Carter, Lane County. This station on the Cascade line of the Southern Pacific Company was named for Joe Carter, an old settler of the neighborhood.
Carter, Malheur County. Carter post office was one of those establishments that did not last long. It appears on the Malheur County list as of July 15, 1898, and was discontinued November 2, 1901, with papers to Rockville. William C. Carlton was the only postmaster. The post office was named for an early settler, one Carter, whose initials are not available to the compiler. Carter post office was on Carter Creek eighteen or twenty miles eastward of the place known as Watson and something over twenty miles north of Sheaville. Carter Creek was also named for the pioneer settler. His home was near the junction of Carter Creek and Sucker Creek. CarTER BRANCH, Linn County. This stream flows into Beaver Creek about seven miles northeast of Lebanon. It was named for a family of early settlers nearby.
Carter Lake, Douglas County. This is a long, narrow lake in the extreme northwest corner of Douglas County about one-half mile from the Pacific Ocean. It was named for an early settler who lived on its shore.
Cartney, Linn County. This is a station on the Oregon Electric Railway north of Harrisburg. It is apparently named for J. M. McCartney, an early settler in the neighborhood, as the station is on part of his land. The compiler does not know why his full name was not used.
Cartwright, Lane County. D. B. Cartwright was born in Syracuse, New York, in 1814 and came to Oregon in 1853. He settled in the upper reaches of Siuslaw River and established a hotel and stage station which he called Mountain House. The building was still standing in 1945 about eight miles west of Cottage Grove, and a picture of it was published in the Sunday Journal, December 9, 1945. Cartwright died in 1875. William Russell, a native of Ohio, came to Oregon in 1848, and in 1866 married Miss N. C. Cartwright. He took over the activities of the Mountain House and was instrumental in having a post office established with the name of his father-in-law. This occurred on August 7, 1871, and the office continued under Russell's direction until September 18, 1890. For biographies of Cartwright and Russell see Illustrated History of Lane County, page 482; for picture of the Mountain House, ibid., page 232. In May, 1946, P. M. Morse, Lane County Engineer, informed the compiler that the Mountain House is situated on the east side of the Territorial road in the extreme west part of section 30, township 20 south, range 4 west.
Carus, Clackamas County. Carus is a locality on the Cascade Highway about seven miles south of Oregon City and a little to the southwest of Beaver Creek. Carus post office was established June 7, 1887, with David Hunter first postmaster, and was discontinued July 27, 1907. The origin of this name has long been a mystery, and some information dug up early in 1946 merely adds to the confusion. The compiler has been informed by two reliable persons that it was planned to name the place Carns, and that is the way the name was sent to the postal authorities at Washington. It was not unusual to misread an "n" for a "u" and the name was innocently converted into Carus when the office was established. It may have been intended to name the office for a Carns in another state. or what is more probable, for a family named Carns.
