a geographic name of ideal simplicity, the Oregon Trail. These two words captured the interest of millions of Americans and visitors from abroad. For almost a century the name Oregon Trail stood every test. However, in recent years efforts have been made to call this great route of travel the Old Oregon Trail, which is just a touch of overripe sentimentality. It is unfortunate that the name Oregon lends itself to alliteration with the adjective Old. The possibilities of this sort of thing are very great. We may have the Pure Pacific Ocean, the Cute Cascade Range, Perpetual Portland. Perhaps the worst feature of the business is the official use of the name Old Oregon Trail for a modern high-speed highway, many parts of which are not close to the routes used by the great immigrations to the Pacific Northwest.
ORENCO, Washington County. Orenco is a community about four miles east of Hillsboro on the Oregon Electric Railway. Railway officials made up the name in 1908 by taking parts of the title of the Oregon Nursery Company, which operated several large plantations in the locality.
ORETOWN, Tillamook County. James B. Upton and S. H. Rock settled in this part of the state in 1875-76 and in 1877 sent a petition to Senator John H. Mitchell asking for a mail route to Grand Ronde and a post office. Upton had a seal with Oregon City cut in the die, and he suggested that the proposed post office be named Ore City, for he had an idea that he could alter the seal in such a way that it could be used for the new community. Senator Mitchell knew that confusion would result with Oregon City and suggested to the postal authorities that Oretown would be a better name, which was adopted. C. C. Christensen was the first postmaster. The subsequent history of the seal has not transpired.
ORIENT, Multnomah County. Stories about the origin of the name of this well-known place southeast of Gresham are decidedly contradictory and the compiler has found it impossible to reconcile the discrepancies. The following information is furnished for what it may be worth. Orient had a locality name long before it had a post office. This locality name came from the Orient School. The disagreement has to do with the origin of the school name. In August, 1946, Mrs. Louise M. Nelson wrote that she was a pioneer in that part of the country and the name Orient was given to the school because it was the most eastward in Multnomah and Clackamas counties. Mrs. Nelson says that her father moved into the community in 1872. A new school building was built in 1875 and the ground was dedicated by her father to school purposes. On the other hand the compiler has been told that the name Orient was applied because a Scot named Andrew McKinnon and a Captain Robert Smith brought a few Japanese to the place in the early seventies. It is asserted that these young Japanese were the first to live in Oregon since its admission as a territory. One of these young Japanese is said to have been one of the first students at the Orient School. Local people adopted the name Orient because of the presence of these few Japanese. As in many other disputes the reader will have to make his own choice. Orient post office was established in March, 1896, with James N. Campbell first postmaster. This office was discontinued November 30, 1908, and the business was turned over to Gresham. It is probable that the post office had previously operated with the name Pleasant Home. The Pleasant Home office was moved several times and when it was shifted to Orient the name was changed.
