Page:Oregon Geographic Names, third edition.djvu/510

 master. The office was in service for two months. A later office with the name Pleasant Valley was establilshed March 21, 1890, with Thomas B. Moore postmaster.

PLEASANT VALLEY, Jackson County. Pleasant Valley, which is on the extreme west edge of the county north of Rogue River, is drained by Evans Creek and by a tributary, Pleasant Creek. The valley and creek got their names in pioneer days as a result of the battle of Evans Creek in the Rogue River Indian War, fought on August 24, 1853, on which day Pleasant Armstrong of Yamhill County was killed. Armstrong was a prominent citizen and was acting as an aid to General Joseph Lane, in command of the white troops. See Walling's History of Southern Oregon, page 219 and also page 380. The valley has always lived up to its name, although the title was not applied descriptively.

PLUM Hills, Klamath County. These hills are north of Klamath Falls. They have been so called since pioneer days on account of wild plums that grew there. Stock have grazed on these hills for so long that the plum trees have practically disappeared. See editorial in the Oregonian, July 1, 1927, about the wild Pacific plum, Prunus subcordata.

PLUM VALLEY, Polk County. Plum Valley is a little vale in the west part of the Eola Hills. It is just south of Bethel and east of McCoy, and it drains westward into Ash Swale. Its name came from the wild plums that grew in the vicinity, and according to John E. Smith in his booklet, Bethel, the name was probably selected by Amos Harvey. Plum Valley post office was established November 30, 1854, on the Absalom H. Frier claim, a little to the south of the valley and about on the south line of section 20. Frier was the first postmaster. In 1856 Plum Valley post office was moved into Plum Valley proper. It was moved several times later but never far from Bethel. It was discontinued August 13. 1863.

PLUSH, Lake County. The town of Plush was named for a local Indian celebrity who was a member of the Piute tribe. The name was suggested by Dr. H. Wright who was for a time postmaster at Lakeview. A letter of C. A. Moore, published in the Oregonian February 16, 1926, tells how the Indian received the name Plush. This was the result of a card game that he got into. The game was a frame-up. The Indian was dealt a flush by another member of the party, who held a better one. He could not pronounce the word "Aush" and called it "plush," and that was the name he subsequently went by.

PLYMPTON CREEK, Clatsop County. Plympton Creek is at Westport. It was named for Silas B. Plympton who took up a land claim nearby in 1861, and who was the first postmaster at Westport, 1863.

POCAHONTAS, Baker County. Pocahontas is a ghost town at the base of the Blue Mountains a few miles northwest of Baker. It was established in the mining days of the '60s, but so far the compiler has not had any success in getting the origin of the name or even much of value about the history of the place. Beyond the fact that it was named for the famous Indian princess of Virginia, little has transpired. Hiatt in his Thirty-one Years in Baker County, pages 34 and 35, says that a number of persons went up into the timber near the foot of the Blue Mountains and laid out a town called Pine City. It may be assumed from the text that this took place in 1862 and the place was on Pine Creek west of what was later Pocahontas. The community was laid out for the purpose of accommodating travel, which was forced to go close to the mountains to avoid

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