change of name from Snow on September 2, 1899. The office was in operation until October 31, 1911. Snow post office was established in June, 1894, with Adelbert B. Smith postmaster. The writer does not know its location in respect of Pokegama. The lumber company got its name from the place in Pine County, Minnesota. Pokegama, Oregon, ceased to exist may years ago.
POLALLIE CREEK, Hood River County. Polallie is a Chinook jargon word meaning sandy or powdery. Polallie Creek carries glacial silt from Mount Hood. It is a tributary of East Fork Hood River and is crossed by Mount Hood Loop Highway. George Gibbs says that polallie was un. doubtedly from the French poudre, and was not originally a Chehalis or Chinook word.
POLE BRIDGE CREEK, Crater Lake National Park, Klamath County. Soldiers from Fort Klamath built a bridge over this stream in the '60s, using small lodgepole pine trees, and the name arose on that account.
POLE GULCH, Baker County. Pole Gulch is the correct name of a drain in townships 12 and 13 south, range 36 east, not Sawmill Creek. See USBGN decision.
POLK, Polk County. The name Polk has been used for two different post ofhces in Polk County, both named in compliment to the county. An office called Polk was established March 9, 1885, with Lycurgus Hill first and only postmaster. This office was closed December 7, 1885. Lycurgus Hill lived in the locality called Bridgeport, and since Bridgeport post office had been abandoned in 1874, it is possible that Polk office was organized to fill the local need. However, the record of this Polk postoffice is far from clear. Members of the Hill family are of the opinion that the office never functioned, and some color is lent to the statement by the fact that the compiler has not been able to find the office on any contemporary maps. There have been a number of cases in Oregon postal history where post offices have been established, only to have local sponsors lose interest in the prospects. The other Polk office was about three miles northeast of Dallas. The name Polk for this locality was in use in the '80s as a station on the Oregonian Railway narrow gage line, and confusion between the two places may have been the reason that Hill's post office did not actively furnish service. Polk railroad station northeast of Dallas did not get a post office until April 12, 1899, when Peter R. Graber was appointed postmaster. This office was closed February 15, 1902. The locality is still called Polk Station, though both post office and railroad service are things of the past as far as the locality is concerned.
POLK COUNTY. Polk District, or County was created by the provisional legislature December 22, 1845. It was named for James Knox Polk, then president of the United States. It comprised all that part of the original Yamhill District south of the south line of that district, which had been reestablished by an act of December 19. 1845, and the California line. Information about the establishment of Polk County will be found in the article on Oregon counties by Frederick V. Holman, in OHQ, volume XI, page 28. In his notes on Polk County Mr. Holman calls attention to the fact that he was unable to find the act of the legislature establishing the south boundary of the county. However, the act was printed in the Oregon Spectator, February 10, 1848. This
