Page:Oregon Geographic Names, third edition.djvu/268



FREEDOM, Lane County. Post office records show that Freedom post office was established Febrauary 17, 1858, with Thomas M. Awbrey first postmaster. The name of the office was changed to Lancaster on May 7, 1866, when Joseph S. Lyman was postmaster. It seems probable that this office was at or near the place called Lancaster, which is just southwest of Harrisburg. Walling in his Illustrated History of Lane County, page 458, says that in the early '50s a man named Woody started a house of entertainment in this locality and called it Woodyville. The term house of entertainment seems to have been a fancy name for a roadhouse. Walling also says that Johnson Mulkey bought the property, changed the name to Lancaster and built a sawmill. The writer has no information about the origins of the names Freedom or Lancaster. It is interesting to note that Lancaster, a city in Pennsylvania, is not far east of Harrisburg. The associations of names in Pennsylvania may have had something to do with naming a place Lancaster in Oregon because it was close to a town called Harrisburg. The author has no evidence to support this theory, but it is appealing. On January 23, 1872, the name of Lancaster post office was changed to Junction City. It is probable that at that time the office was moved south so as to be on the recently constructed railroad. The first postmaster of the Junction City office was David McAlpine.

FREEWATER, Umatilla County. Freewater was established as a rival community to Milton, just to the south, and hoped to get settlers by the device of offering free water for irrigation purposes. The original plat of the town was filed as New Walla Walla, on account of proximity to Walla Walla, Washington. This filing was made November 30, 1889, but a note in Umatilla County records says the plat was later withdrawn. There is nothing now on file to show its nature. The plat for Freewater was filed August 16, 1890.

FREEZEOUT CREEK, Wallowa County. This stream is in the eastern part of the county. It was named by one Jack Johnson because he nearly froze there one night. Johnson was a prominent pioneer character of the Wallowa country.

FREMONT, Lake County. For some years, beginning about 1909, Fremont was a post office. It was about six miles west of Fort Rock. The name was probably suggested by the name Fremont National Forest, which was named for Captain John C. Fremont, who explored central Oregon in 1843. Regardless of the fact that Fremont made an accurate and valuable record of his trip through Oregon, he is frequently spoken of lightly, as a general who never commanded an army and an explorer who never made a discovery. He was born in Georgia in 1813. At the age of 25 he was appointed a second lieutenant in the topographical engineers of the army. He made several explorations in the West, and these, coupled with his experiences in California, led to his nomination by the Republicans in 1856 for the presidency. He served in the Civil War, and attained the rank of major-general. He died in 1890. While his geographical work was of good character, too many claims were made in his behalf. See editorial in the Oregonian, April 2, 1926.

FREMONT CANYON, Deschutes and Jefferson counties. This canyon is northeast of Sisters. It is popularly supposed to be the canyon ascended by Captain John C. Fremont early in December, 1843, while he was on his way south through Deschutes Valley.

FREMONT HIGHWAY, Deschutes, Klamath and Lake counties. This oy.