Page:Oregon Geographic Names, third edition.djvu/157



COALBANK Soune could find none aftene reported existenc 1869, which he says was named because of the reported existence of coal in the vicinity, but he could find none after careful examination.

COALBANK SLOUGH, Coos County. This slough is a branch of Coos Bay. It received its name in pioneer days. Upon its waters a great deal of coal was taken out of the coal mines in light craft and in sea-going boats.

COALCA, Clackamas County. Coalca is a station on the Southern Pacific Company railroad about a mile north of New Era. It was named for an Oregon Indian celebrity. East of the station, and up on the side hill above the highway, is a natural rock formation called Coalcas Pillar. This pillar is a rock spire with a peculiar knob or capstone at the top. In earlier days the railroad station at or near this point was called Rock Island for the natural feature in the Willamette River, but due to confusion with other places of the same name, the railroad company made a change in its official list.

COALEDO, Coos County. Coaledo was named because of a coal lead or vein. The place is on Beaver Slough a few miles northwest of Coquille. George Bennett, in OHQ, volume XXVIII, page 346, says a man named Vandenburg was the first settler in the locality. Postal records for 1875 show Coaledo post office, established in that year.

COALMINE CREEK, Douglas and Jackson counties. Coalmine Creek flows south across the county boundary in township 31 south, range 1 east and drains into Sugarpine Creek. It got its name because of the discovery on its banks of some black rock that appeared to be coal. However, subsequent investigation showed that the substance was not coal. See also under KETTLE CREEK. A deer lick at the junction of Sugarpine and Coalmine creeks is called Coalmine Lick. Coast FORK, Lane County. Coast Fork post office, named for Coast Fork Willamette River, was established December 28, 1867, with George W. Rinehart postmaster. The office was closed October 1, 1872. Gill's map of Oregon of 1874 shows the place on the railroad about four miles south of Creswell, but the railroad was not built when the office was established, so the legend on the map may be for a later railroad station and not for the post office as originally established. Local tradition is to the effect that the post office was a little east of the present site of Creswell. Coast FORK WILLAMETTE RIVER, Lane County. This is the smallest of the three streams that combine in the neighborhood of Eugene to form Willamette River. The other two are McKenzie River (formerly McKenzie Fork) and Middle Fork. Coast Fork was so named because it headed more nearly toward the coast than did the other two. It has been so called since pioneer days. . Coast RANGE. Mountains close to the sea are characteristic of almost the entire eastern shores of the Pacific Ocean. From Bering Sea to Cape Horn ranges of varying heights are constantly visible from the ocean, and Oregon is no exception to the rule. The entry made by Meriwether Lewis in his diary for April 1, 1806, shows that he perceived quite clearly that the mountains along the coast were separated from the Cascade Range by a valley drained by a large river. However, the term Coast Range does not seem to have been used by early explorers in the Oregon country, and the name was doubtless developed by the pioneer settlers. Between the Columbia River and the Siuslaw River the Coast