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CHAMP CLARK VAUGHAN

The Oregon Geographic Names Board

One Hundred Years of Toponymic Nomenclature

A RELATIVELY UNKNOWN COMPONENT of the Oregon Historical Society is celebrating its centenary this year. The Oregon Geographic Names Board, Oregon's official geographic names authority, was established with a stroke of the pen, when Governor George Chamberlain signed an executive order on October 1, 1908. Although the vast majority of the public may not be conscious of its existence and responsibilities, the board's ongoing involvement in controversy — spurred by the use of the term squaw in geographic names, for example — has had wide publicity. Because many people view the term squaw as having a derogatory or offensive connotation and it has therefore been banned by the Oregon Legislature, the board has embarked on an enormous task of eliminating the word from 172 geographic names in Oregon by generating suitable replacement names.1 Contentious issues like this one increase the visibility of the Oregon Geographic Names Board, and although its long history is filled with fascinating chronicles, the board's impact on Oregon and its people is far greater than those individual stories. In assessing the origins of both existing and proposed geographic names in Oregon, their cultural significance cannot be overstated. The names of places and geographic features reflect the culture of many peoples and generations, which the board must comprehend and respect in order to carry out its toponymic mission. 1
      The Oregon Geographic Names Board (OGNB) was originally known as the Oregon Geographic Board. The board later modified its name to help state its primary purpose, supervising the naming of geographic features in Oregon. A number of state agencies rotated the responsibility of managing the board until 1959, when Governor Mark Hatfield transferred it to the Oregon Historical Society (OHS). The move was logical because the historical society had served as custodian of the board's records and correspondence since 1909. OHS's first museum curator, George H. Himes, who also served on the Oregon Geographic Board, most likely initiated the early custodial arrangement.2 2

 
Figure 1
    Chush Falls is located on Whychus Creek within the Three Sisters Wilderness. Chush is a Sahaptin word meaning 'water'. Chush Falls was not officially named until 2006 but had often been mistakenly referred to as "Squaw Creek Falls." Upper Chush Falls, located upstream, was the official Squaw Creek Falls before its name was changed in 2006.

    Courtesy Jan McNeil, photographer
 
 
      The origins of geographic names in Oregon are particularly complex. Long before the first non-Indians arrived, Native peoples had already named numerous geographic features and cultural sites. Because their languages were not written, most of those names were never recorded, and many did not survive.3 European and American mariners who explored the Pacific coastline and, to a much greater degree, nineteenth-century explorers, fur trappers, missionaries, and immigrants casually assigned names to geographic features, using a wide assortment of commemorative, associative, and descriptive terms. Prime examples include the Columbia River, named in 1792 by Captain Robert Gray for his ship, Columbia Rediviva; Mount Hood, named in 1792 by Lieutenant William Broughton of Captain George Vancouver's command, to commemorate British naval officer Admiral Sir Samuel Hood; French Prairie, anonymously named in the mid 1800s for the early French Canadian settlers as an associative name; and Black Butte in Deschutes County, anonymously named in the 1850s as a descriptive name relating to the forest-covered volcano's dark appearance.4 The newcomers were likely unaware that many of the geographic features already had aboriginal names, or if they were aware, they customarily ignored them. Regardless of the fact that the names selected were often duplicated elsewhere, misapplied, misspelled, and in some cases derogatory, they became official simply because they were recorded on maps. The result was public controversy and confusion among map users. 3
      No one made a serious attempt to standardize and document geographic names in Oregon until after the federal government took the first step. Recognizing that the geographic names issue was becoming a nationwide problem, particularly in the West, President Benjamin Harrison created the United States Board on Geographic Names (USBGN) on September 4, 1890. The USBGN is comprised of employees from several federal agencies involved in a wide variety of programs, including everything from map making and land management to commerce and national defense. Originally, the USBGN primarily adjudicated unsettled questions concerning specific geographic names. In 1906, however, President Theodore Roosevelt extended USBGN's responsibilities to include the standardization for federal use of all geographic names and place-names, whether domestic, foreign, or under-sea names, and to approve new names and name changes.5 Regarding the standardization and documentation of geographic names by the USBGN, the terms geographic name and place-name have the same meaning. 4
      The USBGN was reorganized and established in its present form by an act of Congress on July 25, 1947. It is the policy of the federal government that only official domestic geographic names are to be used on federal maps and in federal publications. An official name is one in which the written form of that name and its application to the appropriate place, feature, or area is recognized by the USBGN. The USBGN does not rule on constructed features other than reservoirs, canals, channels, and incorporated communities and has concluded that the naming of most constructed features, such as parks, schools, and airports, is best left to the administering organization. Except for roads and highways, the USBGN is responsible for the promulgation of all categories of domestic names, and those names comprise the nation's geographic — or toponymic — nomenclature.6 5
      In 1908, Oregon followed the lead of the federal government and became one of the earliest states to establish a geographic names board. By 1911, the USBGN recognized the Oregon Geographic Board as the official advisor and state geographic names authority of Oregon. The USBGN is comprised of two primary committees, the Domestic Names Committee, which oversees geographic names within the United States, and the Foreign Names Committee, which oversees the standardization of names in foreign countries for use by the federal government. Advisory committees also exist for Antarctic names and undersea feature names. The Domestic Names Committee relies on the state names authorities for advice and local expertise regarding existing and proposed geographic names, and the states' formal recommendations have considerable influence on the final USBGN decisions. As a general rule, the public initiates geographic name proposals and the USBGN and state names authorities thoroughly investigate and document those proposals. Because a replacement name must first be approved before eliminating an existing name, it is not realistic to simply abolish all unpopular or erroneous names already on maps. The federal government and the states have the final authority to standardize and secure control over new names and name changes. The USBGN has developed specific nationwide guidelines, which encompass the principles, policies, and procedures for standardization of the written form of a geographic name and its proper application to physical and cultural features.7

