List of Oregon county name etymologies
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of county name etymologies for the U.S. state of Oregon. More details on the etymologies of Oregon county names and place names in general are documented in Oregon Geographic Names.
- Baker County, Oregon - Named in honor of Edward Baker, one of Oregon's first senators and a colonel in the Union Army.
- Benton County, Oregon - It is one of seven counties in the United States to be named after Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri, a longtime advocate of the development of the Oregon Territory.
- Clackamas County, Oregon - Named for the resident Clackamas Native American (U.S.) people and was one of the four original Oregon counties created in 1843.
- Clatsop County, Oregon - Named for the Clatsop Native American people, one of the many Chinook tribes living in Oregon. The Journals of Lewis and Clark mention the tribe. Fort Clatsop, the Lewis and Clark Expedition's winter headquarters in 1805 and now a national memorial near the mouth of the Columbia River, also took the tribe's name.
- Columbia County, Oregon - Captain Robert Gray, commanding the Columbia Rediviva, landed on Columbia County's timbered shoreline in 1792. The Corps of Discovery expedition, led by Lewis and Clark, traveled and camped along the Columbia River shore in the area later known as Columbia County in late 1805 and early 1806.
- Coos County, Oregon - The name "Coos" derives from a native Coos Indian tribe and translates to "lake" or "place of pines."
- Crook County, Oregon - Named for Maj. Gen. George Crook, U.S. Army.
- Curry County, Oregon - Named after Territorial Governor George Law Curry.
- Deschutes County, Oregon - French-Canadian fur trappers of the Hudson's Bay Company gave the name Riviere des Chutes (English translation: River of the Falls) to the Deschutes River, from which Deschutes County took its name.
- Douglas County, Oregon - Named for U.S. Senator Stephen A. Douglas, Abraham Lincoln's opponent in the presidential election of 1860 and an ardent congressional advocate for Oregon.
- Gilliam County, Oregon - Named after Col. Cornelius Gilliam, a veteran of the Cayuse War.
- Grant County, Oregon - Named for Gen. Ulysses S. Grant.
- Harney County, Oregon - Named for Maj. Gen. William S. Harney, commander of the Department of Oregon, U.S. Army, from 1858-1859. Harney was instrumental in opening areas of Eastern Oregon for settlement.
- Hood River County, Oregon - Named for the Hood River which runs through the county. The first white settlers in Hood River County filed a donation land claim in 1854.
- Jackson County, Oregon - Named for President Andrew Jackson.
- Jefferson County, Oregon - Named for Mount Jefferson on its western boundary.
- Josephine County, Oregon - Named for Virginia "Josephine" Rollins, the first white woman to make this county her home.
- Klamath County, Oregon - Named for the Klamath or Clamitte tribe, which has had a presence for 10,000 years.
- Lake County, Oregon - Numerous lakes and hot springs.
- Lane County, Oregon - Named for Gen. Joseph Lane, a rugged frontier hero who was Oregon's first territorial governor.
- Lincoln County, Oregon - Named for President Abraham Lincoln.
- Linn County, Oregon - Named for U.S. Senator Lewis F. Linn of Missouri, who was the author of the Donation Land Act, which provided free land to settlers in the West.
- Malheur County, Oregon - Derives its name from the "Riviere au Malheur" or "Unfortunate River" (later changed to Malheur River), named by French trappers whose property and furs were stolen from their river encampment.
- Marion County, Oregon - Named for American Revolutionary War Gen. Francis Marion.
- Morrow County, Oregon - Named for J.L. Morrow, an early resident.
- Multnomah County, Oregon - The name is derived from nematlnomaq, probably meaning downriver. Lewis and Clark made note of the Indian village of Multnomah on Sauvie Island in 1805, and applied that name to all local Indians.
- Polk County, Oregon - Named for then President James Knox Polk.
- Sherman County, Oregon - Named for Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman.
- Tillamook County, Oregon - The name Tillamook comes from the Tillamook (or Killamook) Native American people.
- Umatilla County, Oregon - Traces its creation in 1862 to the regional gold rushes, which spawned the riverport of Umatilla City (just above the mouth of the Umatilla River) and brought stockraisers to the lush grasslands.
- Union County, Oregon - Created in 1864 and named for the town of Union, which had been established two years before and named by its founders for the "Union" of the states during the Civil War.
- Wallowa County, Oregon - This rather isolated area was claimed by the Chief Joseph band of the Nez Perce as its hunting and fishing grounds. The Nez Perce used the word wallowa to designate a tripod of poles used to support fish nets.
- Wasco County, Oregon - Named for the Wasco (or Wascopam) Native American tribe.
- Washington County, Oregon - Named for President George Washington.
- Wheeler County, Oregon - Named for Henry H. Wheeler, who operated the first mail stage line from The Dalles to Canyon City.
- Yamhill County, Oregon - Named after the Yamhelas, members of the Kalapuya Native American family, who lived along the Yamhill River in the western Willamette Valley.
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