Page:Oregon Geographic Names, third edition.djvu/580

 ROCA of the tremity of Astoria, and was named for Samuel C. Smith, who took up a donation land claim that included the point. The Indian name for this point was (-wa-pun-pun. See OHQ, volume I, page 321. Vancouver's expedition named it Point George, for George III of England. Wilkes charted this with the name Youngs Point. See the atlas for U. S. Exploring Expedition, volume XXIII, Hydrography.

SMITH Rock, Deschutes County. There are a number of stories about the origin of the name of this peculiar formation on the north bank of Crooked River. J. N. Williamson of Prineville wrote in 1926 that about 1863 a company of soldiers was camped nearby, during Indian troubles, and one Smith climbed upon the rock to get a view. A boulder that he stood on rolled from under his feet, and he fell and was killed. There are other versions, but this seems the most probable.

SMITH RIVER, Douglas County. Smith River is a large tributary of Umpqua River, into which it flows at a point opposite Reedsport. It was named for Jedediah Strong Smith, a western fur trader and explorer, who was born in the Mohawk Valley, New York, June 24, 1798, and was killed by Comanche Indians in the summer of 1831 while on the way from St. Louis to Santa Fe. When he was thirteen years old Smith obtained a position on a freight boat on the Great Lakes, and when he was about 18 he was in St. Louis, attracted by the fur trade. In 1826 Smith started from St. Louis with William Henry Ashley on the first stage of what was to be the first journey of a white man from the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean over the midland route. He traveled to southern California by way of Great Salt Lake, then returned to Utah and in 1828 started for northern California and southern Oregon. His party made its way up the Pacific Coast, and reached the Umpqua River, which was crossed very close to the mouth early on July 12, 1828. The party then made its way up the west and the north side of the river until the evening of July 13, where camp was pitched on the north bank just west of the mouth of what is now Smith River. Gordon's Land office survey of 1857 gives the location as about a quarter of a mile west of the east line of section 26, township 21 south, range 12 west, or about the same distance southwest of what is now Gardiner station on the Southern Pacific railroad. On the morning of Monday, July 14, Indians attacked the party, while Smith and two companions were away from camp. Arthur Black was the only man who escaped from the camp. He made his way north to Tillamook, thence to Fort Vancouver. Smith and his two companions escaped toward Willamette Vallev. Fifteen men were killed. These figures are from the account by R. C. Clark, OHQ, volume XXXVIII, page 115. Through the aid of Dr. John McLoughlin, Smith's furs were recovered and the dead were buried. Smith eventually returned to St. Louis and continued in the fur trade until his death. He was a devout Christian, and a reliable geographer, and entitled to great credit for his explorations. For details of his life see The Ashley-Smith Explorations by Harrison C. Dale; The Travels, of Jedediah Smith by Maurice S. Sullivan and Jedediah Smith, Trader and Trail Breaker, also by Sullivan. The main tributary of Smith River is North Fork Smith River, not West Fork. A tributary of North Fork is known as West Branch. There is another Pacific Coast stream named Smith River, for Jedediah Smith. It is in northern California. The north fork of this stream rises in southern Ore