 6
THE WELL-QUALIFIED INDIVIDUALS Governor Chamberlain chose as the first board members did not hesitate to launch the Oregon Geographic Board into action. Chamberlain selected notable personalities who had expertise in Oregon history and a diverse knowledge of the state's geography. On October 1, 1908, he appointed charter board members William "Will" Gladstone Steel of Portland, Dr. Joseph Schafer of Eugene, and John Baptiste Horner of Corvallis. The first board meeting was held at Oregon Agricultural College in Corvallis on October 28, 1908. By December of that year Chamberlain had appointed George Henry Himes of Portland and Major Thomas Leander "Lee" Moorhouse of Pendleton. Members promptly selected officers, with the election of Steel as president, Himes as vice president, Schafer as secretary, and Horner as treasurer.8 7
      As founder of the Oregon Alpine Club and co-founder of the Mazamas mountaineering society, Steel had considerable knowledge of Pacific Northwest mountains. He was an advocate for forest conservation and national parks and is best known as the creator of Crater Lake National Park, where he later served as park superintendent and eventually park commissioner. His passionate interest in the origin and significance of place-names was visibly demonstrated by the thousands of place-names he documented from all of the contiguous forty-eight states. Those names are documented within several notebooks of information that Steel compiled while pursuing his other noted accomplishments.9 8

 
Figure 2
    OHS neg., CN 008909
 
 

 
Figure 3
    OHS neg., CN 003017

    William Steel (top) and George Himes (bottom) served as the first president and vice-president of the Oregon Geographic Board.
 
 
      With his reputation as one of Oregon's most accomplished historians, Himes was a valuable addition to the board. Himes worked as a professional printer, publisher, biographer, fact compiler, and archives manager, and was one of OHS's founders and its museum curator from 1915 to 1940. In addition, he was largely responsible for the compilation of the Transactions of the Oregon Pioneer Association and the creation of the society's research library, museum, and the Oregon Historical Quarterly. After Steel left the Oregon Geographic Board in 1911 to further pursue his Crater Lake interests, Himes became the president, a position he held until his death at age ninety-five in early 1940.10 9
      Because he did not arrive in Oregon until 1900, at the age of thirty-two, Schafer might have been considered an unlikely choice for the Oregon Geographic Board. Although he had deep roots in his native Wisconsin, Schafer was captivated by the nostalgic history of Oregon and the Oregon Trail, topics he studied extensively. He authored numerous books, articles, and pamphlets on Oregon, the Pacific Slope, and the West. Schafer served as head of the History Department at the University of Oregon until 1920, when he returned to Wisconsin.11 10
      Horner was a history professor and one of the first chairs of the History Department at Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State University) where his career spanned forty years. He was the author of several books and articles on Oregon history and literature and was knowledgeable of early Oregon pioneers and their accomplishments. With an impressive 60,000-piece collection of anthropological, geological, zoological, and historical artifacts, Horner founded the Museum of the Oregon Country on the college campus, which was later named the Horner Museum in his honor.12 The museum was closed in 1995, and the Benton County Historical Society, in collaboration with Oregon State University, acquired the major portion of the Horner Collection. Three thousand Native American artifacts are no longer part of the Horner Collection and are in the process of being repatriated to federally recognized tribes.13 11

 
Figure 4
    Major Lee Moorhouse — the fifth person appointed to the board — held a number of notable positions, including Indian Agent for the Umatilla Reservation and Mayor of Portland.

    OHS neg., CN 013713
 
 
      Moorhouse had a diverse occupational background and held a number of positions, including mayor of Pendleton and Indian Agent for the Umatilla Indian Reservation. After serving for four years as the assistant adjutant general of the Third Brigade of the Oregon State Militia, the title of Major remained with him for the rest of his life. Moorhouse was not considered a professional photographer, but his photography hobby allowed him to meld his multiple interests, which included the Columbia Basin's history and economy, community events such as the Pendleton Round-Up, and local Native Americans and their culture. His photographic legacy, which is preserved as the Moorhouse Collection at the University of Oregon, provides a rich and extraordinary historical record.14 12
      In identifying its priorities, the newly created board agreed to begin the statewide compilation of existing geographic names and unnamed features that required names. The rapid growth of Oregon's population during the early twentieth century and the anticipated public rush to name the vast number of geographic features that remained unnamed were major concerns of the board. Board members faced close supervision and specific naming rules in order to avoid the mistakes of the past, and they affirmed that the policy would be to encourage the public to consider proposing names drawn from Indian lore, pioneer history, and from other appropriate sources. Realizing that its existence and purpose would need wide publicity, the board further agreed to deliver "An Address to the People of Oregon," setting forth the reasons for its creation and soliciting the public's cooperation.15 The address was issued as a government document in December 1908 and was published in several newspapers. It contains the following paragraph, which illustrates how the board viewed its responsibility:
The psychological influence of names in a community is generally acknowledged. Good names afford at least unconscious satisfaction, and may even tend to elevate the public mind. Badly chosen names give conscious dissatisfaction and have a tendency to discredit the community in the estimation of outsiders. A general "toning up" effect is produced in a community, by the prevalence of place names whose suggestion is elevating, stimulating to the imagination, or pleasing to the ear. Special difficulties result from the fact that geographic names ordinarily come into being in a haphazard manner and therefore many of them are supplicated, others disputed, and some are from every point of view inappropriate. Supervision is called for if only for the purpose of eliminating duplicates and assisting to settle cases of dispute.16
 		13
      At its board meeting on December 26, 1908, the Oregon Geographic Board executed its first formal geographic naming action. It recommended that the existing name of the 9,495-foot Mount Pitt in Jackson County be changed to Mount McLoughlin to commemorate Dr. John McLoughlin, the Hudson's Bay Company Chief Factor at Fort Vancouver from 1825 until 1846 who had long been considered the father of Oregon. The origin of the name Pitt was somewhat questionable, although it appears to be derived from nearby pits that Native Americans had dug to trap game. The proposal to change the name of the mountain received wide support. The Oregon Legislature had already requested the name change, and it became official with the approval of the national board in 1912.17

