Page:History of Oregon Literature.djvu/42

 —Indian words, echoic and beautiful, that name the physical features of our far-reaching landscape. Lewis A. McArthur, geographer and historian of Portland, has done much to confirm and extend the partiality of the people for these Indian place names. In his widely known book, Oregon Geographic Names, he estimates that out of about 2300 headings recorded by him to cover about 4000 physical features, a little over 23 per cent are of Indian origin, "some of which were applied by the Indians themselves, and some later on by whites." What they called the places when they went that way in their moccasined feet, we call them today. This much at least of Oregon Indian literature is permanent and forever insured against loss.

Nearly every sort of physical feature of the wide Oregon country is heir to this aboriginal terminology. With no at tempt to be complete, there are Wahkeena Falls, Hoquarten Slough, Yaquina Bay, Yainax Butte, Wauna Point, Speelyeis Columns, Soosap Peak, Chucksney Mountain, Tututni Pass, Wapinitia Cut-off, Techumtas Island, Tualatin Plains, Siltcoos Lake, Chewaucan Marsh, and the Little Luckiamute — every one a phrase for poetry, a pleasant-sounding poutpourri from the Yakimas, Warm Springs, Yaquinas, Klamaths, Klickitats, Calapooias, and others.

And in spite of the tradition of flattery to popular generals and statesmen in the nomenclature of counties, there euphoniously spotting the map of Oregon are Clackamas, Clatsop, Coos, Klamath, Multnomah, Tillamook, Umatilla, Wallowa, Wasco and Yamhill.

This statement on Indian picture writing was given in an interview by Earl Marshall, a Portland engineer, who with his brother and uncle have made one of the most extensive and representative Indian collections in Oregon. There is hardly a picture rock in the state that they have not photographed. Mr. Marshall was graduated from the University of Oregon in 1910 and has since followed the