Bureau of Soils of the Department of Agriculture. For full information concerning the name and establishment of this county see OHQ, volume XI, No. 1, which contains an article by Frederick V. Holman on the origin of Oregon counties. *Clark BRANCH, Douglas County. Walling, in his History of Southern Oregon, page 441, says this stream north of Myrtle Creek was named for James A. Clark, whose land claim was near its mouth. William Hudson later owned the property.
CLARK CREEK, Baker County. This stream is a tributary of Burnt River. It is said to have been named for a miner who accidentally shot himself there in the early '60s. There was at one time a post office known as Clarksville near this stream. This office was organized to serve a territory near placer diggings developed along Burnt River in 1861-63.
CLARK CREEK, Hood River County. This creek drains one of the lobes of Newton Clark Glacier, and is named Clark Creek on that account. The next large stream to the north is called Newton Creek for the same reason. Both are tributaries of East Fork Hood River.
CLARK CREEK, Union County. Clark Creek is the correct name of this stream, not Clarks. The creek was never owned by anyone named Clark, and the possessive of this and many other geographic names should be discarded.
CLARK GLACIER, Lane County. This is the westward of the two small glaciers on the south side of the South Sister, and was named for William Clark in 1924 by Professor Edwin T. Hodge of the University of Oregon. So far as known it is the only geographic feature in the state named for the great explorer except the Lewis and Clark River in Clatsop County. Thwaites' Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition gives a detailed account of the exploration, and on page xxvii of the first volume is a short biography of William Clark. He was born in Virginia on August 1, 1770, and was the younger brother of George Rogers Clark (1752-1818). At the age of 23 he was a first lieutenant in General Anthony Wayne's western army. He retired from the army in 1796 with brevet rank of captain, and lived quietly with his family, occupied chiefly in adjusting the affairs of his older brother until 1803 when he was invited by Meriwether Lewis to join Jefferson's proposed exploring expedition to the Pacific Ocean. After the expedition Jefferson appointed Clark brigadier-general of the militia of Louisiana, and also Indian agent for Louisiana. Subsequently Clark was surveyor general for Illinois, Missouri and Arkansas. He died on September 1, 1838. For details of Clark's life see Coues' History of the Expedition of Lewis and Clark, volume I. William Clark spelled his name without a final "e," though that form has been used in many places, especially in Clarke County, Washington, until 1926, when the state legislature cut off the "e." For editorial comment on this error see the Oregonian, December 3, 1925.
CLARKE, Clackamas County, Clarke is a crossroads community in the Highland district about fifteen miles southeast of Oregon City. In pioneer days this was known as the Ringo settlement. About 1870 one "Friday" Jones bought some property there for "I yoke of oxen, a shotgun and $200." This he sold in 1876 to Irving L. Clarke, the latter transaction covering 320 acres. Clarke started a store and a little later got a post office. This office, called Clarkes, was established May 13, 1889. with Clarke first postmaster. The office was closed December 13, 1904.
