Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 11.djvu/67

History of the Counties of Oregon 6i It is named for the Malheur River, which runs through the County, flowing into Snake River. Malheur is a French word meaning misfortune; bad luck; disaster. Literally it means "evil hour." In French its meaning is opposite to that of the word "bonheur." The origin of the name as applied to the River, I have obtained through the courtesy of Mr. T. C. Elliott of Walla Walla, Washington, who is an historical student, well versed in the history of Oregon and Washington. He has a copy of the manuscript Journal of Peter Skene Ogden, the original of which is in the possession of the Hudson's Bay Company at its headquarters in London, Eng- land. In Ogden's "Journal" of his second trip to the Snake River country in 1825-6, under date of February 14, 1826, is the following entry: "Started early; sent my two Snake hunters out with 6 traps each and 2 horses to North side of river. I also gave them two scalping knives % doz rings, % doz buttons to trade and 20 balls to hunt. I have now all my trappers in motion; we encamped on River au Malheur (unfortunate River) so called on account of goods and furs hid here dis- covered and stolen by the natives. Gervaise killed 2 small deer ; 3 beaver." 1 After a very careful study of the matter Mr. Elliott is of the opinion that the name Malheur was given to the river by Donald McKenzie, one of the officers of the Hudson's Bay Company, who, previous to Ogden's trip in 1826, had charge of a party of trappers in that part of the country. McKenzie had maintained a temporary trading post, for about a year, at the mouth of the Payette River, a short distance from the mouth of the Malheur River. The entry in Ogden's "Journal" indicates that the river had been named before he arrived there. I have the very rare pamphlet, published at Washington, D. C, in 1846, entitled "Route and Distance to Oregon and California," written by J. M. Shively, an Oregon pioneer of 1 This Journal is published in full in the Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society for December, 191 0.