and he had formerly lived in Ord, Nebraska. When it came to naming the place in the Coast Range in Lane County, he selected the name of his old home. Ord post office in Oregon was established May 18, 1898, with Fiske postmaster. The office was in service, with one intermission, until October 31, 1912, when it was closed to Earl. It was six or seven miles northeast of Earl, on the extreme south edge of Lane County, and on the very headwaters of North Fork Smith River. Ord, Nebraska, was named for Major General Edward 0. C. Ord, U. S. A., who made a distinguished military record in the Civil War.
ORDNANCE, Umatilla County. In the fall of 1941 the War Department put into commission an establishment in the north part of Umatilla County, with the name Umatilla Ordnance Depot. On December 6, 1943, Ordnance post office was established to serve this depot with Lorena Lane Bounds first postmaster.
OREANA CANYON, Harney County. Oreana is a name applied to a canyon in the southwest part of Harney County near the outside corner of Lake County. Oreana is a word used in the cattle country to indicate a young, unbranded calf and sometimes a colt. These animals are also referred to as "slick-ears" and are liable to be branded by the first finder. Oreana Canyon was named because the young animals were frequently found therein. The spelling used in Harney County for this and some other geographic features follows that used for a post office in Idaho, named in the '80s. There is no doubt that the word is derived from the Spanish or from the Basque, but its exact origin is a little uncertain. In some places the spelling is orijana and even orina. Orijana does not appear in any Spanish dictionary available to the compiler and orina is a little impolite. It seems possible that there is some connection between the word oreana meaning a "slick-ear" and the Spanish word oreja meaning ear.
OREGON. But one important contribution to our knowledge of the origin of the word Oregon has been made in the last hundred years. That was the discovery, not unexpected, that Jonathan Carver may have appropriated the name, but not the spelling, from a Major Robert Rogers, an English army officer who was commandant at the frontier military post at Mackinac during the time of Carver's journey into the upper valley of the Mississippi. Elliott has written on this point in the
OHQ, volume XXII, page 91. Major Rogers used the form Quragon or Ourigan in a petition or proposal for an exploring expedition into the country west of the Great Lakes. This was in London in 1765. His petition was not granted, but he was sent to Mackinac as commandant. Carver is the first person to have used the form Oregon in referring to the River of the West. For a short account of Carver see under CARVER
GLACIER. His Travels Through the Interior Parts of North America was first published in 1778 and in the introduction occurs the following passage purporting to list the names of the four great rivers of the continent: "The River Bourbon, which empties itself into Hudson's Bay; the Waters of Saint Lawrence, the Mississippi and the River Oregon, or the River of the West, that falls into the Pacific Ocean at the Straits of Annian." It is well to get clearly in mind the chronological sequence of Carver's book and the petitions prepared by Major Rogers. Carver's Travels was first published in London in 1778 from manuscript finally prepared just previous to its publication, but to use Carver's own words, Englishackinac duni. Elliott b
