Page:Oregon Geographic Names, third edition.djvu/648



name in pioneer days on account of the fact that a wagontire lay beside the road on its northern slopes for many years. This tire is said to have come from an emigrant wagon which was burned by Indians. There is a post office named Wagontire southeast of the mouuntain. This post office was formerly known as Egli, for a prominent local stockman. The name was changed to Wagontire in the fall of 1919 at the suggestion of Loretta M. Addington, who thought the new name more appropriate.

WAHANNA LAKE, Lane County. Wahanna Lake, north of Waldo Lake, bears an Indian name imported from Clatsop County. Wahanna was the name used for many years for the stream flowing into Necanicum River north of Seaside, now officially known as Neawanna Creek. For the history of these names see under NEAWANNA CREEK. The lake in Lane County was named at a time when several other nearby features were given Indian names for better identification. The name Wahanna Lake was probably used because it had a pleasing sound and not for any local reason. WaHCLELLA Falls, Multnomah County. These falls are on Tanner Creek, and were named by a committee representing the Mazamas and other organizations in 1915. Wahclella was the name of an Indian locality near Beacon Rock on the Washington side of the Columbia River, and was selected because of its pleasing sound.

WAHGWINGWIN FALLS, Hood River County. Wahgwingwin or Wah Gwin Gwin Falls are produced by Phelps Creek when it plunges over the cliff west of Hood River town into Columbia River. The falls, which are about 207 feet high, are near the east end of Columbia Gorge Hotel and are a well-known scenic feature of the vicinity. The name is said to be of some Indian tongue and means tumbling or rushing waters. There are a number of geographic names in the Pacific Northwest with the initial syllable Wah, and they generally refer to water features. The repeated syllables are used for emphasis. Walla Walla is a name of this type.

WAHKEENA Falls, Multnomah County. These falls were once known as Gordon Falls, for F. E. Gordon, a pioneer landowner. On account of confusion with Gordon Creek near Sandy River, and Gorton Creek at Cascade Locks, a committee appointed by the Mazamas in 1915 to name points on the Columbia River Highway, changed the name to Wahkeena Falls and Wahkeena Creek. This name is said to be a Yakima Indian word meaning most beautiful. See Wah-KeeNah, and her People, by James C. Strong

WAHTUM LAKE, Hood River County. H. H. Riddle told the compiler in 1922 that Wahtum Lake was named by H. D. Langille in 1901 while making a map for the Geological Survey. Wahtum is said to be the Waucoma Indian name of the lake, but the meaning of the word is not known.

WAKE BUTTE, Deschutes County. This butte southwest of Bend was named by the Forest Service with the Chinook jargon word for no or none, indicating its unimportant character. Waldo, Josephine County. According to James T. Chinnock of Grants Pass, Waldo was a specific place in the general locality known as Sailor Diggings, so named because a party of seafaring men found gold there. However the legislative act of January 22, 1856, creating