HOMESTEAD, Baker County. It is reported to the writer that Frank E. Pearce took up a homestead at this point in connection with his operations with the Iron Dyke Mine, and that the office was named on account of the homestead claim. This was about 1900. J. H. Pearson was the first postmaster, and he suggested the name.
HOMINY CREEK, Wallowa County. Hominy Creek flows into Snake River in township 1 north, range 50 east. It was named because Alex Warnock spilled a kettle of hominy when camping there.
HOMLY, Umatilla County. In 1928 the Union Pacific Railroad established an additional station between Thorn Hollow and Cayuse and named it Homly. The name was taken from tombstones in the Indian graveyard nearby. One large tombstone has the name Homly on one side and No Shirt on the other.
HONEY CREEK, Lake County. Honey Creek, one of the largest streams of the Warner Valley, was named in 1864, according to Judge William M. Colvig of Medford, who wrote the compiler in April, 1927, as follows: "I was a cavalry soldier under Col. C. S. Drew in 1864, in what is known as the Colonel Drew Expedition, from Fort Klamath to Fort Boise, Idaho. I was one of sixty members of Company C, Ist Oregon Cavalry who went with Drew. In the fore part of August, 1864, we struck the Warner Lakes country, and scouted over the entire valley. I was with a small party that went up the west side to what is now known as Honey Creek. We camped on the creek bottom and noted that the leaves of the willows were heavily laden with a white substance that was as sweet as honey. It would scale off in flakes, often the size of a twenty-five cent coin. It only happens in hot, dry weather, and is the product of the drying up of honey dew, which falls during the night. We named it in our camp record Honey Creek. We gave Drew Valley, Crockett Spring, Beatys Butte, Sprague River and a great many other names now on the map. I know for I was company clerk and kept the records."
HONEYMAN, Columbia County. Honeyman is a station between Scappoose and St. Helens. It was established to serve a farm owned by William Honeyman, a prominent pioneer hardware dealer of Portland, and was named for him. Hood MOUNTAIN, Coos County. This mountain which has an elevation of about 1700 feet is in the valley of South Fork Coquille River. It was named for William L. Hood, a prominent stockman who owned land nearby. Hoop River, Hood River County. This stream was discovered by Lewis and Clark on Tuesday, October 29, 1805, and called Labeasche River, an improvised method of spelling the name of Francis Labiche, one of the French-Canadian watermen. La biche is French for female deer or doe, but in French-Canadian, it frequently was used to mean elk. There is nothing in the journals to indicate that game was seen at this point, and the river was named for the man. In pioneer days some travelers, being in a starving condition, ate dog meat near Hood River, and the unpopular name Dog River was the result, but not because of any suggestiveness of the French name. Later on, Mrs. Nathaniel Coe, a well-known pioneer resident of the valley, objected to the name Dog River and succeeded in changing local usage to Hood River on account of Mount Hood, its source. For narrative of settlement, in 1852, see the Oregonian, June 11, 1889, page 3; May 9, 1881, page 3; description, ibid., May 14, 1903; October 4, 1914, page 4. Hood River Valley is famed for apples and strawberries which producers there ship in large quantities.
