Page:Oregon Geographic Names, third edition.djvu/100

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tary road from The Dalles to Canyon City. The buildings were burned during an Indian uprising and from that time the place was known by its present name. The original Burnt Ranch is near the mouth of Bridge Creek, but the post office moves about, depending upon the home of the postmaster. At one time the office was far enough west to be in Jefferson County. Burnt Ranch post office was established January 15, 1883, by change of name from Grade. Addie S. Masterson was the first postmaster.

BURNT RIVER, Baker County. Burnt River is an important stream rising in the Blue Mountains and draining the south part of the county. It joins Snake River east of Huntington. Exact information about its name is not available, and there are two theories about the matter, one being that Burnt River was so called because of the burned timber along its banks and the other because of the burned looking rocks, especially along the lower reaches. As far as the writer knows, the first mention of Burnt River is in the Peter Skene Ogden journals for Friday, October 28, 1825. T.C. Elliott was of the opinion that the name came from the burned woods, because fur-traders reached the upper parts of the stream first where the burned looking rocks are not so much in evidence. During the times in question the stream was frequently mentioned as the Riviere Brule, by the French-Canadians. It is of course evident that the traders named the stream, and that pioneers proceeding along the lower part of the river 25 years later had nothing to do with it, though they doubtless thought the name was appropriate because of the dry character of the country they traversed. Mr. Elliott thought that the name was probably first applied to the river by Donald McKenzie possibly as early as 1818. See OHQ, volume XIII, page 71. For many references about the name Burnt River, see Discovery of the Oregon Trail, (Stuart's Narrative edited by Rollins), pages 79 and 95. In the first edition of Astoria, volume II, page 122, Burnt River is appropriately called Woodpile Creek, apparently on account of driftwood accumulations. The compiler has seen later editions of Astoria with this name spelled Woodvile, a meaningless error.

BURNT Woods, Lincoln County. This post office is in the eastern part of Lincoln County, near Tumtum Creek, where the remains of forest fires are still much in evidence. The office was established in 1919, and a list of suggested names was sent to the Post Office Department. On the list was Burnt Woods, proposed by H. G. Downing, and this was the name chosen by the authorities.

BURNT Woods, Washington County. Washington County has had more than its share of forest fires and it is not surprising that there was once a post office in the county called Burnt Woods. This office was a mile or so north of the place called Glenwood, as Glenwood was situated in 1945. Burnt Woods post office was established September 12, 1879, with Mrs. Mary J. Evans postmaster. The office was closed September 17, 1883. Later a post office named Glenwood was organized to serve the same general locality, but it may not have been in exactly the same place. Glenwood post office was subsequently moved a couple of miles south to a site on Gales Creek.

BURROUGHS, Umatilla County. The compiler has been unable to get much information about Burroughs post office, except that it was in service from May 10, 1893, to July 12, 1895, with Barney F. Hogue the only postmaster. Hogue is said to have lived in Coombs Canyon four miles west of Sparks Station, southwest of Pendleton, in a locality sometimes