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NESKOwin, Tillamook County, Mrs. Sarah H. Page in a letter to the Oregonian published June 30, 1925, says that the name Neskowin is an Indian word, meaning plenty fish. Mrs. Page was appointed postmistress of this office in 1887 and the locality was then known as Slab Creek. Years before a ship had been wrecked on the coast and a quantity of slabwood washed up on the beach. One day she heard an Indian say as he pointed to the nearby stream, "Neskowin, Neskowin." She asked him what Neskowin meant and he said "plenty fish, plenty fish." In 1925 the
USBGN was asked to change the name of the stream from Slab Creek to Neskowin Creek, and this was done, on October 7 of that year. Neskowin post office was established December 4, 1886, with Weston Burdick first postmaster. The office has not been in continuous service, and not always in the same place. When a small boy, the compiler always heard this locality referred to as Neskowin, with the accent on the second syllable, rhyming with how. Tillamook County pioneers have confirmed this pronunciation.
NESMITH POINT, Multnomah County. Nesmith Point, elevation 3878 feet, is the highest point on the cliffs overlooking the Columbia River in the gorge through the Cascade Range. It is just south of Warrendale and east of Yeon Mountain. The Point was named as the result of a suggestion made in 1915 by a committee of the Mazamas who selected a number of names for un-named geographic features adjacent to the Columbia River Highway. James Willis Nesmith was born in New Brunswick July 23, 1820, while his parents, residents of Maine, were on a short visit. The Nesmith family was of Scotch ancestry, and came to New England from the north of Ireland in 1718. James W. Nesmith, as the result of his father's financial reverses, had no early advantages, and was forced to lead a more or less roving life eventually reaching the state of Ohio. He attempted to emigrate to Oregon in 1842, but was too late to join Dr. White's party that year. He was a member of the emigration of 1843, and was elected orderly sergeant. For his diary of events during the emigration see OHQ, volume VII, page 329. For his reminiscences of the emigration see OPA Transactions for 1875. The diary describes a severe windstorm on the Columbia River below the Cascades, which compelled him to put ashore and finish the day reading The Merry Wives of Windsor. It was this incident that suggested his name to the committee for Nesmith Point. Nesmith was a judge under the provisional government, representative from Polk County, captain in the Cayuse and other Indian wars, colonel of volunteers in the Yakima War, United States marshal, and superintendent of Indian affairs. He served in the United States Senate from 1861 to 1867, and although a Democrat, served on the military committee, and upheld the cause of the Union in every possible way. He served as representative in Congress from 1873 to 1875, and spent the rest of his life on his farm at Rickreall, where he died June 17, 1885. For Harvey W. Scott's estimate of Colonel Nesmith, see the Oregonian, June 18, 1885, and also Scott's History of the Oregon Country, volume V, page 172, et seq. For description of Nesmith's grave and epitaph, see the Oregonian, May 8, 1895, page 3; for tribute from U.S. Grant, ibid., March 13, 1901, page 8; for episodes of Nesmith's life, ibid., July 18, 1897, page 6. For other references see Scott's History of the Oregon Country, volume I, page 308. There is a railroad station Nesmith, in Polk County, south of Rickrcall, but a short distance from the Nesmith farm. There is also a
