the extreme northeast corner of the county. The Pacific Highway crosses it in Pleasant Valley James W. Nesmith, in a letter printed in the Oregonian for November 23, 1883, says the stream was named for an exploit of Joe McLoughlin, in 1837 or 1839, but does not state the nature of the exploit. McLoughlin died December 14, 1848. Data in possession of Oregon Historical Society indicate the naming of the stream probably took place in 1828 rather than at the time mentioned by Colonel Nesmith. Joe McLoughlin, son of Dr. John McLoughlin, was in southern Oregon in a trapping party under the leadership of Alexander R. McLeod. The trappers camped one night on this stream and McLoughlin, who came in after dark, fell over the edge of the bluff and received very severe injuries, which, it is said, subsequently caused his death. Myron Eells gives this as the correct origin of the name, and practically the same facts are printed in West Shore, October 1883, page 26. Other stories about this name do not seem to be substantiated by historical records.
JUNCTION City, Lane County. About 1870 when the railroad construction war was being waged in the Willamette Valley, Ben Holladay had a scheme to build a west side railroad. It was to join his east side line at a point in the Willamette Valley, not further south than Eugene. Junction City was selected to be the place where the two roads were to come together. The west side road was not built according to plans and as a result the city never became a junction for railroad traffic, but fifty years later it did become a junction of the two main branches of the Pacific Highway through the Willamette Valley. The name, therefore, is now quite appropriate.
JUNE, Lane County. June post office, which was situated on the upper reaches of Lost Creek south of Dexter, was established January 3, 1899, with Malinda Mathews first postmaster. The office was discontinued September 18, 1907, and the business was turned over to Zion, which was a few miles north down Lost Creek. June post ofhce was named for Mount June, a prominent point to the southeast. Mount June was named because snow generally lies on its summit and slopes until that month of the year.
JUNIPER, Umatilla County. Juniper is a station on the Union Pacific Railroad, in the extreme north part of the county, close to the Columbia River. It is just north of the mouth of Juniper Canyon, which drains a considerable area north of Holdman. These features were named for the scattering juniper trees of the locality. Juniper post office was established June 26, 1884, with John B. Davis first postmaster. Except for a period from June, 1894, to March, 1898, this office was in service until January 31, 1912, though it appears to have been in several different places, never very far from Juniper Canyon.
JUNIPER BUTTE, Jefferson County. Juniper Butte is just south of Culver. It is a prominent feature on the landscape, and has a rather peculiar concavity on the north, like a natural amphitheater on a large scale. The compiler is unable to determine why it should have been called for the juniper tree any more than several other buttes in the neighborhood which have as many of these trees growing on their slopes. The juniper of Oregon is Juniperus occidentalis, or western juniper.
JUNTURA, Malheur County. Juntura is the Spanish word for juncture. It was applied to a community in Malheur County because it was near the junction of the North Fork with the main Malheur River. The
