Page:Oregon Geographic Names, third edition.djvu/174

 Walla River

southeast of Milton. There are probably other geographic features in the state with the same name, due to the fact that the Indians found the roots plentiful in such localities. Cove, Jefferson County. The place on Crooked River known as Cove is not inappropriately named. At this point, which is about two miles south of the mouth of the river, the stream is in a canyon with an overall depth of some 900 feet. About half way down from the bluffs above the river west of Culver, there is a bench or shelf, and this shelf is closed on the east by rock walls, forming a natural cove. Further down into the canyon is another natural cove near the river. The county highway from Culver to Grandview crosses Crooked River at the Cove bridge, and after passing over a rocky divide several hundred feet high, makes a second descent this time to cross the Deschutes River. It then climbs a sevenmile grade to the bench west of the Deschutes. The remarkable geological formation of the two canyons and the ridge are well worth an inspection. Cove, Union County. Cove lies in a natural pocket where Mill Creek flows from the Wallowa Mountains, and it has an elevation of 2893 feet. It is on the east edge of the Grande Ronde Valley and at the west foot of Mount Fanny. The first family settled there on October 9, 1862, and on June 4, 1863, a post office was established which was given the name of Forest Cove, for descriptive reasons. Samuel G. French was the first postmaster and he probably suggested the name. On June 29, 1868, post office authorities eliminated the first part of the name because of the confusion with Forest Grove in Washington County. As a result of this simple action there arose in Union County a feud that lasted many years. In 1864 Union County was created, and as was frequent in pioneer days, there was contention over the location of the county seat. In 1872 a bill was passed putting the matter to a vote, and the two communities that received the highest vote in the preliminary balloting were to be eligible for the final election. Some votes were cast for Forest Cove by old timers to whom the new name did not mean much, and as a result an attempt was made to deprive Cove of its position in the contest. T. T. Geer's Fifty Years in Oregon, chapter XXXVI, gives an entertaining account of these matters. Cove ORCHARD, Yamhill County. This is a descriptive name applied to a community in the northern part of the county. It was platted with this name by F. C. Graham of Portland. Coverdale, Wallowa County. Coverdale is a locality in township 5 south, range 47 east, close to Imnaha River, but it is not a community. It is a campground and forest guard station. The place was named in 1909 by J. Fred McClain, a forest ranger, for Marion Coverdale, a hunter and trapper who lived on Prairie Creek in the early '80s. Cow CREEK, Douglas County. This stream is one of the historic landmarks of southern Oregon. It is tributary to the South Umpqua River and for a large part of the way from Glendale to Riddle it occupies a narrow defile through rugged mountains. The Siskiyou line of the Southern Pacific Company shares Cow Creek Canyon with the creek, For many years very high water in the stream has been a menace to traffic. It is popularly supposed that the Pacific Highway passes through Cow Creek Canyon but this is not true. South of Canyonville the Pacific Highway follows Canyon Creek, which is also in a narrow defile. Some