Page:Oregon Geographic Names, third edition.djvu/298



ian Waration is calledmation abounty Efforts uary, les couise, in egon, page the fact that is name hathe of 7401 feet. It was so called because of the abundance of grouse found there.

GROUSLOUS MOUNTAIN, Curry County. Efforts of the compiler to secure authoritative information about this name have been unsuccessful. Attention is called to the fact that F. F. Victor, in The Early Indian Wars of Oregon, page 324, mentions a halfbreed interpreter, John Grolouise, in connection with some events that occurred in January, 1854. This man appears to have been a resident in that part of Oregon, and the probable explanation is that the mountain was named for him. The correct spelling of this French family name is Groslouis. There were several of the family in Oregon in very early days.

GROVE City, Malheur County. On April 3, 1888, a post office with the impressive name Grove City was established near Malheur River at a point about ten miles west of Vale. John F. Tilson was the first postmaster. This office was discontinued September 19, 1899, with papers to Vale. The office was apparently named in consequence of Osborn Grove, a well-known place in the neighborhood.

GUANO LAKE, Lake County. This is a mud lake or playa about five miles long situated in township 39 south, range 27 east. It is fed by Guano Creek, an intermittent stream heading on Hart Mountain. Guano Lake has no outlet. The lake and creek were so named because of the guano deposits along their banks. The lake was named first, in the summer of 1864, during the Owyhee Reconnoissance of the First Oregon Cavalry under Lieutenant-Colonel C. S. Drew. See Drew's Official Report, page 15. For a number of years the stream feeding the lake was called Warner Creek, but is now generally known as Guano Creek Guild LAKE, Multnomah County. This was a shallow lake within the city limits of Portland, on the west bank of Willamette River. It was gradually filled with material sluiced down from the nearby hills and dredged from the river. It was named for Peter Guild, a pioneer of 1847.

GULL ISLAND, Columbia County. This is a small island in the Columbia River north of Crims Island. Wilkes shows it as Weaqus Island in the atlas accompanying U. S. Exploring Expedition, volume

XXIII, Hydrography, but does not explain the name. Wilkes shows Crims Island as Gull Island, and it seems obvious that the name Gull later became attached to the smaller island to the north.

GUMBO, Gilliam County. A post office with the name Gumbo was established on the Gilliam County list on October 18, 1892, with Zachariah J. Martin postmaster. The appointment was rescinded November 15, 1892, and the office was never in service. The compiler has not been able to find the site for this proposed establishment, but supposes it to have been in a locality of gumbo, or sticky soil. Gumbo is the English form of the Louisiana-French gombo, meaning the okra plant, used to thicken soups. The word is derived from the African Congo expression quingombo, or okra. Not only is gumbo used to refer to thick soups, but also to the Negro-French patois of Louisiana and also to certain heavy, sticky soils. See Read's Louisiana-French, page 122, published by the Louisiana State University Press.

GUMBOOT CREEK, Wallowa County. This stream is in the southeast part of the county. It was named because Jack Johnson, a prominent pioneer stockman, once found an old gumboot in it. Gumboot —