Page:Oregon Geographic Names, third edition.djvu/58

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BATTLE CREEK, Clatsop County. This stream is situated about six miles southeast of Astoria on the Tucker Creek road. J. B. Kilmore of Astoria informed the compiler that it was named because of a boundary dispute between two farmers.

BATTLE CREEK, Grant County. This stream flows into John Day River west of Dayville. J. E. Snow told the compiler that about 1870 two bands of Indians had a fight about two miles up this creek, near the canyon, hence the name.

BATTLE CREEK, Jackson County. Battle Creek and Battle Mountain are in the northwest part of the county near the headwaters of Evans Creek. These features are named for the battle of Evans Creek, fought against Rogue River Indians in this locality August 24, 1853.

BATTLE CREEK, Marion County. This stream heads on the east slopes of Prospect Hill about eight miles south of Salem and flows eastward to Mill Creek near Turner. Its name commemorates one of the few conflicts between settlers and Indians in the Willamette Valley. It was at a point near this stream that a party of Oregon Rangers engaged in a minor encounter with a band of eastern Oregon Indians in June, 1846, as a result of cattle depredations. Only one Indian was killed in the excitement, and peace was finally restored by gifts.

BATTLE CREEK, Wallowa County. This small stream flows into Snake River in township 3 south, range 49 east, east of Lookout Mountain. It was named because of a squabble and fight between two old prospectors who were living near its mouth in the early '80s. Each went up and down the river to tell his version of the row, and other prospectors soon had a name for the creek.

BATTLE MOUNTAIN, Umatilla County. Battle Mountain, about 25 miles south of Pilot Rock on the Pendleton-John Day Highway, was named for a fight of whites against Indians in 1878, said to have been the last of such battles in Oregon.

BATTLE RIDGE, Crook and Wheeler counties. Battle Ridge is at the county line between Crook and Wheeler counties and just southwest of the headwaters of Beaverdam Creek. It is mostly in township 15 south, range 25 east, in Crook County. The ridge is said to have received its name as the result of the shooting of a large number of W. R. Mascall's sheep by cattlemen in the range wars in the '90s.

BATTLE Rock, Curry County. This historic landmark is at the shore line of Port Orford and is a massive block of rock standing well above the water. In June, 1851, Captain William Tichenor, who was at that time in command of the steamer Sea Gull operating between the Columbia River and San Francisco, endeavored to establish a commercial enterprise at Port Orford. He engaged J. M. Kirkpatrick and a number of others to go to Port Orford where the party was landed and provisioned on what is now known as Battle Rock. The party was besieged by Indians and an actual battle was fought on June 10, 1851, at which time seventeen Indians were killed, mostly by fire from a small cannon. Kirkpatrick and his party finally succeeded in stealing away from the rock after several days' siege and made their way north along the coast until they reached settlements of the whites. When Captain Tichenor's representative returned by sea he found the contingent gone and assumed it had been murdered by the Indians. For an account of this battle see Pioneer History of Coos and Curry Counties, chapter III, which consists of a statement by Captain Kirkpatrick. 2005 Tubes Burs. T manbronn 1321 and and he