Page:Oregon Geographic Names, third edition.djvu/607

 Creek Canyon. It has an elevation of 3335 feet. The name is of course descriptive.

TABLE MOUNTAIN, Lincoln County. This mountain, elevation 2804 feet, has a characteristic flat top and has been known as Table Mountain since pioneer days. Except for the fact that it is much too far south it might be La Mesa of Heceta. See under the heading Cape FALCON.

Table Rock, Jackson County. For nearly a century Upper Table Rock and Lower Table Rock have been well-known landmarks north of Central Point in the Rogue River Valley. They are real mesas, standing nearly a thousand feet above nearby Rogue River. The historic meeting between Rogue River Indians and white soldiers and settlers took place on the southwest slope under Upper Table Rock on September 10, 1853. Table Rock post office was in service near these two landmarks from April 25, 1872, until September 14, 1895, when in a fit of efficiency postal authorities changed the name to Tablerock, and that was the style until the office was discontinued November 15, 1906. Thomas Gianini was the first postmaster in 1872. After inspecting the list of postmasters of this office, Judge J. B. Coleman of Medford, long familiar with Jackson County history, gives it as his opinion that the office did a good bit of moving about to suit the convenience of the postmasters, but it was never far from the valley between the two rocks.

TAFT, Lincoln County. The community of Taft was named for William Howard Taft, 27th president of the United States. The post office was established January 22, 1906, and was named when Mr. Taft was secretary of war. John W. Bones was first postmaster, and is said to have suggested the name.

TAGHUM BUTTE, Deschutes County. This butte in the Paulina Mountains is named with the Chinook jargon word for six, it being the sixth of a series all named at the same time by the Forest Service.

TAHKENITCH LAKE, Douglas County. Tahkenitch Lake is in the western part of the county. It is of very irregular shape, and the Indian name is said to mean many arins, but this translation may be apocryphal.

TAKILMA, Josephine County. Takilma is on East Fork Illinois River about a mile southeast of Waldo. It was formerly called Taklamah, and is said to have been named by Colonel T. W. Draper of the Waldo Copper Company, for an Indian chief. Since 1902 the place has been called Takilma, a modification of the name Takelma, applied to an Indian tribe that lived on the middle course of Rogue River, See Handbook of American Indians, volume I, page 673. Takilma post office was established August 2, 1902, with George F. Morgan first postmaster. The writer was told in 1926 that the style Taklamah could not be used for a post office in Oregon because it duplicated the name of a place in Oklahoma. Available post office records do not substantiate this statement.

TALAPUS BUTTE, Deschutes County. This butte, west of Sparks Lake is named with the Chinook jargon word for coyote. See under Mount TalAPUS.

Talbot, Marion County. Guy W. Talbot was the first vice-president and general manager of the Oregon Electric Railway Company, and after he resigned and entered the public utility business, the new owners of the railway extended it south from Salem and this station near the Santiam River was named for him. Talbot station was at first known as Roby, for a pioneer family of the vicinity, but this name was