Page:Oregon Geographic Names, third edition.djvu/97

This page needs to be proofread.

the Calapooya Mountains in the northeastern part of the county and has an elevation of 5801 feet. It was named by Forest Supervisor E. H. McDaniels on account of the prominence with which the bluff stood out from its immediate surroundings, in defiance of the elements. .

BULLY CREEK, Malheur County. There are several stories concerning the origin of the name of this stream, all apparently revolving around the fact that when a man fell into its waters many years ago, his friends stood about and cried out "Bully! Bully!" T. T. Geer, in the Oregonian, February 9, 1921, says that during a debate on a bill to change the name of the stream in the legislature in 1889, David P. Thompson told the story and said that the incident happened while he, Thompson, was engaged in surveying townships for the government. In a letter in the Oregonian, April 21, 1927, Glen Livingston relates the story, saying that it came from D. P. Thompson, and that it applied to Bull Run River. On April 27, 1927, Henry Ē. Reed, in the Oregonian, replied to Livingston, saying that the incident did not happen on Bull Run River. He says that Thompson told him it happened to some soldiers in the '50s. The legislature of 1889 changed the name of this stream from Bully Creek to Alder Creek, and Thompson was a member of the house of representatives at the time. It seems probable to the compiler that the story told by Governor Geer is the correct one, and that the incident happened while Thompson was surveying. It does not seem probable that there were soldiers on Bully Creek in the '50s. Despite the act of the legislature, the name of the stream has remained Bully Creek, and it is universally so known. The act is printed on page 158 of the Laws of Oregon, fifteenth legislative assembly, 1889. A post office called Bully was established near this stream April 3, 1882, with Nancy Kime first postmaster. This office did not operate continuously. The name was changed to Westfall in February, 1889. The office was doubtless moved from time to time.

BUNCHGRASS CREEK, Wasco County. This stream is in the extreme northwest part of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation, and flows into Warm Springs River. There are a number of geographic features in Oregon named for bunchgrass, a valuable natural forage of the eastern part of Oregon. Charles V. Piper lists two varieties:Festuca ovina ingrata, the blue bunchgrass of the prairies, which is densely tufted, and Agropyron spicatum, the wheat bunchgrass which is taller and grows generally on dry hills.

BUNKER Hill, Coos County. Bunker Hill is a community and post office in the south part of the city of Coos Bay, and is remarkable for the fact that it was not named for the historic spot in Boston. Prior to 1900 it was just another timbered hill rising above tidewater near the mouth of Coalbank Slough. It was called Bunker Hill because of the coal bunkers nearby and the application of the name came without formality. About 1906 the area was platted for homes by the Flanagan estate and the title Bunker Hill seemed natural. The coal bunkers were principally on Isthmus Slough to the east of Bunker Hill, but there were also some on Coalbank Slough to the west. It was here that the ocean vessels took on their cargoes of coal from the Newport mines.

BUNKER Hill, Linn County. About 1858 R. C. Finley and associates established a community and grist mill on Calapooya River about a mile and a half east of the present town of Shedd. The locality was called Boston Mills. Just southeast of the site of the Finley enterprise was a small