was established October 17, 1899, with Joseph A. Wharton first postmaster. This post office was discontinued September 30, 1909. The postmaster at Azalea in 1925 told the writer that Mrs. Maggie Pickett suggested the present name of Azalea for the former Booth post office. The writer does not know who suggested the name of the original Azalea post office, which is shown on the 1900 postal map at a point on Cow Creek about ten miles southwest of Riddle.
Baby Rock, Lane County. This rock is on the southwest shoulder of Heckletooth Mountain, and above the track of the Southern Pacific Company just southeast of Oakridge. It was named by the Indians. Mrs. Lina A. Flock has given the compiler an unusual legend about the name. Indians who slept near the rock were believed to have been bitten by some animals that left the footprints of a baby. The wounds were fatal. Finally two Indians determined to exterminate these peculiar animals, and hiding in the rocks above, they surprised the visitors, jumping down on them and covering them with blankets in such a way that they could not escape. The animals were twisted in the blankets and burned up. Indian Charlie Tufti would never go near this rock. Mrs. Flock's grandfather, Fred Warner, was of the opinion that the peculiar animals were porcupines, which make tracks not unlike a small baby. Indians asserted that the baby tracks remained about the rock for many years, hence the name.
Baca Lake, Harney County. This is a small overflow lake near Donner und Blitzen River south of Malheur Lake. It has an elevation of about 4160 feet. Baca, or vaca is the Spanish word for cow, and the lake was named by Mrs. Dolly Kiger because so many cattle watered there.
Bachelor Butte, Deschutes County. Bachelor Butte has an elevation of 9060 feet as determined by the U. S. Geological Survey, and is one of the imposing isolated peaks of the middle Cascade Range of Oregon. It is just southeast of the Three Sisters, and receives its name because it stands apart from them. John C. Todd of Bend told the compiler in 1928 that in early days Bachelor Butte was frequently called Brother Jonathan, in contradistinction to the Three Sisters.
Bachelor Flat, Columbia County. According to a news story in the St. Helens Mist, June 28, 1929, Bachelor Flat was named because of the presence of so many unmarried men in the locality, which is about three miles southwest of St. Helens. The news story contains an interview with Charles Gable, who in 1880, settled near the present Bachelor Flat School. Gable relates that there were five or six young bachelors in the neighborhood, who were cronies, and that at a gathering one night he suggested the name Bachelor Flat, which has prevailed through many years.
Bacona, Washington County. This community is in the extreme north part of the county. When the post office was established in May, 1897, it was named for a family of early residents by the name of Bacon.
Bade. Umatilla County. Bade is a station on the Union Pacific Railroad between Milton and Weston. It was named for William G. Bade, a nearby resident. For many years this station was called Bates, and it is said this was because a German section foreman misinterpreted Bade's name in transmitting it to the railroad company headquarters.
Badger, Sherman County. Badger, a post office in what is now
