Page:Oregon Geographic Names, third edition.djvu/503

 November 2, 1805, and described it accurately. Wilkes, in U. S. Exploring Expedition, volume XXIII, Hydrography, refers to the rock as Hermit Islet.

PHOENIX, Jackson County. Phoenix was settled in the early '50s. Samuel Colver took a land claim there in 1851. In 1852 his brother, Hiram, settled adjoining him. In 1854 Samuel Colver laid out the town. Phoenix reached the height of its prosperity in 1864. Ten years later the town had greatly dwindled. For several months, in 1884, it was the terminus of the Oregon and California Railroad. The town is said to have been named by Sylvester M. Wait (Oregonian, January 3, 1892), after whom later was named Waitsburg, Washington. Wait built a flour mill at Phoenix in 1855. For many years this place was known as Gasburg on account of the loquacity of a woman who served meals when it was a stage station. The phoenix was a fabulous sacred bird of the Egyptians. There are many legends about the phoenix, which was described as a bird of the size and shape of an eagle, but with red and gold plumage. There was but one phoenix at a time, and it came to Egypt every 500 years from Arabia. The bird played a part in the mystic religion of Egypt, and the most popular legend about it is that it flew to Heliopolis every 500 years, and was burned on the altar of the temple. The next day there was a new phoenix on the altar. The compiler does not know why Wait named the southern Oregon town Phoenix, unless he had some experience with a fire there.

Phys POINT, Union County. This was named for John Phy, whose farm was nearby. It is about two miles west of Cove.

PICTURE GORGE, Grant County. This is an imposing canyon, through which flows John Day River a few miles northwest of Dayville. On its western walls are several Indian drawings or pictures, hence the name. The USGS has issued a splendid map of this gorge and its surroundings. See editorial page the Oregonian, December 10, 1925.

PICTURE ROCK Pass, Lake County. Between Silver Lake and Summer Lake the Fremont Highway goes through a pass at an elevation of about 4830 feet, and the gap is known as Picture Rock Pass. The name comes from some strange designs or pictures on the rocks about a hundred feet south of the highway. These peculiar marks, made by Indians, are strongly suggestive of a WPA painting project operated by the aborigines.

PIERCE CREEK, Linn County. This stream flows into Little Muddy Creek east of Harrisburg. It was named for James A. Pierce, a pioneer settler.

Pike, Yamhill County. Considering the large number of persons who emigrated to Oregon from Pike County, Missouri, it is not surprising that the name was used here, but it is remarkable that some effort was not made to name a county for the famous middle western soldier and explorer. Zebulon Montgomery Pike was born in 1779 in New Jersey. He entered the army before he was of age, and was a lieutenant when he was 20. He explored the Mississippi River, and later went to the Rocky Mountains in what is now Colorado. Pikes Peak bears his name. He was killed at York, Upper Canada, April 27, 1813, in an engagement with the British. He was then a brigadier-general. Pike, in Oregon, is a small community northwest of Yamhill.

Pike CREEK, Tillamook County. Pike Creek heads in the hills east of