Page:Oregon Geographic Names, third edition.djvu/474

 ton side of the Columbia River a little below the present community of St. Helens. This Oak Point seems to have been in the same locality as Caples Landing.

OAKERMAN RANCH, Harney County. The name of this ranch is frequently misspelled. It bears the name of J. Fred Oakerman, who received his land patent from the United States. The ranch is a little north of Central Oregon Highway and is well-known in central Oregon.

OAKLAND, Douglas County. Oakland post office was established February 21, 1852. In 1856 the office was on a prairie surrounded by oak trees, about three miles north of the present town. At that time the office, which was in charge of a preacher named Hull Tower, was the terminus of four mail routes, one to Jacksonville, one to Scottsburg, one via the pass to the Coast Fork and Eugene, and the other through Yoncalla to Corvallis. All mail was carried on saddle and pack horses. The office received its name on account of the oak trees that are so plentiful in the vicinity. See University of Oregon Extension Monitor for September, 1924. The first postmaster at Oakland was David C. Underwood.

OAKLEY, Harney County. Oakley was a post office in the east part of the county, in Crane Creek Gap, a little more than a mile east of the town now known as Crane. The significance of the name Oakley has not been determined. Oakley post office was established November 4, 1889, with Philander H. Gray postmaster, who served until the office was discontinued July 29, 1895. When the office was established in 1889, Mrs. Gray suggested the name Fairview, which was well suited to the locality, but this turned out to be a duplicate of another Fairview, in Coos County, and postal officials would not approve it. Mrs. Gray then suggested Oakley, a name apparently selected at random.

OAKRIDGE, Lane County. This name was suggested by Major R. L. Edwards, a right-of-way agent of the Southern Pacific Company. It accurately describes a topography and surrounding timber cover. Oakridge post ofhce was established in 1912. In earlier days the community was known as Hazeldell.

OAKVILLE, Linn County. Oakville is a locality about six miles airline southeast of Albany, but it is not now classed as a commercial community. The prominent Oakville church has long been a landmark. The name was of course derived from the Oregon white oak trees native to the land. Oakville post office was established May 16, 1878, with James B. Coney first postmaster. This office served the area for nearly a quarter of a century and was not closed until August 15, 1902. Its demise was doubtless due to the extension of rural free delivery. Oasis, Gilliam County. Oasis post office was given a descriptive name. It was established May 5, 1884, with Thomas Fairhurst first and only postmaster. The office was closed to Arlington November 3, 1886. On August 6, 1948, J. D). Weed, early settler in Gilliam County, wrote the compiler from Condon as follows: "Oasis post office was in what is known as Eightmile Canyon, about four miles south of and up the canvon from the site ol a later post office called Montague, which was established in 1911. I was well acquainted with the son of Thomas Fairhurst and visited at the old Fairhurst home where the Oasis post office was situated. There was a large spring that broke out in this canyon and when I was a boy, there were about twenty-five acres of irrigated alfalfa land. On all