# Oregon Geographic Names (1952)/V

​Vale, Malheur County. The compiler has never been able to learn who named this place or for what reason. Vale is on the Malheur River, but its surroundings do not suggest a vale in the concise meaning of that word. Vale post office was established February 20, 1883, with Henry C. Murray first postmaster.
VALFONTIS, Polk County. This was a pioneer post office which eventually passed from the picture. Valfontis office was established September 29, 1854, with Andrew J. Doak postmaster. C. C. Walker became postmaster June 12, 1855. The origin of its name has not transpired, though its meaning may be surmised. It was just another term for Spring Valley. Doak and Walker had claims close to the present site of Lincoln, a community at the east edge of Spring Valley, and Valfontis office was in that neighborhood. The office was discontinued in August, 1865.
VALLEY, Columbia County. Valley was the name given to a locality and post office about eight miles by road east of Pittsburg, where the road crossed Clatskanie River. There was a vale of sorts and Omar C. Spencer says that was the reason for the name. Valley post office was established April 23, 1895, with Catherine Dupont postmaster. The office was discontinued March 20, 1905. The office was a little to the west of the place later called Trenholm.
VALLEY FALLS, Lake County. C. W. E. Jennings named this com- ​munity about 1908 because of a small fall in Chewaucan River a mile or so to the north. Valley Falls post office was established on June 25, 1909, with Ernest L. H. Meyer postmaster, but Jennings later took over the position. The office was first situated near the base of Abert Rim, about a mile east of its location in 1942, but was moved westward so as to be on the Fremont Highway at the junction with the highway northeast to Burns.
VALSETZ, Polk County. Valsetz is a made-up name composed of parts of the title of the Valley & Siletz Railroad. Valsetz is the terminus of this road. The name was selected by officials of the railroad company.
VAN, Harney County. The postmaster at Van wrote the compiler in December, 1926, that the office was named for Van Middlesworth, a local settler.
VAN HORN BUTTE, Hood River County. This hill was originally called Julia Butte for Mrs. Peter Neal, but in 1906 the Van Horn brothers purchased the surrounding property and it has been called Van Horn Butte ever since. Willes and Bert Van Horn were residents of Buffalo, and in the cold storage business there. Willes moved to Hood River Valley and built a home on top of Van Horn Butte. There is a nearby railroad station named Van Horn,
VANDEVERT RANCH, Deschutes County. Vandevert ranch is on the old stage road south of Bend. It was for many years the home of William P. Vandevert. He was born near the place now known as Saginaw, Lane County, on April 22, 1854. His father, J. J. Vandevert, was a native of Ohio and came to Oregon in 1848. W. P. Vandevert was a forest ranger, rancher and stockman and an early settler in Deschutes Valley. He died February 24, 1944. For biography, see the Bend Bulletin, February 24, 1944.
VANNOY CREEK, Josephine County. James N. Vannoy took up a donation land claim near this stream, five miles west of what is now Grants Pass, about 1851. He operated Vannoy ferry across Rogue River. Bancroft, in History of Oregon, volume II, page 184, says that Perkins and Long operated ferries before Vannoy near this point. The spelling Vanoy is wrong. See also under FORT VANNOY. Vannoy post office was established September 4, 1856, with James N. Vannoy postmaster. The office was discontinued October 11, 1859.
VANORA, Jefferson County. The name Vanora was coined from the first two names of Ora Van Tassel. Vanora is a place on the east bank of Deschutes River about eight miles airline northwest of Madras. When the Oregon Trunk line was built through the area, there was a Vanora station in service, but the track in that locality has been torn out. Vanora post office was established March 22, 1911, with John T. Dizney first of four postmasters. The office was closed December 15, 1920, with mail to Madras. Ora l'an Tassel was a real estate man and a farmer of the lands where Vanora railroad station and post office were situated. Later he was a grain buver, active in civic affairs. He installed an elaborate water system, which was abandoned after he moved to Madras,
VANPORT City, Multnomah County. Vanport City is the official name of the community built between Portland and Vancouver to house war workers. The name was made up in compliment to the two nearby cities. A page advertisement in the Oregonian, August 12, 1943, gives a history of the project. On that date the place had 9942 dwelling le diedcher and to Oreo ​
units, prepared for 40,000 inhabitants, and was the nation's largest single war-housing town. Construction officially started September 14, 1942, and from point of time, the development was remarkable. The place was frequently referred to as Kaiserville, an informal honor to the shipbuilder, Henry J. Kaiser. For an interesting account of the maintenance problems on a project of this sort, see the Oregonian, August 16, 1943. Vanport was destroyed on May 30, 1948, by a disastrous flood.
