Oregon Voices: The Importance of Memory and Place: A Narrative of Oregon Geographic Names with Lewis L. McArthur

Abstract

OREGON VOICES The Importance of Memory and Place ANarrative of Oregon Geographic Names withLewis L.McArthur byErinMcCullugh Peneva GROWING UP INTHE SLEEPY Eastern Oregon town ofDayville, Iknew my fair share of colorful place-names ? Murderers Creek, Battle Creek, Mule, and Izee, for example. Murderers Creek held a particular fascination as it applies to a beautiful, meandering, cool country creekwhere riderswater theirhorses and families picnic. When I asked another local child how Murderers Creek got itsname, she replied that it was because a group ofminers murdered a few Indians somewhere along itsbanks. Someone else toldme that it was named for thekilling of several of thewild horses that still roamed thehills and meadows. Since those credulous days, Ihave learned that the creek earned itsname when a small party of Paiute Indians killed a group of prospectors who were inves tigating thepotential of the creek.Murderers Creek isbut one of thousands of place-names documented inOregon Geographic Names, an important text that speaks to the long history of place and memory inOregon. The small bit of information offered inOregon Geographic Names about the beautiful creek near my hometown may seem insignificant outside of Grant County, but thename is loaded with meaning. The name remarks on the pres ence of gold miners in theDayville area, aswell as the fact that,while theCivil War raged east of theMississippi River, Indians still lived and fought in the JohnDay Valley. The moniker furthernotes themanner inwhich locals chose tomemorialize the event. One hundred fortyyears later, the creek stillflows, standing as a small marker of local history. In thismanner, place-names not only serve as geographic markers but as cultural and historical markers, aswell. Place-names give us value and a sense of shared community and memory. OHQ vol. 109, no. 3 ? 2008 Oregon Historical Society Lewis L.McArthur holds the first six editions ofOregon Geographic Names, the firstofwhich hisfather Lewis A. "Tam" McArthur published in 1928.The seventheditionwas published in 2003, and an eighthedition iscurrently beingdeveloped. Without Oregon Geographic Names, therewould be many misremembered Oregon place-names and, consequently, a loss ofOregon history. What began with one man's personal passion and interest isnow an important source for Oregon geography and history,with smatterings of etymology, folklore, and humor mixed in.The textprovides glimpses of lifeacross the stateencompassing McCullugh Peneva, The Importance ofMemory and Place 447 all theperiods ofOregon history.From itsearliest conception, Oregon Geographic Names took on a lifeof itsown and continues to grow,much in the sameman ner as itsoriginal compiler, Lewis A. "Tam" McArthur, intended. Lewis Ankeny McArthur, known tomany as "Tam," was born at The Dalles, Oregon, on April 27,1883, into a family closely connected toOregon history.His paternal grandfather,Navy Lieutenant William P.McArthur, was responsible for leading the first survey of the Pacific Coast for theUnited States Coast Survey of 1849 and 1850,while his maternal grandfather, James W. Nesmith, was an Oregon pioneer who arrived in 1843 and was heavily involved in territorial and stategovernment, serving asU.S. Senator fromOregon from 1861to 1867and as a Representative from 1873 to 1875.1 McArthur's mother, Harriet Nesmith, was one of the original organizers of theOregon Historical Society, continuing to serve on itsboard for twenty-six years, from 1898 to 1924.There is little wonder that McArthur developed such a passion forprecision and Oregon geography. The idea for a book dedicated toOregon place-names likely came from a comment byHarvey Scott, then-editor of theOregonian.2 Scott had published a number of editorials expounding on place-names inOregon, particularly those with Native American names, and believed an entirebook dedicated to the topic might be interesting.McArthur apparently took this sentiment to heart. He began compiling information from county biographical guidebooks, current history texts,post officehistories, and records of theprovisional and territorial government ofOregon. One of themost important sources of information on Oregon place-names was people's memories. The first full-length edition of Oregon Geographic Names appeared in 1928, with a second edition following in 1944. Before McArthur could finish the third edition of Oregon Geographic Names, he fell ill and passed away in 1951. McArthur had compiled all the text for the third edition, and his second wife Nellie Pipes...