1707 square miles. It was named for Henry H. Wheeler, who was born in Erie County, Pennsylvania, September 7, 1826, of English and German ancestry; went to Wisconsin in 1855; drove an ox team from Wisconsin to Yreka, California, by way of Salt Lake, in 1857, in company with a family named Wells; came to Oregon in 1862 and located at The Dalles in 1867, but soon went to the Salmon River mines, in Idaho. Mining being unprofitable, he secured work driving a stage. He returned to The Dalles, and began farming and stock raising in the vicinity of Mitchell, Oregon, where he remained until his death, March 26, 1915. He was married December 19, 1875, to Dorcas L. Monroe, who died at Mitchell in March, 1911.
WHEELER CREEK, Crater Lake National Park, Klamath County. This stream was named for James H. Wheeler, of Fort Klamath, one time deputy sheriff. Wheeler was a trapper and spent a great deal of time, often alone for long periods, in the mountains with his traps.
WHELPLEY, Jackson County. Whelpley post office was established in July, 1882, and ran along to the following April when it was discontinued and the business turned over to Deskins post office. Whelpley post office was named for the postmaster, Thomas H. Whelpley. The compiler has not been able to find this place on any map. It is apparent from the fact that the office was closed to Deskins that it must have been in the upper Rogue River country. The name Deskins post office was later changed to Prospect.
WHETSTONE CREEK, Clackamas and Marion counties. This stream is on the northeast slope of Whetstone Mountain and flows northward. The creek was named by John Paine and Preston Pendleton, familiarly known as Doc Pendleton, because of the prevalence of a rock that could be used to sharpen knives.
WHETSTONE POINT, Jackson County. This point is a prominent place near the south end of Bald Mountain, west of Rogue River and a few miles southwest of Prospect. It was named because of the local occurrence of a slate rock which forms a good abrasive whetstone for sharpening blades. The rock splits into suitable shapes and sizes.
WHISKY CREEK, Jackson County. This stream is a tributary to Rogue River, not a great way from Crater Lake. Will G. Steel says that it was named as a result of an enterprising pioneer bootlegger, who planned to take a load of whisky from Jacksonville over the mountains to Fort Klamath. Snow impeded his progress and he buried his load for the winter. Someone discovered his cache and the soldiers of Fort Klamath gradually cleaned out his stock so that when he returned in the spring there was nothing left. All this is said to have occurred about 1865. Times have not changed much.
WHISKY CREEK, Wallowa County. Whisky Creek drains an area northwest of Wallowa. The Illustrated History of Union and Wallowa Counties, page 674, gives the origin of the name. Raz Tulley, a resident of Wallowa, is authority for the statement that in the summer of 1872 traders brought a supply of whisky by pack train from Walla Walla and began to barter the firewater to the Indians for Indian goods. Local residents, iucluding Tulley, Masterson, White, Cox and several others, became much alarmed and went to the camp to put a stop to the business. A three-cornered fight ensued, which was won by the settlers. The kegs were broken and the whisky ran into the