VANSYCLE CANYON, Umatilla County. This canyon opens into the Walla Walla Valley east of Wallula. The name is universally spelled Vansycle, and most historical records indicate that it was given for J. M. Vansycle, a local resident. However, T. C. Elliott of Walla Walla, investigated the matter for the compiler and found the name signed to a deed in the form J. M. Vansyckle. An advertisement of Wallula Hotel, in the Washington Statesman, 1864, is printed over the name J. M. Van. syckle. Vansyckle may have used different forms of his name at different periods of his life. In any event it would probably be impossible to get the spelling of the name changed at this late date. Vansycle post office operated from 1882 to 1900.
VEATCH, Lane County. This is a station on the Southern Pacific Company line about three miles southwest of Cottage Grove at an elevation of about 700 feet. It was named for Frank Veatch, a nearby resident.
VEAZIE CREEK, Crook County. Edmund F. Veazie came to Oregon from Maine about 1858, and in 1868 settled in the Ochoco Valley, near what is now known as Veazie Creek, but in a short time moved to Hay Creek where he lived until he was drowned in John Day River in 1877, in mysterious circumstances. His home on Hay Creek was approximately the same location as what was later known as Heisler. He married Harriet Lyle, a member of a pioneer Polk County family, and their four children have been prominent citizens of the Pacific Northwest. See editorial page Oregon Journal, December 17, 1926.
VEDA LAKE, Clackamas County. This small lake lies on the western slope of the Cascade Range, about five miles south of Government Camp. It has an elevation of approximately 4300 feet. It was named in 1917 when Vern Rogers and Dave Donaldson packed into the lake with a load of trout fry. George Ledford, local forest ranger, named the lake for these two men by appropriating the first two letters of the first name of each.
VENATOR, Harney County. Venator was named for Alphene Venator (pronounced Venatta), a native of Linn County, who settled in the Harney Valley as a youth in 1872. He established himself on a stock ranch in the east part of the county in 1884, and the locality was soon known as Venator. The post office was established February 18, 1895, with Mrs. Louella Venator first postmaster. This office was later moved about two and a half miles north to a station on the Union Pacific Railroad.
VENATOR CANYON, Harney and Lake counties. Venator Canyon heads in Harney County and drains west into the Alkali Valley. It was named for Jezreal Venator, a pioneer settler in the vicinity of Albany, who crossed the plains in 1852. He took part in the Rogue River Indian War and was wounded. He moved to the Goose Lake Valley, in the fall of 1870, buying the Crane property on Crane Creek south of what is now Lakeview. In August, 1881, he started on a business trip to Harney County to pick up some horses. His saddle horse got ​
away from him, and he died of thirst about a half mile west of the canyon which bears his name.
VENETA, Lane County. Veneta post office was established November 3, 1914, to serve a community which was started in 1913 by E. E. Hunter. He named the townsite for his small daughter Veneta Hunter.
VERBOORT, Washington County. This place was named for William Verboort, who owned part of the Henry Black donation land claim. The place is about two miles north-northeast of Forest Grove.
VERDURE, Linn County. This is a station on the Oregon Electric Railway. When the line was originally built the station was called Oakville, for the community of Oakville, a pioneer settlement about one mile to the west. Due to confusion with other places in the Pacific Northwest, the name of the station was changed to Verdure in December, 1916.