 14
THE MOST INNOVATIVE PERSON ever to be associated with the Oregon Geographic Board or the Oregon Geographic Names Board was Lewis A. "Tam" McArthur. McArthur was an executive with the Pacific Power and Light Company and for many years served as its vice-president and general manager. In addition, he was president of OHS from 1937 to 1945. Governor Oswald West, who succeeded Governor Chamberlain in 1909, was concerned that the Oregon Geographic Board had become inactive. West was likely aware of McArthur's interest in geographic names and appointed him to the board in 1914. The board elected him secretary in 1916, a position he held until illness forced his resignation in 1949.18 15
      During Tam McArthur's tenure, the position of board president was more of a figurehead, and it would take an energetic personality to bring new life to the board, which was not meeting on a regular basis. As secretary and the official contact person, McArthur became the key to the board's resurgence. He was fascinated with the origin and significance of geographic names, and he became an advisor to, and proofreader for, government agencies engaged in various forms of mapping and primary surveying. He persuaded the United States Geological Survey to adopt a new method of incorporating photographic topography with existing maps, a process still in use today.19 16

 
Figure 5
    Mount McLoughlin in Jackson County, pictured here in 1911 with Upper Klamath Lake, was the object of the first official geographic naming action by the Oregon board — changing the name from Mount Pitt in 1912.

    OHS image no. bb004000
 
 
      Before he was appointed to the Oregon board, McArthur had begun a comprehensive compilation of geographic names in Oregon, an undertaking that had been intended by the original board members in 1908 but did not materialize. He meticulously researched the origin of each name by reading the journals of explorers, traders, fur trappers, naturalists, and military personnel and by interviewing many of the pioneers and settlers who came to Oregon during the nineteenth century. The first installments of his collection of names and their history appeared during the 1920s in eight different issues of the Oregon Historical Quarterly. In February 1928, McArthur combined his collection and published it as Oregon Geographic Names. He published a second edition of the book, containing hundreds of additional names, in 1944. After his death in 1951, the McArthur family continued to add to the collection and have published five more editions.20 McArthur never intended the book to include all of Oregon's fifty thousand plus place-names, and he focused on the names he deemed most worthy of attention. With a historical synopsis of each listed name, Oregon Geographic Names has become one of the most indispensable and emulated geography and history reference books in the United States, and the Oregon board continues to use it as a primary reference tool. 17

 
Figure 6
    Lewis A. "Tam" McArthur was appointed to the Oregon board in 1914 and held the position of secretary from 1916 to 1949. He is remembered as one of the nation's foremost toponymic scholars.

    OHS neg., CN 009116
 
 
      Having lost Tam McArthur's presence and influence, the Oregon Geographic Board gradually fell into a period of inactivity during the 1950s. Due to public demand and at the request of Governor Robert Holmes, the board was reactivated by state government in September 1958.21 As the state entered into its centennial year of 1959, OHS Executive Director Thomas Vaughan persuaded newly elected Governor Mark Hatfield to transfer the Oregon Geographic Board from state government to the administration of OHS. Vaughan was convinced that the logical venue for the board would be under the umbrella of OHS, which already was the custodian of the board's records and correspondence. Governor Hatfield concurred, and because the board was not created by statute, he simply ordered the transfer in 1959.22

