Page:Oregon Geographic Names, third edition.djvu/451



Holmes and R. F. Stubblefield who were looking for winter range and saw mountain sheep on the range above the stream.

MOUNTAINDALE, Washington County. Mountaindale is a descriptive name applied to a locality where East Fork Dairy Creek emerges from the hills at the north border of the Tualatin Valley. Mountain Dale post office was established June 11, 1873, with David O. Quick postmaster. The name was changed to Mountaindale probably in 1895, as the Postal Guide issued at the end of that year is the first to contain the name in one word. The office was discontinued in July, 1935.

MOUSE ISLAND LAKE, Columbia and Multnomah counties. This lake is on Sauvie Island. It received its peculiar name because there was an island in the lake infested with field mice.

MOUTH OF THE WILLAMETTE, Multnomah County. This pioneer post office was established on Sauvie Island, close to the south end, June 30, 1851, with Ellis Walker postmaster. It was first put on the list for Clark County, Washington, but it never was actually in that county. The name of the office was changed to Souvies Island on March 5, 1852, and on May 19, 1853, it was moved to the Washington County, Oregon, list with Benjamin Howell postmaster. The locality is now in Multnomah County. See under Post OFFICE BAR. Mowich, Klamath County. Mowich is a Chinook jargon word meaning deer and it has been applied to a number of geographic features in Oregon. The word is used for a station name on the Southern Pacific Cascade line about twelve miles north of Chemult, and while there are doubtless deer in the locality many of these station names are Indian words selected because of their pleasing sound. Mowich post office was established January 3, 1936, with R. J. Watt postmaster.

MOYINA Hill, Klamath County. Moyina Hill is a prominent landmark about midway between Klamath Falls and Dairy and north of Olene. Many years ago Will G. Steel told the compiler that the name was a Klamath Indian word meaning big mountain. The spelling Moyina is that used on the maps of the Forest Service. Apparently it comes from the Indian word yaini, meaning mountain, with the prefix muni for big or bulky. Mud CREEK, Wallowa County. Mud Creek flows into Grande Ronde River in township 5 north, range 43 east. It was named for the mud springs and mud flats at its head. It has been known as Mud Creek for a long time.

MUDDY CREEK, Jefferson and Wasco counties. This stream rises in Jefferson County east of Ashwood and flows into Currant Creek, a tributary of John Day River. Its occasional turbidity caused its name. H. H. Bancroft in his History of Oregon, volume I, page 787, says that when in 1862 Joseph H. Sherar and his party were packing into the John Day mines, they named this as well as a number of other features. Muddy CREEK, Lane and Linn counties. This stream drains the eastern floor of the Willamette Valley. It rises in the hills east of Coburg and flows generally to the Willamette River, finally joining it east of Corvallis. It is a sluggish stream, and it is no surprise that the pioneers named it as they did. The name Muddy Creek appears in the Oregonian as early as November 7, 1857. Muddy Creek has two main tributaries, Dry Muddy Creek and Little Muddy Creek. There was a railroad station called Muddy, where the stream crossed the main line of the Southern Pacific, mert un ain have 12.me pic of LA