VERNIE, Malheur County. Vernie post office, about five or six miles northwest of Ontario, was established March 29, 1909, with Cornelia Belknap first and only postmaster. The office was discontinued May 31, 1913, with mail to Payette, Idaho. In April, 1947, C. D. Warren of Chiloquin wrote that he was the son of the postmaster, and that the office was named for a boy named Vernie who was resident in North Carolina. A Mrs. Buchanan was to be served by the new Oregon office, and she wanted the place named Vernie for her grandson, who was the youth in North Carolina. Mrs. Buchanan's son Bert also put in a plea for the name Vernie, which was adopted, apparently to the annoyance of the postmaster elect.
VERNON, Marion County, Gill's Oregon map of 1874 shows Vernon post office a few miles northeast of Salem, near the west line of section 2, township 7 south, range 2 west. This office was established February 2, 1869, with Benjamin B. Wilson first postmaster. The office was closed April 6, 1874. The place was named for a local family.
VERNONIA, Columbia County. The community of Vernonia was first settled by Judson Weed and Ozias Cherrington, of Ohio, in 1876. Sometime thereafter when the question of getting a post office came up for consideration the matter of choosing a name had to be settled. At a meeting held in the schoolhouse the name of Auburn was suggested for Auburn, Minn., and Cherrington suggested the name of Vernonia for his daughter in Ohio. The community was named Vernonia and the precinct was named Auburn. This arrangement continued for some years but as a result of the confusion that followed the county court changed the name of the precinct to Vernonia. Some interesting facts have come to light about Miss Cherrington, the most important of which is that her name was not Vernonia at all, but Vernona, so the place does not bear her exact name. Vernona Cherrington became Mrs. W. H. Dawson, and in March 15, 1942, she was living in Saxe, Virginia. On that day she wrote to Omar C. Spencer of the Portland bar and provided some biographic data. She was born March 30, 1868, apparently in Ohio. Her mother died when she was a small child, and her father emigrated to Missouri and on to Oregon about 1873, leaving Vernona with his stepmother. She never saw him again, as he never went back to Ohio and she never visited Oregon. Miss Cherrington was married to William H. Dawson in 1890 and moved from Jackson, Ohio, to North Carolina in 1902, and later to Virginia. Her father was thrown from a ​
hay tedder about 1894, while working on Sauvie Island and died a few months later at the home of Judson Weed, apparently near St. Helens. Vernonia post office was established January 11, 1878, with David F. Baker first postmaster.
VESPER, Clatsop County. Vesper is not now a post office, although it has been in the past. It is in the Nehalem Valley. It is said to have been named by William Johnston for the evening star. The name Vesper is generally applied to the planet Venus when it is east of the sun, and therefore shines brightly after sunset. Vesper post office was established January 30, 1879, with Johnston first postmaster. It was then on the Clatsop County list, but near the east boundary of the county, and at times the office has been in Columbia County, depending upon who was postmaster.
VICTOR, Wasco County. Victor was a post office serving an area on Juniper Flat about midway between Tygh Valley and Wapinitia. The office was established November 14, 1893, with Viola Jones first postmaster. The office was closed in November, 1912, and the business turned over to Maupin. The U. S. Geological Survey map of the Dufur quadrangle shows Victor School in this locality, as of 1930.
VICTOR View, Crater Lake National Park, Klamath County. Victor View is a natural viewpoint on the east wall of Crater Lake, north of Kerr Notch and above Sentinel Rock. It was named on January 4, 1933, by the USBGN in honor of Mrs. Frances Fuller Victor, Oregon poet and historian, who visited Crater Lake in 1872. For information about Mrs. Victor, see Scott's History of the Oregon Country, volume I, page 142. She was born at Rome, New York, May 23, 1826, and died in Portland, November 14, 1902. For many years a natural feature on the southwest rim of Crater Lake was called Victor Rock, but in 193031 the Sinnott Memorial was built on this rock, making it necessary to name another point for Mrs. Victor.
