of the apple trees have been taken out.
ORVILLE, Clackamas County. Orville post office was established April 29, 1892, with Lawrence J. Perdue first postmaster. The compiler does not have the date on which this office was closed but it was subsequent to June 1, 1895. Orville post office was about eight miles south of Barlow where the road from Barlow to Monitor crosses the road east to Yoder. The Perdue family were among the early settlers in this part of Clackamas County and a close friend was Orville Byland who taught the Oak Lawn school. Mr. Byland later moved to Oregon City and became county school superintendent. There is an interesting editorial abou ​t de
this part of the county in the Canby Herald, June 17, 1948. The compiler is indebted to Mr. Alvin Perdue, Route 1, Hubbard, for much of this history. He lives on part of the old Perdue farm where the post office was situated. It is a little to the north of Oak Lawn school.
ORVILLE, Marion County. Orville is a station on the Oregon Electric Railway about two miles east of Independence. It was named for Orville Butler who owned land nearby.
OSWEGO, Clackamas County. Oswego was named for Oswego, New York, by A. A. Durham, a pioneer of Oregon of 1847. At one time he operated a sawmill in the Oregon community which he named for his former home in the East. For information about his activities in Oregon see under the item DURHAM. Oswego post office was established on December 31, 1853, with Wesley C. Hull postmaster. Oswego CREEK, Clackamas County. This is the outlet of Oswego Lake. The stream was once known as Sucker Creek, and Oswego Lake was called Sucker Lake. A number of years ago the USBGN changed the name of the lake, but the name of the creek was not disturbed. In 1927 local residents asked to have the name Sucker Creek changed to Oswego Creek to agree with the lake, and the board took the necessary action on February 2, 1927. Oswego LAKE, Clackamas County. Oswego Lake was known as Sucker Lake during pioneer times because of the fish of that name. Local residents objected to the name and it was subsequently changed to Oswego Lake for the town of Oswego nearby, and it is now universally so known. It is said that the Indian name was Waluga which meant wild swan. The name Lake Oswego is a real estate dealer's affectation.
OTHELLO, Lane County. This post office was in service from March 28, 1855, to July 8, 1859, with Jerome B. Zumwalt the only postmaster. Early maps do not show the place, but in February, 1947, J. M. Nighswander of Eugene wrote that the Zumwalts lived northwest of Eugene, in what was called the Grand Prairie section, west of what is now Irving. Since the office has been closed for nearly ninety years, its history is doubtless well buried, indeed Othello's occupation is surely gone. Otis, Lincoln County. This post office was established April 24, 1900, with Archibald S. Thompson, postmaster. While definite information about the naming of the community is not available, it is the local belief that it was in honor of Major-General Elwell Stephen Otis, 1838-1909, who was placed in command of the Department of the Pacific in 1898 and was also military governor of the Philippines.
OTTER ROCK, Lincoln County. Otter Rock is a post office near the ocean. The name originated from a rock situated about a half mile offshore and three and a quarter miles north of Yaquina Head. The rock is 36 feet above low water. About a mile to the north is a larger rock. Sea otter formerly inhabited these rocks. The writer has been unable to learn who suggested the name, either for the rock or for the post office.
OUTERSON MOUNTAIN, Marion County. Outerson Mountain, near Detroit, was formerly called Bald Mountain, but because of much duplication the Forest Service changed the name to Outerson Mountain in honor of the late John Outerson, a pioneer of the North Santiam Valley.
OUXY, Klamath County. Quxy, a railroad station north of Klamath Falls, bears a name derived from the Klamath Indian word E-ukshi, meaning Klamath Marsh.
​OVERSTREET, Malheur County. This station was named for Robert R. Overstreet, a resident of the vicinity. It is on the Union Pacific south of Nyssa.
OWENS, Tillamook County. Owens post office was situated in Gods Valley and was named for a nearby landowner. The office was established January 16, 1912, with William Schultz first postmaster. The office was closed January 15, 1917.
OWYHEE, Malheur County. A post office called Owyhee Ferry was established on the Baker County list as of March 19, 1867, with William Hill postmaster. This office, which was in what is now Malheur County, was closed September 16, 1868. The writer is informed that the ferry was on Snake River near the mouth of the Owyhee, and was not on Owyhee River itself. It was not far from the site of Fort Boise, Idaho. A post office with the name Owyhee was established on January 4, 1886, with William Grimes postmaster. This office was closed September 8, 1887, with papers to Jordan Valley. This seems to indicate that the office was farther south than the mouth of Owyhee River. An office with the same name was established July 11, 1890, with Belle Dryden postmaster. This office was on the lower reaches of Owyhee River, not far from Owyhee Ferry, and was closed in 1932. An army map of 1887 gives the name Kinney's Ferry for the establishment on Snake River near Fort Boise.
OWYHEE Rapids, Gilliam County. Judge Fred W. Wilson of The Dalles informs the compiler that these rapids in the Columbia River just west of Arlington were named for some event in the history of the steamer Owyhee. It is said the boat grounded in the rapids. For the history of the Owyhee, see Lewis & Dryden's Marine History of the Pacific Northwest. The Owyhee was built at Celilo about 1864, and operated for about 12 years.
OWYHEE RIVER, Malheur County. On Saturday, February 18, 1826, Peter Skene Ogden, then on his second expedition into the Snake River country, "reached Sandwich Island River, so called, owing to 2 of them murdered by Snake Indians in 1819." There seems to be no doubt that the Owyhee River was named for these Hawaiians, for on June 15 of the same year Ogden uses the word Owyhee. The name Owyhee was used a century ago for Hawaii. Owyhee River drains a large area in Oregon and western Idaho, and there are other geographic features bearing the name, derived from the name of the river. There is a community of Owyhee near the mouth of Owyhee River and also an Owyhee Ridge in Malheur County.
Ox Bow, Baker County. Western pioneers were so familiar with ox bows that the descriptive name was often used for geographic features. The best known ox bow in Oregon is that of Snake River near Ox Bow station. The neck of land in the bow has been pierced by railroad and water tunnels.