the first government by Americans on the Pacific Coast. The site of the Champoeg meeting is now owned by the state of Oregon, and is a public park. The state built a memorial building which was dedicated May 2, 1918. For further details of Champoeg Memorial Building see Scott's History of the Oregon Country, volume II, page 221. Champoeg post office was established April 9, 1850, with F. X. Matthieu first postmaster. The name was changed to Buteville on September 9, 1850. A post office named Champoag was then established on July 10, 1851, with Robert Newell postmaster. The name was changed to Newellsville on August 2, 1864, and to Champoeg on May 24, 1880. This office was discontinued in the summer of 1905.
CHANDLER, Polk County. Chandler post office was about five miles south-southeast of the present site of Valsetz, and a little north of the southwest corner of the county. It was in operation from April, 1895, until July, 1900, and bore the name of the first postmaster, Thomas C. Chandler. It was closed to Rocca. The office was on North Fork Rock Creek. Chandler Mountain nearby got its name from the same source as the post office.
CHAPARRAL CREEK, Wallowa County. This is a tributary of Minam River. Chaparral is a word that is often supposed to refer to a specific bush or shrub, but such is not the case in the western United States. Chaparral means any dense thicket of low shrubs, especially those that bear thorns. There is no such thing as a chaparral plant in this part of the world. In Spain and in other places chaparral refers frequently to dense growths of low evergreen oak trees, and it is from chaparro, an evergreen oak, that the word is derived.
CHAPIN CREEK, Morrow County. Chapin Creek is in the south part of the county and flows into Rock Creek about six miles southeast of Hardman. It bears the name of George Chapin who homesteaded in the neighborhood in early days. The spellings Chopen and Chapen are wrong.
CHAPMAN, Columbia County. Chapman took its name from Simcoe Chapman, who operated a logging enterprise in the eastern part of Columbia County. Simcoe Chapman was born in Ontario, Canada, in 1840. As a young man he engaged in lumbering and logging activities, a business which he followed all his life. He operated in Michigan and Minnesota, and came to Oregon in 1901. He founded both the Chapman Timber Company and the Chapman Lumber Company. He died in 1923.
CHAPMAN CREEK, Josephine County. This stream is about four miles southeast of Kerby. It bears the family name of William Chapman, a pioneer settler on its banks.
CHAPMAN Hill, Polk County. Chapman Hill is in the southeast part of Eola Hills, about two miles northwest of Salem. It has an elevation of a little over 400 feet. It was named for a Captain Chapman, who lived near the hill. Chapman Corners just to the north is named for the same man. In other days Chapman Hill was known as Schindler Hill but that name seems to have fallen into disuse.
CHAPMAN Point, Clatsop County. Chapman Point is the first important projection into the sea north of Elk Creek and the first outlying southern point of Tillamook Head. It received its name from W. S. Chapman, a civil engineer of Portland who owned the point and considerable property nearby.
