2012 2. Ec para 00 nhan I the nfor duit Dai ster age coast ridge. Between these lay the whole magnificent panorama of the Willamette valley, with its ribbon streams, and carpet-like verdure. The day was fine, and such was the clearness of the atmosphere that the scene was very distinct, grand and imposing. In enthusiastic admiration of the noble site, the doctor named the elevation Mt. Spencer, in compli. ment to John C. Spencer, the then secretary of war ..." For additional information about the discovery of Spencer Butte and Baptiste (Batteus) Du Guerre, see article by Fred Lockley on editorial page Oregon Journal June 7, 1927. This article indicates that DuGuerre's nephew used the spelling DeGuire. Walling, in History of Lane County, page 327, has quite a different story about the naming of Spencer Butte, based on tradition, to the effect that the butte was named for a young Englishman, Spencer, who had wandered away from a Hudson's Bay Company party and was killed on the mountain by Indians. The compiler inclines to Miss Allen's version, which was written nearly 40 years before Walling's and was not based on a legend. Spencer's Butte post office was established July 14, 1853, with Milton S. Riggs postmaster and was discontinued April 2, 1855. It was near the west base of the butte.
SPENCER CREEK, Klamath County. Captain 0. C. Applegate in 1926 informed the compiler that Spencer Creek was named for an early settler who lived on a ranch on the creek.
SPENCER CREEK, Lincoln County. Spencer Creek flows into Pacific Ocean at Ocean Park about a mile south of Otter Rock. The creek was named for Doke Spencer, an Indian who lived near its mouth. Spencer and his family were allotted land in this locality.
SPICER, Linn County. Spicer, about five miles northwest of Lebanon, was first called Leng, apparently for a local landowner. The Oregonian Railway narrow gage line was built south through the area in 1880, but the compiler does not know if the station Leng was established at that time or not. In any event, Leng appears as the station name in Polk's Directory of 1886-87, but Spicer post office was established August 17, 1886, with Adam A. Bashor first of a long series of postmasters. The post office was named for a local resident, W. E. Spicer, and the railroad adopted the post office name for its station. The post office was closed November 30, 1904, as the result of the extension of rural delivery. The railroad through this part of the county was abandoned in 1910.
SPIKENARD, Jackson County. The reason for the application of the name Spikenard to a Jackson County post office is another puzzle in Oregon geographic nomenclature. On November 21, 1879, a post office called Thomas Mill was established in the north part of the county with Thurston T. Thomas postmaster. The name of the office was changed to Spikenard on March 22, 1883, with Joseph Satterfield postmaster, and the office was finally closed in October, 1903. Old maps show Spikenard on the upper reaches of Evans Creek in township 34 south, range 2 west, but the exact location is a little indefinite. Dictionaries give several definitions of the word spikenard, including an ancient aromatic ointment, an essential oil or one of a number of plants allied to the valerian. The compiler does not know which of these was in mind when the post office was named, although the place was probably christened for a plant.
SPIRIT MOUNTAIN, Yamhill County. This mountain, about a mile north of Grand Ronde, was so named because the Indians thought Shed
