Page:Oregon Geographic Names, third edition.djvu/19

 the history of many more Oregon post offices. These data have been included in the present volume. However, in 1944 a great deal of additional information was furnished. In some cases it did not agree with earlier reports. Discrepancies developed in the history of a number of post offices listed on the first 480 pages of this book. Where it appears that the later information is correct, necessary notes have been made in the addenda [included in the text of the third edition]. There are a few cases of obsolete and unimportant offices where the old and the new information cannot be reconciled and the earlier data are retained. The compiler hopes that at some future time these discrepancies may be composed.

There are other complications in post office histories. Newspaper announcements of dates of establishment sometimes vary considerably from the official records, and in pioneer days variations amounting to several weeks have been found. Sometimes an office is recorded as established but the postmaster declined to accept the appointment. There are some cases where the offices never actually functioned. Sometimes the appointed postmaster hired a deputy and washed his hands of the business. Local residents looked upon the deputy as the real postmaster. Thus it will be seen that the official records must be used with care.

This book does not pretend to be a substitute for the official Postal Guide. Post offices are constantly being discontinued and reestablished and a volume on geographic names cannot be kept current on all the changes. As the result of the shortage of help due to war conditions many Oregon post offices have been closed since 1941. Some have been reestablished; others will probably be reopened after the war and some may never be in operation again. Statements in the text to the effect that names are used for Oregon post offices must be accepted in a general sense and not as of any particular date unless specified.

A good deal of nonsense has been written about the meaning of Indian names. The compiler has known and respected many Indians and it has been his experience that they were principally concerned in getting a living amidst hard circumstances. They had little time or inclination for romance and sentiment. It seems improbable that Oregon Indians ever made up geographic names because of "moonlight filtering through trees," "sunshine dancing on the water," "rose petals floating on water" and "water rippling over pebbles." Competent scientists have found that most Indian names were based on much more practical and everyday matters.

A few abbreviations have been used to save space. The initials USBGN refer to the federal agency now known as United States Board on Geographical Names at Washington, D. C. This organization was formerly the United States Geographic Board, and older decisions were published under that name, but for the sake of simplicity the initials of