Page:Oregon Geographic Names, third edition.djvu/138



RIDGE, They told ans abouts by Jack than Oregon: Its History, Conditions and Prospects, Buffalo, 1851, page 14, says: "A boy whose Indian name was Ken-o-teesh, belonging to the Si-le-lah tribe, was received into the mission in April, and died on the 19th of the following August." Whether Si-le-lah is the same as Celilo is a matter of conjecture, although a study of Oregon tribe names gives no other solution. Early journals of fur traders and travelers do not mention Celilo. Celilo was used in 1859, according to Mr. Elliott, who said there are several suggested meanings, including "tumbling waters," "shifting sands," and the name of an Indian chief, etc. Dr. Leo Frachtenberg of the Smithsonian Institution, in the Oregon Journal, December 31, 1917, says Celilo is a Yakima word meaning "cleft in the bank," Mr. Elliott's article referred to above gives more theories about the name and much information about the Celilo Canal. Stories to the effect that Celilo is a name based on a remark of a steamboat captain, "I see, lie low," may be dismissed as fiction.

CEMETERY HILL, Wallowa County, Cemetery Hill is in section 20, township 1 north, range 48 east, near Imnaha. In 1931 J. H. Horner told the compiler that it was named because more than a dozen Indian graves were found there in pioneer days by Jack Johnson and others. A. C. Smith talked to the Indians about the origin of these graves but could learn nothing. They told him the graves were very old.

CEMETERY RIDGE, Wallowa County. This ridge is in the northeast part of the county and extends from Buckhorn Springs northeast. It is in township 3 and 4 north, range 48 east. According to J. H. Horner of Enterprise, it was named because in the vicinity were the remains of some Indians killed in a battle between Nez Perces Indians and a band of renegade Snakes. The circumstances of this fight were within the memories of the older Indians in the Wallowa Valley.

CENTERVILLE, Washington County. Centerville was the name of a small community on Dairy Creek at the road crossing about two miles north of Cornelius. The principal activity of the place revolved around the Trullinger mills, but today there is little to show for it. The locality was probably named because it was about the center of the Tualatin Plains, although it may have been named because it was supposed to be near the center of the county, Centreville post office was established October 11, 1866, with Edward Jackson first postmaster. This office was closed March 30, 1874. Ingles post office was established at the same place or nearby on September 28, 1881, with William S. Ingles, postmaster. The name of this office was changed to Centerville on September 2, 1889, and the office was closed September 30, 1904. These three offices may not all have been in exactly the same place, but they were in the same general locality.

CENTRAL, Linn County. Central was one of the earliest post offices established in what is now Linn County. The office was established June 13, 1852, with Joel Ketchum postmaster, and it was discontinued April 19, 1861. Early maps show the place about nine miles east of Albany and a little south. The office bore a descriptive name, probably because it was in a central location between Albany and the early settlements to the east.

CENTRAL, Multnomah County. On June 13, 1900, a post office named Central was established on the Multnomah County list. The office was discontinued December 14, 1903. James Channing was the first and only