North Santiam River, thence to the Rocky Mountains. This was the situation when on September 3, 1849, the territorial legislature changed the name of Champoeg County, as it was then called, to Marion County. The name was in honor of General Francis Marion of Revolutionary War fame. The Weems-Hory Life of. General Francis Marion was then largely read in Oregon and other frontier settlements, and the praise of Marion in this book greatly appealed to the settlers. Marion County had a land area of 1173 square miles in 1940, according to the Bureau of the Census.
Marion Lake, Linn County. This lake was named in 1874 by the Marion County road viewing party under the leadership of John Minto. See OHQ, volume IV, page 249. The outlet of this lake is now known as Marion Creek, and not Marion Fork Santiam River.
Marks Creek, Crook County. Marks Creek is northeast of Prineville and flows into Ochoco Creek from the north. It was named for a pioneer family that settled in the vicinity of the stream.
Marmot, Clackamas County. Adolf Aschoff, for many years a forester and guide about Mount Hood, settled at the present site of Marmot on March 16, 1883. He found an abundance of peculiar burrowings, especially in the fern growth near the borders of the timber. Local residents told him that these holes were dug by marmots, but Aschoff determined otherwise, and found that they were made by the so-called mountain beaver, or Aplodontia rufa. When the post office was established Aschoff and two of his cronies decided to call the place Marmot on account of this error. One of these friends of Aschoff's was an old miner, Fauntleroy S. Peake, who became first postmaster about 1886. Aschoff became postmaster in 1891. For information about him see under Aschoff Buttes.
Marquam, Clackamas County. Marquam post office was established in 1889, by change of name from Butte Creek, It was named for Alfred Marquam, a pioneer settler.
Marquam Hill, Multnomah County. Marquam Hill in southwest Portland bears the name of Philip A. Marquam, who was born near Baltimore, February 28, 1823, and came to Portland in 1851. In 1862–70 he was county judge of Multnomah County. He was elected to the legislature in 1882. In the late '80s Judge Marquam financed and built the Marquam Grand Opera House, one of Portland's historic landmarks. The opening performance, Faust, was given February 10, 1890. The building was on the north side of Morrison Street, between what were then Sixth and Seventh. Marquam died in Portland, May 8, 1912. For additional biographical data, see Scott's History of the Oregon Country, volume II, page 273.
Marquam Lake, Multnomah County. Marquam Lake is on the east part of Sauvie Island. W. H. H. Morgan, one of the pioneer settlers on the island, told the compiler that in pioneer days a French-Canadian employee of the Hudson's Bay Company operated a dairy near this lake. He was called Marquam, and the Morgan family named the lake for him. Marquam Lake drains into Columbia River through Dairy Creek. This stream was also named by the Morgan family, because of the dairy mentioned above.
Marr Creek, Wallowa County. This stream is in the southeast part of the county and flows into Sheep Creek. It heads near Marr Flat. These features were named for William Marr, who settled near the head of the stream in the early '80s.