VIDA, Lane County. The original name of this place was Gate Creek. This name resulted in confusion with Gales Creek in Washington County. The name Vida was selected because it was the name of the daughter of the postmaster, Francis A. Pepiot. Vida post office was established April 12, 1898. The community is where McKenzie Highway crosses Gate Creek
VIDAE RIDGE, Crater Lake National Park, Klamath County. Vidae Ridge is a very prominent, rugged backbone extending south from the rim of Crater Lake. Applegate Peak is the highest point at its north end. The compiler has been unable to learn about the origin of the name.
VIENTO, Hood River County. Dr. T. L. Eliot of Portland, who was familiar with the history of Hood River and vicinity, told the writer that this railroad station was named by taking the first two letters of the names Villard, Endicott and Tolman. William Endicott of Boston was a capitalist who was heavily interested in Henry Villard's railroad enterprise. Tolman was a railroad contractor. Viento is also a Spanish word meaning wind and this word is peculiarly fitting when applied to this station, but Dr. Eliot said the Spanish origin had nothing to do with the matter.
VIEWPOINT, Lake County. Viewpoint was the descriptive name of a post office established during the homesteading wave just after the ​
turn of the century. This office, which was in the south part of the Christmas Lake Valley, was established April 9, 1910, with Bertha C. Hach first postmaster. The office was discontinued September 30, 1918. In 1946 Mrs. Delbert Cloud, New Pine Creek, Oregon, wrote about the homesteaders' post offices in Lake County. Mrs. Cloud said she visited the vicinity of Viewpoint office about the time it was discontinued. She said that the people had all left. The newspaper mail had not been distributed and was still scattered around. The office door had blown away, but the post office books were there. Sic transit gloria Viewpoint.
VILLARD GLACIER, Deschutes County. This small glacier is on the north slope of the North Sister. It was named by Professor E. T. Hodge of the University of Oregon. See Mount Multnomah. Henry Villard was a great factor in the material development of Oregon, and did his share from a civic point of view as well, and he should have had something more than a small glacier named for him. Henry Villard was born April 10, 1835, in Bavaria. His family name was Hilgard. He came to the United States when he was 18 years old, and here entered upon a career as teacher, editor, war correspondent and finally railroad builder that lasted nearly half a century, and made him an outstanding figure in the history of transportation in America. For detailed accounts of his railroad construction work in Oregon, see many references in Scott's History of the Oregon Country, and also Villard's Memoirs. He died November 12, 1900. He was a firm supporter of the University of Oregon, where Villard Hall is named in his honor. See also under HILGARD.
VINCENT, Wallowa County. J. H. Horner of Enterprise informed the compiler that this place was named for Vincent Palmer of the Palmer Lumber Company.
VINCENT CREEK, Grant County. This creek is west of Austin. Patsy Daly of Prairie City told the compiler that it was named for a nearby resident who was engaged in mining.
VINEMAPLE, Clatsop County. The vine maple or shrub, Acer circinatum, grows so abundantly and so persistently throughout western Oregon that it is surprising so few geographic features have been named for it, but such seems to be the case. About the turn of the century there was a post office in the Nehalem Valley called Vinemaple. This office was about six miles downstream, or southwest, from Jewell. Available records are not clear as to the opening and closing dates, but they were probably May 6, 1891, and May 12, 1902. The office was apparently closed out to Grand Rapids. Today the old name is retained by Vinemaple School and Vinemaple Log Church, both of which are a little south of the river on the road to Elsie.
VINEYARD Hill, Benton County. Vineyard Hill, elevation about 1500 feet, is north of Corvallis, in the east part of section 3, township 11 south, range 5 west, on the boundary of the McDonald Forest of Oregon State College. It bears the name of an early settler who had a land claim nearby. It is the southward and larger of two hills of about the same height and about a half mile apart.
VINGIE CREEK, Lincoln County. This stream flows into Pacific Ocean about two miles north of Yachats. It bears the name of an early settler who owned land near the head of the creek. The name Divinity Creek is wrong and is due to a mis-hearing of the correct name.