 18
THE REORGANIZED BOARD suddenly found itself in an unfamiliar situation. Although it would be administered by OHS, board members needed to develop their own bylaws, separate from OHS's corporate structure. The new arrangement had one disadvantage: the board would no longer have direct funding support from state government and would have to rely on OHS's volatile budget to cover the cost of administrative support and related expenses. As in the past, the board's members would continue to serve as volunteers, with one exception — the secretary. The new bylaws designated OHS executive director as permanent secretary, making that person responsible for appointing all other members of the board. Vaughan served as permanent secretary from 1959 until his retirement from OHS in 1989.23 19
      With the reorganization, the name of the Oregon Geographic Board was officially changed by vote of the board members to the Oregon Geographic Names Board (OGNB). The word names was added to clarify its primary purpose and reflect some consistency with the national board's name, the United States Board on Geographic Names. The expanded board burst with new energy following Vaughan's appointment of several new board members, including Tam McArthur's son, Lewis L. McArthur of Portland. Lewis L. McArthur's enthusiasm and expertise quickly elevated the board's effectiveness and reputation. Returning to the board was Phil Brogan of Bend, who had previously served as president when the board was managed by state government. He was again selected to head the board, this time with the revised title of "chairman."24 In 1994, the board approved bylaws that changed the title of the presiding officer back to "president."25 20
      After Army service in World War II, Lewis L. McArthur was a construction executive with the Ray F. Becker Company until 1986. He also served on the State Advisory Committee on Historic Preservation, was chairman of the Historic Columbia River Highway Advisory Committee, and is an active member of the American Name Society. Like his father, McArthur was captivated with the history and significance of geographic names, and he compiled information on additional names, producing revised editions of Oregon Geographic Names.26 McArthur's ability to memorize key information about Oregon place-names makes it unnecessary for him to carry a copy of Oregon Geographic Names when conducting field tours for fellow toponymists and other interested parties. 21
      As Oregon's population continued to grow and the number of geographic name proposals increased, the board members, acting on their own initiative, voted to create a larger board to provide more diverse regional representation. During its first fifty years, the Oregon board varied in size from five to eight appointed members. Beginning with the 1959 reorganization, the number of board members was gradually increased a few at a time as the bylaws were revised, and by 1994, the board's current structure of twenty-five members was approved.27 Predictably, the increased representation of individuals from all regions of the state, each with his or her own local geographic and historical expertise, has proven to be a major asset in evaluating name proposals. For more than sixty years, the board's membership consisted only of men. In 1971, Vaughan appointed Priscilla Knuth of Portland, managing editor of the Oregon Historical Quarterly; Elisabeth Walton Potter of Salem, a historian for the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department; and Josephine Moore of Eugene, with the University of Oregon News Bureau.28 Another milestone was reached in 1999 with the election of the first woman president, Kathleen Beaufait of Salem, a lawyer who retired from state government after a long career with the Oregon Legislature's legal office.29 22
      Beginning with the 1959 reorganization and continuing with its current twenty-five board members, twenty-four of whom are volunteer appointees, the OGNB is unique when compared to the geographic names authorities of all the other states. The responsibility to designate place-names in most states falls within state government, either by statute or order of the governor, and at least forty-three states have officials or employees of state government or state universities presiding over the organizations. Members of the public do serve on a number of the state boards, but the average size of all boards is less than eight members. A few states, such as Tennessee, have only a single representative or board member, and Oregon has by far the most members.30 Oregon's board is apolitical and is not subject to legislative control. Its members are selected and appointed based on their regional diversity and expert knowledge of the state's history and geography. The president appoints non-voting advisors from various federal and state government land managing and map-making agencies and the private sector to serve as expert consultants to the board. 23
      During the 1950s, the U.S. Geological Survey began a major program to complete topographic contour maps at a scale of 1:62,500, covering all of Oregon.31 This resulted in a considerable increase in the number of naming proposals, most of which are generated by U.S. Geological Survey field personnel who were involved in compiling hundreds of place-names from local sources. Board members realized that a comprehensive review process was needed to screen the proposals before presenting them for approval by the OGNB and the USBGN. Consequently, in 1963, the OGNB established the Interim Committee, which serves in an advisory capacity to the full board, and appointed Robert Scott as the first committee chairman. To reduce the OGNB's workload resulting from the U.S. Geological Survey mapping project, the committee was given the authority to bypass the full board regarding routine and non-controversial names and make recommendations directly to the USBGN.32 Today, the committee's primary purpose is to review and perfect incoming geographic name proposals, investigate and assemble background information, and make recommendations to the president and the full board. In 1983, the board appointed Lewis L. McArthur as chair of the Interim Committee. With his broad knowledge of place-names, maps, and Oregon's history and geography, as well as his effective manner in interacting with individuals and government agencies, McArthur was perfect for the leadership role. He served as chairman of the committee until his retirement from the board in 2005, but the board continues to rely on him for professional advice and assistance. Due primarily to the dedication and professionalism of key individuals such as McArthur, the OGNB is consistently recognized by the USBGN as one of the leading state geographic names authorities.33 24
      The western states' geographic names authorities continue to experience the nation's heaviest workload in naming actions, because of their large expanse of geography and seemingly endless supply of unnamed geographic features, and also because most of the nation's offensive or controversial names, which generate name-change proposals, are located in the West. The national board and the official geographic names authorities in all fifty states and in Guam and Puerto Rico are associated with the Council of Geographic Names Authorities in the United States (COGNA), an independent organization begun in 1977 that promotes professionalism, cooperation, and education in matters relating to geographic names. COGNA conducts an annual nationwide conference to address important issues, facilitate roundtable discussions on key topics, and develop constructive recommendations for consideration by the USBGN. 25
      In addition to its primary responsibility of supervising the naming of geographic features in Oregon, federal, state, and local governments often rely on the OGNB to review and comment on administrative name proposals. Administrative names are generally the responsibility of government and are applied to a wide variety of places, areas, projects, facilities, and memorials such as parks, schools, post offices, highways, bridges, cemeteries, proposed wilderness areas, and government administrative subdivisions. The board's historical and geographical expertise with names is greatly respected, but unlike with other geographic names, OGNB's function with administrative names is purely advisory. 26
      The OGNB also contributes data for entry into the federal government's Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), the national standard for geographic and toponymic nomenclature. The U.S. Geological Survey developed the GNIS during the 1940s for the USBGN as the official repository of domestic geographic names data, the official list for geographic names used by all departments of the federal government, and the source for applying geographic names to federal electronic and printed products. If a name is listed in the GNIS, it is official. The GNIS contains information about physical, cultural, and administrative geographic features in the United States, including its territories and outlying areas, as well as features on the continent of Antarctica. The names of roads and highways are purposely excluded, however, because they are assigned to the Census Bureau's data system. The GNIS database holds the federally recognized name of each feature and defines the feature location by state, county, U.S. Geological Survey topographic map, and geographic coordinates. Other aspects include historic names and variant names or spellings, feature designations, feature classification, historical and descriptive information, and for some categories, geometric boundaries.34 The first Oregon Geographic Board in 1908 could not even dream about compiling a database of such magnitude. 27
      The GNIS collects data from federal, state, and local government agencies and other authorized contributors. It provides data to all levels of government and to the general public through a web query site, web map and feature services, file download services, and customized files upon request.35 The database is invaluable to the state geographic names authorities because it instantly provides the exact location of features with existing names and identifies any duplicate names that may exist. A nationwide effort is underway to compile and include virtually all cultural, physical, and administrative geographic features in the database.

 28
Past Presidents (Chairmen)
of the Oregon Geographic Names Board
Name
Will G. Steel
George H. Himes
Merle R. Chessman
Phil F. Brogan
Bernal Hug
Phil F. Brogan
Eric Allen, Jr.
J. Herbert Stone
William Wessinger
Tom McAllister
Kathleen Beaufait
Champ C. Vaughan		 Residence
Portland
Portland
Astoria
Bend
Elgin
Bend
Medford
Portland
Portland
Portland
Salem
Molalla		 Years Served
1908–1911
1911–1940
1940–1947
1947–1958
1958–1959
1960–1968
1968–1973
1973–1980
1980–1986
1986–1999
1999–2003
2003–Present
Sources:Oregon Blue Book editions of 1915–2007, issues of the Oregon Historical Quarterly containing rosters of Oregon Historical Society officials, and minutes of the Oregon Geographic Board and Oregon Geographic Names Board

