Page:Oregon Geographic Names, third edition.djvu/678

This page needs to be proofread.

2 County Creek not far"tinued March was not in ce lished on the Wasco County list on May 20, 1872, with Robert Warren first of a series of five postmasters. The office was not in continuous operation, and was finally discontinued March 7, 1879. It served a locality on Willow Creek not far from what is now known as Grizzly, Jefferson County. The compiler has not been able to learn the reason for the name of the office, though it has been suggested that it represents a play on the words willow by, that is, by Willow Creek. No other explanation has been suggested. There seems to be no record of any family with the name Willoughby ever having lived in the district. Willow Bar Point, Columbia County. This point is on the northeast part of Sauvie Island. In the opinion of the writer, it was the place mentioned by Broughton in his report to Vancouver for the day of October 28, 1792, when he stated that "he proceeded up what he considered the main branch of the river, until eight in the evening; when under the shelter of some willows, they took up their lodging for the night on a low sandy point." This was just after Broughton had passed the lower end of Sauvie Island. Willow CREEK, Gilliam and Morrow counties. Lewis and Clark mention this stream as a "riverlit" in their journals for Sunday, October 20, 1805. On the sketch map by Clark, in Thwaites' Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, volume IV, page 308, it is shown as Choch. It has been known as Willow Creek since pioneer days. There are many Willow creeks in the state, which is not surprising, as Sudworth in Check List of Forest Trees of the United States, lists at least ten of this family that grow in Oregon. Willow CREEK, Jackson County. Willow Creek heads in the hills west of Central Point and flows northeast into Bear Creek. It received its name in the early '50s and it was a prominent locality in the early Indian wars and also in the mining days. After it flows out of the hills, it receives Lane Creek from the west and it was at this point that the pioneer community of Willow Springs was established. See Walling's History of Southern Oregon, page 377.

WILLOWCREEK, Malheur County. Willowcreek post office took its name from the natural feature, Willow Creek, one of the prominent streams of the county. Willow Creek got its name in pioneer days, and it is doubtless too late to learn the circumstances. Willowcreek post office was established August 19, 1937, at a point on Willow Creek about a dozen miles northwest of Vale. Mrs. Dorothy Sappe was the first postmaster. WiLLOWDALE, Jefferson County, Willowdale is in the north part of the county, a few hundred feet south of the bridge which carries the Dalles-California Highway over Trout Creek. The locality has been called Checkerboard because of the style of painting used on the service station at that point. Willowdale post office was established May 23, 1928, with Mrs. Edna Chesnut first of five postmasters. The office was closed to Gateway on March 11, 1937. Willowdale is in the same general locality as the pioneer post office Cross Keys. It was of course named for one of the many varieties of willow that grow in central Oregon. Willows, Gilliam County. Willows post office, named for the many trees of that species that grow in Oregon, was established December 17, 1878, on the Umatilla County list. Morrow and Gilliam counties had not then been created. The first Willows post office was very near