er postmaster. The compiler does not know if the office was at that time near the Smith home, or some distance away, as it seems to have been in several nearby localities. Howard attempted to have a post office called Smithfield, but this name ran afoul of Smithfield in Polk County, and the authorities would not allow duplication. It is not clear whether Howard wanted to change the name of the Franklin post office or establish a new one. In 1891 Daniel Smith laid out a townsite and filed the plat for Smithfield. In the meantime Franklin post office was in operaation and it appears on the 1900 postal map. In 1909 the USGS mapped the locality as Smithfield. It was shortly after this that there began to be marked differences of opinion as to the name of the village. The controversy was acute in 1931 and in 1934 an effort was made to have the county commissioners adopt one of the names. The commission however passed a resolution calling for double-barrelled direction signs on roads and highways, reading both Smithfield and Franklin. This arrangement has not satisfied the partisans of the two names, but it represents the situation as this paragraph is written in 1943.
FRANKTON, Hood River County. This is a community on the west side of the Hood River Valley, and is said to have been named for one Frank Backus, who platted a tract of land with the hope of developing a town. E. L. Smith, a well-known pioneer of Hood River, was interested in this enterprise.
FRAZIER, Lane County. Frazier, a station on the Cascade line of the Southern Pacific Company, was named for Robert Frazier, a member of the Lewis and Clark party. See also FIELDS, CRUZATTE and PRYOR.
FRAZIER MOUNTAIN, Clackamas County. Frazier Mountain, elevation 5110 feet, was named for Donald Frazier, who died in 1918 in military service during World War I. He was a forest guard on the Mount Hood National Forest. The mountain was formerly called Shellrock Mountain, one of several in the state, and it was believed the new name would be more suitable than the duplication, as well as honor a man who died for his country. Frazier Mountain is in township 5 south, range 7 east.
FRAZIER MOUNTAIN, Union County. Dunham Wright of Medical Springs, wrote the compiler in 1927 that this mountain was named for an old hunter named Frazier, a pioneer settler in Antelope Valley near Telocaset.
FREEBRIDGE, Wasco County. Freebridge post office was established on the east edge of Wasco County close to Deschutes River on January 29, 1908, with Frederick S. Peterson first postmaster. Ida Carlisle took office on November 24, 1908, and the office was closed July 30, 1910, with papers to Wrentham. The Free Bridge was the result of a plan by Wasco County to provide free going between The Dalles and Sherman County communities, so that the toll bridge at the mouth of Deschutes River could be avoided. The project was undertaken in September, 1885, and in October of that year a contract for the bridge was awarded to Hoffman and Bates of San Francisco and Portland.
FREEDOM, Coos County. Freedom post office was established May 21, 1878, with Yelverton M. Lowe first postmaster. This office was closed January 8, 1883. In September, 1946, Mrs. Mary M. Randleman of Coquille wrote the compiler that the office, which was at the mouth of Beaver Slough, was named for patriotic reasons. When the post office was closed the mail was handled through Coquille.