compiled by the author

THE PAST ONE HUNDRED YEARS have not been without controversy for the OGNB. The vast majority of name proposals submitted by the public have been relatively routine and uncomplicated, but some have posed major challenges. Geographic naming in Oregon has been a public process, and all name proposals submitted by the public received consideration — as they still do. If the proposals do not comply with the principles, policies, and procedures of the USBGN, however, the board must reject them. Although the board has taken into account the legitimacy and local usage of a name when considering whether a proposal is justified, members of the public have sometimes disagreed about name preferences. Generally, when local residents have voiced substantial opposition to a specific name, the board has not approved it. There is also the possibility of two or more different name proposals being simultaneously submitted for the same feature, of which only one can be selected for approval. One notable example was the approval by the USBGN in 2007 of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's proposal to change the name of Squaw Point, located on the western shore of Upper Klamath Lake in Klamath County, to Sesti Tgawaals Point. Sesti Tgawaals is a Klamath Indian term that means 'Shasta standing on end' and refers to the lake reflection of Mount Shasta, located seventy miles to the south in California. The Board of Klamath County Commissioners simultaneously proposed the name Mallard Point for the same feature. In 2006, the OGNB recommended approval of Sesti Tgawaals Point over Mallard Point, because of documented historical usage of the name by the Klamath Tribes.36 29
      The OGNB has made a number of contentious decisions in processing both new-name and name-change proposals. One of the classic examples is the name change in 1983 of Bachelor Butte to Mount Bachelor. As Lewis L. McArthur explained:
Names are dynamic and change with the people and the times. Bachelor Butte, near Bend, was named in the early days because of its position near but not connected to the Three Sisters. The name was satisfactory for a century, but after World War II the developers of the ski area felt that skiing on a butte would be considered small-time, so they named their operation Mount Bachelor Ski Area. Over the years the combination of excellent skiing and effective advertising brought the form Mount Bachelor into general use. While some people deplored this change, the Oregon board in a divided decision voted to recognize this fait accompli, and the United States Board in their October 6, 1983, meeting in Boise voted to confirm. The procedures governing name changes are well established and the route from Bachelor Butte to Mount Bachelor was typical.37
 		30
      Good intentions alone are not enough to change established place-names. One controversial instance involved an isolated area located one mile east of Fish Lake on the western slope of Steens Mountain in Harney County. In the early twentieth century, prostitute entrepreneurs from Vale set up portable facilities to serve the local cowboys and sheepherders. The location was known as Whorehouse Meadow, which appeared on some maps. In 1968, the Bureau of Land Management issued a recreation map and substituted a more temperate name, Naughty Girl Meadow. The U.S. Geological Survey made the same revision on its advanced sheet of the Fish Lake Quadrangle topographic map. In 1971, the OGNB took exception to the unauthorized name change, because local usage had firmly established the name Whorehouse Meadow. The USBGN, whose policy is to discourage controversial names, reluctantly approved Whorehouse Meadow as the official name in 1983.38 31
      Geographic names are sometimes applied to memorialize or emphasize historical events. One example of such a name is Chinese Massacre Cove, a formerly unnamed cove at the mouth of Deep Creek, where it flows into the Snake River in Hells Canyon. A member of the public proposed the name to memorialize the 1887 murder by outlaws of some thirty-four Chinese miners, and the proposal attracted considerable public attention. Many citizens of Wallowa County, including the Board of County Commissioners, favored commemorating the site and its history. They were concerned, however, that emphasizing the event by including the word massacre as part of a permanent geographic name on maps would give Wallowa County a damaged reputation. The proposal generated far more public comments than the average case, as the board received some forty oral and written comments, two-thirds in favor of and one-third opposed to the naming proposal. The general opinion of those in favor was that the historical event — despite its unpleasant nature — should not be veiled from the public. In a divided opinion, the Oregon board recommended approval, and the national board unanimously approved Chinese Massacre Cove in 2005.39 32
      After World War II, public awareness of the existence of derogatory and offensive geographic names increased nationwide. Many of these names had existed on maps since the nineteenth century. During the late 1960s, the United States Department of the Interior, at the urging of President Lyndon Johnson, made a decision to eliminate all United States geographic names nationwide that included the pejorative terms Nigger and Jap and replace them with what were at the time considered respectful terms, Negro and Japanese.40 Because standard replacement names already existed in this situation, the process of changing the names was easily accomplished as a blanket action. In Oregon, a total of eight geographic names were changed to Negro and six were changed to Japanese. These terms are the only two ever changed universally by the USBGN. The national board encourages the elimination of all other geographic names that may be considered derogatory or offensive but requires that the action be initiated by the public and processed on a case-by-case basis. A related but separate example involved a private proposal from a U.S. Forest Service employee to change the names of Darkey Creek and Little Darkey Creek in Lincoln County. The general consensus was that the term darkey has a negative connotation, and the proponent proposed the replacement names of Southworth Creek and Little Southworth Creek to commemorate African-American pioneer Lewis Southworth. Southworth homesteaded in the vicinity of the two creeks from 1879 to 1901, during the time the original names were placed on maps. In 1999, the OGNB recommended approval, and the USBGN officially approved the name changes in 2000.41 33
      During the 1990s, another questionable word came under increased public scrutiny. The word squaw originated from Massachusett, the language of the Algonquin Indians in the area known today as Massachusetts, and it has been in common use by non-Indians since the 1600s. The original meaning of the word was 'female, younger woman,' and it was spoken with no insult intended. The word squaw was soon modified by non-Indians to mean any female Native American, and it gradually became a derogatory or racial insult relating to Native American women in general. Regardless of its original meaning, the word squaw is now "generally considered disparaging, as current dictionaries ... indicate."42 During the nineteenth century, settlers, fur trappers, and miners often used the word squaw to name the geographic features they encountered, especially if Indian women were seen in the vicinity. Whether or not the use of the word was consistently intended as derogatory, there has been a tendency to overuse it in geographic names. The result was hundreds of squaw-named geographic features, primarily located in the western half of the nation. In 1998, Oregon had the dubious distinction of having 172 squaw geographic names, more than any other state. Even more bizarre, the names were duplicated throughout Oregon, resulting in 63 Squaw Creeks, for example.43 Even discounting the derogatory implication of the term squaw, the confusion generated by the existence of so many duplicate geographic names within the same state would be sufficient justification for changing them. 34
      In responding to a growing public awareness during the past ten years, the states of Minnesota, Montana, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Maine, Florida, North Carolina, and Tennessee have acknowledged the concerns of both Native Americans and non-Indians regarding the derogatory and offensive altered meaning of the word squaw and passed legislation to ban the use of the word from all public property and new place-names. In 2001, the Oregon Legislature took similar action by mandating that the word squaw be eliminated from all public property of state and local government, such as Squaw Mountain Road in Clackamas County, which has been changed to Tumala Mountain Road, and Squaw Creek Irrigation District in Deschutes County, which has been changed to Three Sisters Irrigation District. Because most geographic names are the responsibility of the federal government, the legislature could not include them in the mandate. Through Senate Joint Memorial 3 in 2001, however, the legislature did formally petition the OGNB, the USBGN, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Secretary of Agriculture to remove the word from geographic names.44 35
      To avoid potential conflict of interest and to ensure public participation, it is the policy of the OGNB to be reactive and not proactive in initiating geographic name proposals. Board members must rely on the public to originate and justify name proposals for consideration. Because of the confusion that would result by erasing names on maps without substituting replacement names, an existing name cannot be eliminated until a replacement name has been approved by the USBGN. In response to the Oregon Legislature's request, the OGNB has actively encouraged the public, and especially the Native American community, to generate replacement names. Years before the Oregon Legislature became directly involved, the OGNB had already collaborated with the Bureau of Land Management, the Burns Paiute Tribe, and the U.S. Agricultural Research Service to re-name Squaw Butte, a prominent landmark located within the Northern Great Basin Experimental Range (formerly the Squaw Butte Range Experiment Station), approximately ten miles west of Riley in Harney County. The Burns Paiute Tribe considers the name offensive and proposed the replacement name, Paiute Butte. In 1996, the OGNB recommended approval. With the approval of the USBGN in 1998, it became the first squaw-named feature in Oregon to be renamed.45 36

