Page:Oregon Geographic Names, third edition.djvu/17



The writer believes that as more names are studied the percentage of those of English origin will increase. An analysis of 25,000 origins will probably show that 80 per cent are from the English language.

The majority of Oregon place names are descriptive in their application. The following table gives the percentage of names listed in this book:

It may be said in explanation of this table that it has not always been easy to draw the line between the first two classes. It is the belief of the compiler that if a stream follows through the donation land claim of Balthasar Jones, a pioneer of 1850, and that the stream was named Jones Creek about the time Mr. Jones settled on the land, then the name is just as surely descriptive as though it was Gold Creek or Blue Creek. The matter of honoring Balthasar Jones was not considered when the stream began to be called Jones Creek. The whole business was a matter of descriptive convenience. On the other hand, the name Lake Abert is classified as being honorary, because Colonel Abert was a well-known army officer who did not live in the vicinity of the lake. Captain Fremont named the lake in honor of his superior. It seems to the compiler that there should be a clear distinction between these two classes of names, although there are some cases where the segregation has been difficult.

The compiler has listed as complimentary those names of places and features that were bestowed to keep in mind the names of places and fea-