Page:Oregon Geographic Names, third edition.djvu/478



named with a Chinook jargon word. The jargon word ona generally refers to the razor clam. The community is not on the seashore and not near the clam beds, but someone may have imported the name. However, the compiler has a notion that the jargon word ee-na is the basis for the name. Ee-na means beaver and is appropriate to the location of the place on Beaver Creek.

ONEATTA, Lincoln County. Oneatta is a ghost town on the northeast side of Yaquina River and about a mile and a half upsteam from Yaquina. The place was first settled and named by Ben Simpson in 1871. See History of Benton County, page 490. A sawmill was operated there for a time and a post office was established in May, 1876. The community appears to have been named for an Indian princess, who was, as usual, beautiful, accomplished and virtuous. A. B. Meacham, in Wigwam and War-path, chapter V, gives a lugubrious story about her, but it is hard to tell whether it is fiction or fact. O'NEALS Mills, Polk County. Apparently the first post office in Polk County was O'Neals Mills, established January 8, 1850, with James A. O'Neal postmaster. The name was changed to Nesmiths on August 21, 1850, with James W. Nesmith postmaster, and the office was discontinued October 22, 1852. It was about four miles west of the present site of Dallas. For the history of the locality, see under ELLENDALE. O'NEIL, Crook County. William G. O'Neil and family immigrated from Illinois to a place near the present site of Bend about 1881. Members of the family lived at various places in central Oregon and three of the sons at one time owned a store at the place now called O'Neil, which is west of Prineville. Philip Grinder Carmical settled in this general locality and built a cabin in the spring of 1872. He brought his family in July, 1873, and the place became known as Carmical Station, as it was on a main route of travel. Carmical was born in Illinois on August 27, 1821, and died at London, near Cottage Grove, Oregon, February 18, 1909. Carmical Station was apparently a little north of O'Neil. Francis Forest established himself in the vicinity in 1876. His first place was near Carmical Station but he later moved his store to the present site of O'Neil. Forest Crossing on Crooked River nearby bears his name.

ONEONTA GORGE, Multnomah County. The origin of this name is obviously the place in New York. The compiler has not been able to find out why the name was applied to the gorge in Oregon. Oneonta is said by Gannett to mean "place of peace." A handsome steamboat of the Mississippi River side-wheel type was built at Cascades in 1863 and named the Oneonta. She was operated by the Oregon Steam Navigation Company on the Columbia River until 1877, both above and below the Cascades. While the evidence is by no means conclusive, it seems probable that Oneonta Gorge was named after the steamboat was built, and it is possible that the geographic feature was named because of some incident connected with the boat.

ONION PEAK, Clatsop County. Onion Peak, elevation 3058 feet, is one of the highest points in Clatsop County, and its rugged summit makes it an outstanding landmark. The peak is east-northeast of Arch Cape and about two miles north of the south line of the county. In December, 1945, Mrs. H. V. Alley of Nehalem informed the compiler that the peak was named for the wild onions growing near the summit. Mrs. Alley came to the Nehalem settlements as a girl in 1879 and said the