 
Figure 7
    The board adopted its official logo on June 22, 2002.
 
 
      The elimination of any geographic name residents find derogatory or offensive is a complex and time-consuming process. Before the OGNB can assume its responsibility, a member or members of the public must submit a formal name change proposal. To increase public awareness of Oregon's aboriginal people and heritage, the Oregon Legislature enacted legislation in 2005, requesting that Native American words or names be used, where possible, as replacement names for the word squaw.46 Generally, there is little opposition to eliminating the squaw names, although a small number of opponents have argued that the names are a part of history and should not be changed. The main controversy involves the selection of proposed replacement names, which may not satisfy all of the local population. Also, because lands were often shared among Native groups before the federal government removed them to reservations, an intertribal agreement or compromise on replacement names may be necessary if there is disagreement. The OGNB refers for review and comment all proposals, whether for new names or name changes, to the appropriate county government, Native American tribes, affected landowners and public land managing agencies, and local historical societies. The board also makes an effort to alert the general public by issuing press releases for publication in local newspapers. 37
      The majority of the squaw-named geographic features in Oregon are on public lands administered by the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management, who work closely with the OGNB. Facilitated by representatives of the Deschutes and Ochoco National Forests, a very significant collaboration occurred during 2004 and 2005, in which the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon developed a list of potential replacement names using words from three different tribal languages: Wasco, Sahaptin, and Paiute. That cooperative effort by the U.S. Forest Service, the Warm Springs tribes, and the OGNB, as well as considerable input from the local population, resulted in the successful renaming of twenty-two squaw-named geographic features in central Oregon. Although progress continues to be made, proposed replacement names for more than one hundred squaw geographic names in Oregon remain to be processed as of 2008.47 38
      A continuing challenge for the OGNB relates to the spelling and pronunciation of geographic names. An effort is made to conform to rules of English, and ideally, the names should be easily pronounceable for English speakers. Still, domestic geographic names are sometimes in another language or they may reflect historical spellings or forms commonly used or preferred by local citizens. The actual pronunciation is determined by local usage and not by the OGNB or the USBGN. 39
      Many of the proposals to replace squaw names submitted by Native American tribes involve words from aboriginal languages. It is characteristic for North American indigenous languages to have a generic (or reference term) embedded within a one-word form, such as the Sahaptin word Tai, meaning 'meadow or flat'. To avoid confusion, the type of feature should be clearly identified on maps, such as Tai Flat, in this example. It has therefore been the policy of both the USBGN and the OGNB to require that virtually all geographic name proposals, regardless of language, include a separate understandable and descriptive generic term written in English, such as Wilson River or Tumalo Mountain. Tribal linguists have often insisted that tribal oral languages be written using particular spellings, many of which may not be phonetically recognizable to those who do not speak the language. The OGNB avoids setting a precedence of routinely accepting all proposals with complex spellings and pronunciations. Out of respect for aboriginal heritage, however, the OGNB has made every effort to accommodate tribal preferences and to negotiate acceptable spellings. Board members have not always been unanimous in their considered opinion when evaluating such proposals. One example was the renaming of Squaw Island, located offshore from Sunset Bay State Park in Coos County. In a divided opinion on October 12, 2005, the OGNB recommended approval of the proposed replacement name Qochyax Island, pronounced "Coke-yah" and meaning 'Women and Children's Island'. The Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians submitted the name, and the USBGN unanimously approved it in 2006.48 On December 6, 2006, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation proposed Isqúulktpe, a Nez Perce word that is pronounced "Is-school-pa" and means 'at the beheading/throat-cutting', to replace the word squaw in the names Squaw Creek, Little Squaw Creek, Squaw Creek Overlook, and Little Squaw Spring — all located in Umatilla County. Tribal oral histories indicate that the area was given this name after invading Shoshones or Paiutes attacked Cayuse women who were root gathering. Reportedly, the invaders were killed. On June 23, 2007, the OGNB voted to recommend approval of an alternate spelling that was easier for people who do not speak Nez Perce to pronounce, but the tribes withdrew the alternate spelling and offered only Isqúulktpe for consideration. In a divided opinion on December 8, 2007, the OGNB decided not to revise its original recommendation. Because three of the geographic features in question are located within or partly within the Umatilla Reservation, the USBGN approved the tribes' preference of Isqúulktpe for all four geographic names on June 12, 2008. Although it rarely does, the USBGN has authority to override the recommendations of state names authorities.49 40

 
Figure 8
    Black Butte in Deschutes County is a prime example of a descriptive geographic name. To the right is Mount Jefferson, located in three counties: Jefferson, Linn, and Marion. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark named the mountain as a commemorative name, honoring President Thomas Jefferson, in 1806.

