Snake War of 1864, when troops under the command of Colonel George B. Currey crossed it during a thunder storm, and gave to it the German name for thunder and lightning.
BLODGETT, Benton County. Blodgett is said to have been named for a pioneer settler, William Blodgett. The post office was established with the name of Emrick early in April, 1888, with James A. Wood first postmaster. The name was changed to Blodgett on May 8 of the same year. Emrick was the name of a local family.
BLOODY RUN, Josephine County. This stream is three miles east of Grants Pass. It was so called because of an incident in the Rogue River Indian War in the '50s. In 1944 W. A. Moxley of Lebanon wrote that there was a sharp skirmish at this point and one of the white men, separated from his companions, was shot while he was stopping to get a drink from the stream. His blood ran into the water and this gave rise to the name of the run.
BLOOMING, Washington County. Blooming is a locality about two miles south of Cornelius but not a commercial community. Many years ago it was known as the German Settlement. In December, 1945, Ed Demmin of Hillsboro wrote the compiler that the Rev. Mr. Paul of the Lutheran Church wanted a better name for the community and selected the title Blooming, which he thought descriptive of the floral conditions and pleasant prospects generally. Blooming post office was established February 27, 1895, with Heinrich Paul first postmaster. The office was closed November 28, 1904, because of the extension of rural delivery. The writer has been told that it was a residence post office, not in a store. It seems probable that the man who named the place was the same person as the first postmaster, but the compiler has no proof of it.
BLOOMINGTON, Polk County. Postal authorities have informed the compiler that this post office was established May 25, 1852, with Eli W. Foster first postmaster. Preston's Map of Oregon of 1856 shows Bloomington in the site of the community now known as Parker. Bloomington post offce was closed in June, 1863. The descriptive name seems to have been tinctured with too much optimism.
BLOUCHER, Hood River County. This is a station on the Mt. Hood Railroad west of Odell. It was named for H. E. Bloucher, a local resident.
BLOWOUT CREEK, Wallowa County. Blowout Creek empties into Bear Creek in the southeast part of township 2 south, range 42 east. It was named by Leander McCubbin and others who camped near the stream in pioneer days and had trouble getting a fire started because the wind blew so hard.
BLOWOUT LAKES, Linn County. These lakes are on Blowout Creek, south of Detroit. They were so named because of a great landslide nearby resembling a blowout of the mountain side.
BLUE MOUNTAIN, Umatilla County. This is a station on the Union Pacific Railroad southwest of Milton. It is on Dry Creek just north of the horseshoe curve made by the railroad in getting from Weston down into the Walla Walla Valley. When the railroad was being extended south from Walla Walla it was for some time dead-ended at Blue Mountain, and as the station was the last one on the way into the Blue Mountains, it was named for those features, although no one seems to know just why the singular form was used.
