Page:Oregon Geographic Names, third edition.djvu/170

This page needs to be proofread.

told the compiler that the stream was named for a corral built nearby in 1884. A trail follows down this creek from the locality called Indian Village. It was in this general locality that a fight took place between Nez Perces and a band of renegade Snake Indians. This fight is well remembered. See under CEMETERY RIDGE.

CORVALLIS, Benton County. In the winter of 1847-48 Joseph C. Avery began to lay out the community now known as Corvallis. In 1846 Avery settled on property on the north side of Marys River where it flows into the Willamette, and in the same year William F. Dixon settled on land just to the north. Avery's building sites were known as the Little Fields. The first lots are said to have been sold in 1849. The place was first called Marysville, and while Avery probably selected this name, the evidence is not positive. He was using his own name for the post office in 1850. It is generally believed that the place was named because it was on Marys River, but there may have been additional reasons. The origin of the name Marys River is uncertain. See under that heading, where it will be seen that the river name was in use at least as early as 1846. In 1853 the legislature changed the name of the locality from Marysville to Corvallis. Information about the early history of Corvallis may be found in History of Benton County, page 422. E. A. Blake, in a letter printed in the Corvallis Gazette-Times, June 7, 1935, says that Marysville was named for Mrs. John Stewart, also known as Aunt Mary Stewart, one of the first settlers in Corvallis. On the same page is a reprint of an interview with Mrs. Stewart, giving incidents of the early history of the place. Mrs. Stewart is authority for the statement that J. C. Avery told her he would name the community Marysville for her because she was the first white woman to live there. Joseph C. Avery was the first owner of the site of Corvallis, and he was a pioneer of 1845. He died in 1876. Avery made up the name Corvallis by compounding Latin words meaning heart of the valley. It is said that the name Marysville was changed to prevent confusion with Marysville, California. Corvallis has an elevation of 224 feet and the geography of its immediate surroundings may be seen on the USGS map of the Corvallis quadrangle. Avery's post office was established January 8, 1850, with J. C. Avery postmaster. The name was changed to Marysville September 9, 1850, with Alfred Rinehart postmaster. Avery became postmaster again on March 14, 1851; Wayman St. Clair on November 5, 1851; Geo. H. Murch on January 7, 1853, and Avery again on June 7, 1853. The name of the office was changed to Corvallis on February 18, 1854. The name Marysville was applied to another post office, Forks of Mary's River, for a few weeks in the summer of 1850. This was probably an error, the authorities at Washington applying the change to the wrong office. See OHQ, volume XLI, page 55 for records of these offices.

CORYELL Pass, Lane County. This pass is on the narrow shelf of ground between the Willamette River and the hills about a mile south of Springfield Junction. It is occupied by the tracks of the Southern Pacific Company, with the Pacific Highway just above. It was named for Abraham H. Coryell, a pioneer of 1847, who lived nearby, and the pioneer routes of travel led through this gap. A memorial stands just east of the highway at this point bearing the following inscription: "Coryell Pass. Oregon Trail 1846. Erected by Oregon Lewis and Clark Chapter, D. A. R. 1917." ground RIELLS pf these of the wran error,