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IMBE 79013 bliskais 12 Erle of this . at 12 org Santiam River and over the Cascade Range by what he considered an especially favorable route. For a description of the investigations of this route made by Marion County see OHQ, volume IV, page 241. As a result of Minto's interest in this matter a number of geographic features in that section of the state were named for him about 1879. These include Minto Mountain. John Minto is a leading authority, among early pioneers, on subjects of Oregon history and his contributions are of high value. He was born October 10, 1822, at Wylam, Northumberland, England; came to the United States in 1840, with his father's family; came to Oregon in 1844; died at Salem February 25, 1915. For biography and portrait, see the Oregonian, April 27, 1901, page 10. Minto wrote frequently for the Oregon Historical Quarterly. His narration of the migration of 1844 appears in OPA Transactions, 1876, pages 35-50. For references to other writings, see Scott's History of the Oregon Country, volume I, page 307.
MISHAWAKA, Clatsop County, Mishawaka post office was established March 26, 1878, with James F. Kimberlin first postmaster. It was near Nehalem River a little eastward of the location now called Elsie. The office is said to have been named for Mishawaka, the well-known manufacturing town of Indiana, but the compiler has been unable to learn the circumstances. The place in Indiana is said to have been named for an Indian chief. The Clatsop County office was closed May 15, 1901, with papers to Vinemaple. The list of county precincts of 1940 contains Mishawaka precinct. Mission BOTTOM, Marion County. Mission Bottom is on the east side of Willamette River south of Wheatland. It was here that Jason Lee established his Methodist Mission in the fall of 1834, and the bottom was named on that account. Mission CREEK, Marion County. Mission Creek flows through St. Paul, and was named for the pioneer Catholic mission of that place. Mission Landing on Willamette River, about a mile and a half northwest of St. Paul, is named for the same reason.
MISSOURI BOTTOM, Douglas County. This bottom, along South Umpqua River south of Myrtle Creek, took its name from the fact that a number of Missourians were pioneer settlers thereon. See Walling's History of Southern Oregon, page 423. Mist, Columbia County. There was a post office called Riverside not far from this community, established about 1874. This caused confusion with another place in Oregon with the same name, and in April, 1888, the office was moved and the name changed to Mist, describing the atmospheric condition prevailing in the Nehalem Valley. The townsite of Mist was surveyed and platted with the name of Esto. It has never been so called.
MITCHELL, Wheeler County. Mitchell was named for John Hipple Mitchell, former U. S. senator from Oregon, and for many years prominent in the political history of the state. The name was suggested by W. W. (Brawdie) Johnson, the first postmaster, and the post office was established in April, 1873. J. H. Mitchell was senator from Oregon in 1873-79, 1885-97 and 1901-05. He was born in Pennsylvania in 1835, came to Oregon in 1860, and died in Portland December 8, 1905. In 1884 the town of Mitchell experienced its first catastrophe. Water rushed over the bluff above the community, carrying boulders and mud. In March, 1885, ho nerz
