Page:Oregon Geographic Names, third edition.djvu/473

This page needs to be proofread.

and Cornell's suggestion came as a result of a crew eating lunch in a fine grove of oak trees in the northwest part of the tract. The townsite was originally served from Milwaukie post office. About 1904 Creighton post office was established to serve the community. This name was adopted in honor of Susan Creighton who took up a donation land claim where the post office then stood. Postal authorities did not use the name Oak Grove because of duplication. The first postmaster was Thomas Howell, Oregon's great botanist. What is now known as Oak Grove station was originally called Center station and what is now St. Theresa was originally known as Oak Grove station. In order to prevent the confusion created by this state of affairs, postal authorities were prevailed upon in 1907 to change the post office name to Oak Grove and the name of Center station was changed to Oak Grove station, so that peace and happiness reigned insofar as the name was concerned.

OAK GROVE, Hood River County. This was originally part of the Barrett district on the west side of Hood River Valley. The first school was called Crapper School, but when the church was constructed it was called Oak Grove Church. About 1904 when the present school was constructed, residents changed the name of Grapper district to Oak Grove district.

OAK GROVE BUTTE, Clackamas County. This butte, elevation 4626 feet, was named for Oak Grove Fork Clackamas River to the north and not because of any grove of oaks on its slopes. Oak GROVE FORK CLACKAMAS River, Clackamas County, This is a principal tributary of the Clackamas. In early days Wapinitia, on the east side of the Cascade Range, was known as Oak Grove, and because this fork headed in that general direction it was known as Oak Grove Fork. For other information see under WAPINITIA. Oak Point, Columbia County. On June 1, 1810, Nathan Winship, William Smith and others of the Winship expedition on the ship Albatross came upon a grove of oak trees on the south bank of the Columbia River. These were the first oaks the party had found since entering the river on May 26 and the locality was named Oak Point. This point is west of and across Bradbury Slough from the west end of Crims Island. Bancroft, in History of the Northwest Coast, volume II, pages 129 et seq., gives an account of the settlement and the difficulties experienced. Later the name Oak Point emigrated across the Columbia River to the Washington side where it is now the name of a community. Government maps do not show any name of this low point on the Oregon shore, which is at the north edge of a large reclamation area. Lewis and Clark passed this locality on March 26, 1806, and named what is now Crims Island Fannys Island in compliment to Frances Clark, sister of William Clark. The extensive flat or prairie on the south bank of the river was named Fannys Bottom. It is perhaps just as well that Miss Clark was unable to foresec modern English usage. The explorers mention the prominent grove of oak trees at the point at the north corner of Fannys Bottom. Oak Point and vicinity are described in Coues' Henry-Thompson Journals, volume II, pages 794-95, under date of January 11, 1814, and the name seems to have been well established. Wilkes charted Oak Point on his maps and charts as of 1841. A few years later the Abernethy mill drew the name across the river to the Washington shore and there it has remained. In 1792 Broughton applied the name Oak Point to a place on the Washing