Lewis Ankeny McArthur

“ Maps of Oregon show two large lakes in the northern part of Harney county. Malheur Lake and Harney Lake are connected by The Narrows. These lakes have achieved considerable prominence because of the controversies that have developed over them between the proponents of bird refuges and champions of the development of reclaimed lands for agricultural enterprises. The lakes are far more imposing on the map than they are on the ground. They are shallow bodies of water, and after a succession of dry years they actually occupy a much smaller area than indicated on the maps. ”

“ The length of the south boundary of Oregon may be computed with reasonable accuracy, although it must be assumed that the boundary and the 42nd parallel of north latitude are the same for the purpose of the computation. In fact, however, the lines are not exactly the same, as the actual boundary diverges in several places. The United States coast and geodetic survey has a triangulation station near the west end of the south boundary and one near the east end. ”

“ 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 referring to the group near the Oregon-California line, part of which is popularly referred to as the Siskiyou Mountains. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 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. ”

“ The north boundary of Nevada was surveyed in 1873 from an initial point on the Utah-Nevada line, whose latitude had been carefully determined in 1871, westward to a post set in 1868 for the northeast corner of California. The measured distance was 310 miles 48 chains. The marks placed on the line were mounds of earth, wooden posts, or small stones. This line passed the meridian boundary between Idaho and Oregon at 152 miles 72 chains from the northeast corner of Nevada and 4 chains south of the south terminal mark of the 1868 survey of the Oregon-Idaho boundary. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Crater Lake is one of nature's marvels. It is more in the nature of a scenic wonder than anything else the writer has ever seen. Oddly enough it is not a real crater lake at all, because it occupies a caldra far larger than the crater of the original mountains. Volcanic action produced the mountain and the crater, but the depression now occupied by the lake is the result of diastrophism. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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." ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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) . ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”