    OHS neg., CN 019244
 
 
      Two of Oregon's most intriguing aspects are its geography and history, which come together in the names of places and geographic features. "Every place name," writes William G. Loy, "is a signpost that tells a story of settlement and of the culture of earlier generations."50 The OGNB, in partnership with the USBGN, has been charged with the responsibility to honor and preserve that heritage by providing a conduit through which uniform geographic name usage is applied and current names data is promulgated.51 With one hundred years of experience, the Oregon Geographic Names Board continues to take this responsibility seriously. 41


NOTES

Oregon Geographic Names Board member Bruce Crespin passed away while this article was being prepared for publication. Crespin was an archaeologist for the Bureau of Land Management and a tribal member of the Juaneño Band of Mission Indians. He will be greatly missed.

1.  See U.S. Geological Survey, Geographic Names Information System database, 2008, http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/ [hereafter GNIS database] (accessed August 11, 2008). The data system can be queried to identify those geographic features currently or previously using the word squaw as part of the geographic names.

2.  Meeting minutes, Oregon Geographic Board, October 28, 1908, and December 26, 1908, Oregon Historical Society Research Library, Portland [hereafter OHS Research Library]; Lewis L. McArthur, unrecorded interview with author, Portland, Oregon, January 8, 2008.

3.  See Henry Zenk, "Notes on Native American Place-names of the Willamette Valley Region," Oregon Historical Quarterly 109:1 (Spring 2008): 6–33.

4.  Lewis A. McArthur and Lewis L. McArthur, Oregon Geographic Names, 7th ed. (Portland: Oregon Historical Society Press, 2003) 86, 220–21, 384, 668–71.

5.  U.S. Board on Geographic Names, Principles, Policies, and Procedures, revised 2003, http://geonames.usgs.gov/docs/pro_pol_pro.pdf (accessed July 10, 2008). See also Meredith F. Burrill, 1890–1990: A Century of Service — United States Board on Geographic Names (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, July 1990).

6.  Ibid.

7.  Ibid.

8.  Meeting minutes, Oregon Geographic Board, October 28, 1908, and December 26, 1908, OHS Research Library. Himes's election as vice-president is not mentioned in the minutes of the first two board meetings, but he is listed as vice-president in "An Address to the People of Oregon," Oregonian, December 13, 1908.

9.  Sources disagree on the number of place-names Steel documented. The Smith Brothers' Chronological History of Crater Lake National Park includes log entries for August 1930 and November 21, 1934, that state Steel had compiled 57,800 place-names, including their origin and significance, in every county of forty-eight states. See "Chronological History of Crater Lake National Park" (1999), http://www.drizzle.com/~rdpayne/smithbros/1910.htm (accessed July 10, 2008). Steel also compiled several scrapbooks, and one source implies that the place-names he documented are part of 57,800 items compiled in those scrapbooks, leaving the total number of place-names documented uncertain; see Oregon Public Broadcasting, Oregon Experience: William Gladstone Steel, 2007, http://www.opb.org/oregonexperience/williamsteel/collector.php (accessed July 10, 2008). See also Rick Harmon, Crater Lake National Park: A History (Corvallis: Oregon State University Press, 2002).

10.  Leslie M. Scott, "George Henry Himes, Archivist for Guidance of Posterity," Oregon Historical Quarterly 41:1 (March 1940): 1–3, 99; State of Oregon, Oregon Blue Book (Salem, Secretary of State, 1915 to 1941). The first edition of the Oregon Blue Book (1915) lists Himes as president, and I assume that Himes succeeded Steel as president in 1911, because, beginning in 1911, Steel spent much of the year coordinating Crater Lake activities in southern Oregon and several months in Washington, D.C., lobbying Congress for Crater Lake National Park road construction funding. Steel was appointed as Crater Lake National Park Superintendent in 1913. See Smith Brothers, "Chronological History of Crater Lake National Park" (1999), log entries for 1911 and 1913.

11.  Alfred Powers, "Debt of Pacific Northwest to Dr. Joseph Schafer," Oregon Historical Quarterly 42:1 (March 1941) 88–97. Examples of Schafer's published history include A History of the Pacific Northwest (New York: Macmillan, 1905); The Acquisition of the Oregon Territory (Eugene: University of Oregon, 1908); and Jesse Applegate, Pioneer and State Builder (Eugene: University of Oregon, 1912).

12.  Dorothy Godfrey Otto, "John B. Horner, Oregon Historian," Oregon Historical Quarterly 82:4 (Winter 1981): 369–82.

13. Corvallis Gazette Times, January 9, 2007; Smoke Signals, News of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, March 15, 2008; Irene Zenev, Executive Director, Benton County Historical Society and Museum, e-mail communication with author, June 24, 2008.

14.  Steven L. Grafe, "Lee Moorhouse: Photographer of the Inland Empire," Oregon Historical Quarterly 98:4 (December 1997): 426–77.

15.  Meeting minutes, Oregon Geographic Board, October 28, 1908, OHS Research Library.

16. Portland Oregonian, December 13, 1908.

17.  McArthur and McArthur, Oregon Geographic Names, 7th ed., 673–75; Meeting minutes, Oregon Geographic Board, December 26, 1908, OHS Research Library.

18.  Omar C. Spencer, "Lewis Ankeny McArthur 1883–1951," Oregon Historical Quarterly 56:1 (March 1955): 5–11; McArthur, Oregon Geographic Names, 7th ed., vii. See also Erin McCullugh Peneva, "The Importance of Memory and Place: A Narrative of Oregon Geographic Names with Lewis L. McArthur" Oregon historical Quarterly 109:3 (Fall 2008): 446–60.

19.  Spencer, "Lewis Ankeny McArthur," 6, 7; McArthur and McArthur, Oregon Geographic Names, vii, xii; McArthur interview.