VINSON. Umatilla County, Vinson was named for John S. Vinson, ​
a pioneer settler, who once ran a store in the community. Vinson began operating as a merchant at Needy, Clackamas County, about 1854. In the early '70s he preempted land at what was later Vinson and secured a post office. With Frank Newman he engaged in the livestock and farming business. Later they added a mercantile establishment and the place became an important stage station on the line between The Dalles and Pendleton by way of Heppner. Railroad development put a stop to the community. See editorial page of the Oregonian, March 17, 1928. A post office named Butter Creek was established at this place on July 28, 1873, with J. S. Vinson postmaster. The name of the office was changed to Vinson on September 15, 1881.
VIOLA, Clackamas County. Viola is a place a few miles west of Estacada. It is said to have been named for Mrs. Violet 0. Harding, the wife of an early settler in the locality. Clear Creek post office was established in this vicinity on October 30, 1867, with Oliver P. Mattoon first postmaster. The name was changed to Viola on January 25, 1876.
VIRTUE Flat, Baker County. The flat was named for James W. Virtue, for many years a resident of the county, and one-time sheriff. For additional information about Virtue, see under ONTARIO. Vista Ridge, Hood River County. Vista Ridge is a long slope north of Mount Hood and northwest of Wiyeast Basin. Its west face forms the east wall of the Ladd Creek Canyon. It was named in 1922 by an exploring party from Hood River because of the extensive views from its summit. This information is in a letter from C. Edward Graves, Arcata, California, dated July 5, 1943. The name has been approved by USBGN.
VISTILLAS, Lake County. In February, 1944, Ida M. Odell of Klamath Falls kindly dug up some information about the history of this post office. In the late '80s there was an office with the name Loraton serving an area in the Barnes Valley near the Klamath-Lake county line. This office was discontinued after a short life, and later, about 1890, local settlers tried to get it reestablished. The old name Loraton was objected to because it was so much like Lorella, also in Klamath County. The name Fairview was suggested to postal authorities, but it was not acceptable because there was another Fairview in Oregon. The Post Office Department is said to have suggested the name Vistillas, and that is what it has been for more than half a century. The office has been moved several times, depending on who would assume its responsibilities. It has been in both Klamath and Lake counties. Edward Tull was probably the first postmaster. One of the Batchelders later took the office. It has been at the Lapham ranch and also at the Adams and other places. Vistillas is a Spanish word meaning an eminence affording an extended view, or a viewpoint, This is very much the same as a fair view. The compiler thinks that somewhere along the line, after the name Fairview was rejected for this office, somebody selected the Spanish word that is nearly equivalent.
VOLTAGE, Harnev County. Voltage is a post office just south of Malheur Lake. This is close to the site of Sodhouse which was for many years an important landmark in Harney Valley. The post office at Voltage was established on August 28, 1908, with Walter C. Botsford first postmaster. He suggested the name because he was interested in clectricity and had the idea that sufficient "voltage" could be generated on Donner und Blitzen River to serve the entire Harney Valley. Bots ​named master office u ford was not the first man to go astray and confuse force with power.
VOORHIES, Jackson County. This station was named for Colonel Gordon Voorhies, who for many years operated an orchard nearby. Colonel Voorhies was a native of Kentucky and a graduate of West Point. He served in the Spanish-American War with rank of captain, and about 1899 retired from the army because of impaired health. He volunteered his services for World War I and reached the rank of lieutenant-colonel, serving with distinction. He died in September, 1940.
VOSBURG, Tillamook County. Vosburg post office was established June 28, 1901, with J. L. Vosburg postmaster. The office was closed December 15, 1903. Vosburg was named for the postmaster, who was an early-day lumberman and was later connected with the Wheeler sawmill. The office was at or near the present site of the Wheeler mill and about a half mile west of what later became the community of Wheeler. Wheeler post office was established in August, 1910, and served the locality previously served by Vosburg office. Some years later the Wheeler office was moved eastward to the community of Wheeler and a third office, Hoevet, was established to serve the locality of the mill. Hoevet post office was not in service when this paragraph was written.