Middle Fork John Day River, at a place once the site of Susanville post office. It is alleged to the writer that about 1901 a mine and its employees about two miles away up Elk Creek, secured the removal of the Susanville office to a point near the mine. This left the abandoned post office site without an office. A new office with a new name was petitioned for, and, due to the fact that there was a body of ore in the vicinity, Galena was suggested. Galena is a common ore of lead, chemically known as lead sulphite. A news story in the Oregonian, September 7, 1943, announced the closing of Galena post office in August, 1943. Mrs. Genevieve Saling was the last postmaster. For editorial comment, ibid., September 9, 1943.
GALES CREEK, Washington County. Gales Creek and Gales Peak nearby were named for Joseph Gale who came to Oregon in 1834, with Ewing Young, from California. He was born April 27, 1801, near Washington, D. C. He settled on East Tualatin Plain and afterwards at the foot of Gales Peak, on a tributary of Tualatin River, and later in Eagle Valley, Union County. Gale, in his younger days, followed the sea; afterwards, he became a trapper in the Rocky Mountains. Gale was master of the Star of Oregon, the first ship to be built in Oregon, which was launched in the Willamette River in 1841 and finished in 1842. Lieutenant Charles Wilkes gave him papers for sailing the Star of Oregon. He sailed the schooner to San Francisco Bay. For story of this enterprise, see magazine section of the Oregonian, May 18, 1941, and OPA Transactions for 1891. Together with Alanson Beers and David Hill, Gale constituted the executive committee of the provisional government, elected July 5, 1843. He died in Eagle Valley, Union County, Oregon, December 13, 1881. For his biography see the Oregonian, December 29, 1881, page 4; February 12, 1882, page 4; October 12, 1883, page 1; May 9, 1877, page 4. "Captain Gale has always been a man of great energy, brave, fearless and honest." (J. W. Nesmith, in an address before OPA, on page 12 of Transactions for 1880.) Gales Creek post office, named for the stream nearby, was established September 10, 1874, with Lester Ray first postmaster. The place was sometimes called Gales City.
GALESVILLE, Douglas County. Galesville was a pioneer post office in the Cow Creek Valley, established October 14, 1854, with George F. Hall first postmaster. The office was closed January 31, 1916, and the business turned over to Azalea. In August, 1946, Miss Bess A. Clough of Canyonville informed the compiler that two men, Gale and Goshen first settled on the place later purchased by Daniel Levins, and when the post office was established, it was named for Gale, whose first name is not known to the compiler.
Galice, Josephine County. The postmaster at Galice, in 1926, wrote the compiler that the place took its name from a French doctor, Louis Galice, who came as early as 1852 and discovered placer gold. It is said that this Frenchman is buried close to Galice Creek nearby. Much gold has been taken from the placers during the past three-quarters of a century. For additional details about the discovery of gold at Galice, and the history of the community, see Walling's History of Southern Oregon, page 460.
GALLOWAY, Morrow County. Galloway is in the Butter Creek drainage northeast of Heppner. It is about two miles south of the locality called Pine City, and bears the name of an early settler. Galloway post