20.  Spencer, "Lewis Ankeny McArthur," 8, 9; McArthur and McArthur, Oregon Geographic Names, vii, xii. The latest edition of Oregon Geographic Names, the seventh, contains 6,252 place-names and was published in 2003.

21.  Meeting minutes, OGNB, September 19, 1958, OHS Research Library; McArthur interview.

22.  McArthur interview.

23.  Editorial, Oregonian, August 13, 1989; McArthur interview. McArthur, who was appointed to the board in 1959, has firsthand knowledge of the responsibilities and service of Thomas Vaughan.

24.  Meeting minutes, OGNB, December 2, 1960, OHS Research Library.

25.  I have been unable to locate these revised bylaws but remember the change, having attended at the June 24, 1994, board meeting.

26.  McArthur and McArthur, Oregon Geographic Names, 7th ed., vii.

27.  Meeting minutes, OGNB, June 25, 1994, on file with the OGNB recording secretary, OHS.

28.  Ibid., December 3, 1971, OHS Research Library.

29.  Ibid., December 4, 1999, copy in author's possession.

30.  Council of Geographic Names Authorities (COGNA) in the United States, informal presentations by various geographic names authorities at the annual COGNA conference, October 4, 2007, Lexington, Kentucky.

31.  McArthur interview.

32.  Meeting minutes, OGNB, December 6, 1963, OHS Research Library. The minutes document the establishment of the Interim Committee but are silent as to the appointment of the first committee chairman and the special authority given to the committee. Lewis L. McArthur, who was present at the board meeting, recalls that Robert Scott was appointed as the first committee chairman and that the approval for the committee to bypass the full board, regarding routine actions, was approved by the board. McArthur interview.

33.  Tom McAllister, past OGNB president, unrecorded interview by author, Salem, Oregon, March 6, 2007; Roger L. Payne, Executive Secretary Emeritus, USBGN, written testimonial, July 9, 2008, in author's possession.

34.  U.S. Geological Survey, "Geographic Names Information System Fact Sheet 127–95," August 1998, available at http://erg.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/factsheets/fs12795.html (accessed July 10, 2008).

35.  Ibid.

36.  Meeting minutes, OGNB, June 24, 2006, board meeting, on file with the OGNB recording secretary, Oregon Historical Society, Portland [hereafter OHS]; Meeting minutes, U.S. Board on Geographic Names Domestic Names Committee, June 11–12, 2007, http://geonames.usgs.gov/domestic/monthly_minutes.htm (accessed July 11, 2008); The Klamath Tribes Tribal Council to President, OGNB, April 24, 2006, on file with the OGNB recording secretary, OHS.

37.  Lewis L. McArthur, "Oregon Geographic Names," Oregon Historical Quarterly 85:4 (Winter 1984): 407.

38.  McArthur and McArthur, Oregon Geographic Names, 7th ed., 1034; GNIS database.

39.  Meeting minutes, OGNB, June 25, 2005, on file with the OGNB recording secretary, OHS; Meeting minutes, U.S. Board on Geographic Names Domestic Names Committee, October 12, 2005, http://geonames.usgs.gov/domestic/monthly_minutes.htm (accessed July 10, 2008). See also R. Gregory Nokes, "A Most Daring Outrage: Murders at Chinese Massacre Cove, 1887," Oregon Historical Quarterly 107:3 (Fall 2006): 326–53.

40.  Louis A. Yost, Executive Secretary of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (USBGN), e-mail communication with author, June 25, 2008. In 1963, the USBGN directed the name changes from the Nigger to Negro, and in 1974, the USBGN directed the name changes from Jap to Japanese. The two directives were implemented in the Geographic Names Information System in 1982.

41.  GNIS database; Meeting minutes, OGNB, June 26, 1999, and December 4, 1999, in the possession of the author; Oregonian, July 22, 1999.

42.  Ives Goddard, "The True History of the Word Squaw" (Letter to the Editor), News from Indian Country, Smithsonian Institution, April 1997, available at http://anthropology.si.edu/goddard/squaw_1.pdf (accessed July 10, 2008). Regarding further controversy surrounding the word squaw, Goddard states: "It is certain as any historical fact can be that the word squaw that English settlers in Massachusetts used for 'Indian Woman' in the early 1600s was adopted by them from the word squa that their Massachusett-speaking neighbors used in their own language to mean 'female, younger woman,' and not from the Mohawk word ojiskwa' [meaning] 'vagina'.... The resemblance that might be perceived between squaw and the last syllable of the Mohawk word is coincidental. Such partial resemblances between words of different meanings in different languages are common and of no significance."

43.  GNIS database.

44.  Marisol Bello, "Pressure for Place Names to Drop 'Squaw'," USA Today, April 30, 2008; Oregon Legislature Senate Joint Memorial 3, approved April 20, 2001; and Oregon Revised Statutes, Chapter 652 (SB 488), Act approved June 27, 2001.

45.  See McArthur and McArthur, Oregon Geographic Names 7th ed., 737.

46.  Oregon Revised Statutes, Chapter 271.600 (SB 362), Act approved June 7, 2005.

47.  Meeting minutes, OGNB, October 12, 2005, on file with the OGNB recording secretary, OHS; GNIS database. The data system can be queried to give a current count of those squaw names remaining to be changed, which is subject to change on a daily basis.

48.  Meeting minutes, U.S. Board on Geographic Names Domestic Names Committee, June 6, 2006, http://geonames.usgs.gov/domestic/monthly_minutes.htm (accessed July 11, 2008); GNIS database.

49.  Meeting minutes, OGNB, June 23, 2007, and December 8, 2007, on file with the OGNB recording secretary, OHS; Confederated Umatilla Journal, News of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, June 1999; Jennifer Runyon, Acting Executive Secretary, U.S. Board on Geographic Names, e-mail communication with author, July 9, 2008.

50.  William G. Loy, ed., Atlas of Oregon, 2nd ed. (Portland: University of Oregon Press, 2001), 24.

51.  U.S. Board on Geographic Names, Principles, Policies, and Procedures.

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