Foster Road, Multnomah County. Philip Foster came to Oregon in 1842, by sea. His wife was Mary Charlotte Pettygrove, sister of F. W. Pettygrove, one of the founders of Portland. Foster was born at Augusta, Maine, January 29, 1805. During his first four years in Oregon, Foster engaged in the mercantile business at Oregon City. His farm, at Eagle Creek, was the first on the Oregon Trail in the Willamette Valley. This made the Foster farm the most widely known in Oregon. The Foster place was, during many years, a depot of supplies for new settlers. He was preceded there by Samuel McSwain, a pioneer, probably of 1842. Foster died March 17, 1884. Mrs. Foster died in 1879. For his biography, see the Oregonian, March 28, 1884, page 1. Foster Road bears his name. For detailed information about him and his early experiences in Oregon, see the Oregonian, December 18, 1927, section 1, page 10.
FOURBIT CREEK, Jackson County. This stream is one of the headwaters of Big Butte Creek. It is said to have been named because of a pioneer eating house on its bank, where a substantial repast could be bought for fifty cents, or "four bits."
FOURMILE CANYON, Gilliam and Morrow counties. This canyon opens into Eightmile Canyon, and is so called on the assumption that its mouth is about four miles up Eightmile Canyon from the point where that canyon opens onto Willow Creek.
FOURMILE CREEK, Coos County. A stream called Fourmile Creek flows into Pacific Ocean a little more than seven miles south of Bandon, and the origin of the name of the stream is somewhat of a puzzle. It is said that it was so called because it was about four miles south of Coquille River, but it is nearly twice that far. Whoever did the original measuring greatly underestimated the distance. It is of interest to note that the Oregon Coast Highway crosses the main branch of Twomile Creek at a point three miles north of Fourmile Creek, and something like five miles south of Bandon. Fourmile post office was established near Fourmile Creek on March 3, 1906, with Harlan P. Dunning first and only postmaster. The office was closed to Langlois June 15, 1907. It was reestablished as Four Mile in 1947.
FOURMILE LAKE, Klamath County. So called because it was assumed that the lake was four miles long. This lake is just northeast of Mount McLoughlin in the heart of the Cascade Range.
FOURTH LAKE, Linn County. This lake is the fourth of a series of four lakes, beginning at Albany and extending north along the east bank of the Willamette River. They are named in order from Albany. Fox, Grant County. Fox takes its name from Fox Creek, an important tributary of North Fork John Day River. The name was applied to the stream in pioneer days on account of some incident that occurred on a hunting or prospecting trip that had to do with a fox. The post office was established about 1883. Fox BUTTE, Lake County. Fox Butte is in the extreme north end of Lake County and southeast of the Paulina Mountains. In December, 1945, Avon D. Derrick of Fort Rock wrote the Bend Bulletin that the butte was named for a black fox seen there by his father, H. E. Derrick, in the summer of 1909. Stories to the effect that the feature was named for a nearby settler, one Fox, do not seem to be true. Fox CREEK, Marion County. Charles C. Giebeler of Detroit, in a par
