Page:Oregon Geographic Names, third edition.djvu/677

 th R. F. Lewmating correspondence War. In Jun liams, a well-known Indian fighter in the Rogue River War. In June of 1948, the compiler had some interesting correspondence about early post offices in this area with R. F. Lewman, an old time resident of the vicinity. Mr. Lewman wrote that Williamsburg was in the north part of the northeast quarter of section 26, township 38 south, range 5 west. Mr. Lewman says that at one time there were several hundred people in Williamsburg. The place was on a slight rise of ground at a point about three miles southwest of Provolt and about three miles northeast of the community presently called Williams. Williamsburg was a little to the east of the present highway from Grants Pass to Williams, but not much. Williamsburg post office was established November 16, 1860, with P. C. Wood first and only postmaster. The office was discontinued July 5, 1861. The compiler has been informed that there are a very few remains of the old post office structure, in fact just a little of the roof. The post offices called Williams Creek in Jackson County and Williams in Josephine County were also named for the stream and for Captain Williams, although they were not all in the same place.

WILLIAMSON MOUNTAIN, Deschutes County. Williamson Mountain, elevation about 6300 feet, is just west of Lava Lake and near the summit of the Cascade Range. It was named for Lieutenant R. S. Williamson for whom Williamson River was named. See under that heading. Williamson and Lieutenant P. H. Sheridan, attached to the Pacific Railroad Surveys, were in this part of central Oregon in the latter part of August, 1855, and Williamson Mountain was named to commemorate the event. The mountain was formerly known as Leloo Mountain. Leloo is the Chinook jargon word for wolf, derived from the French le loup. The name Williamson Mountain was adopted by the USBGN on March 4, 1931.

WILLIAMSON RIVER, Klamath County. Williamson River drains a large part of the Klamath Indian Reservation, and its enlargement forms Klamath Marsh. It empties into Upper Klamath Lake. The Klamath Indian name for the river was koke, and this word was generally used alone in referring to Williamson, Sprague, Lost and Klamath rivers, because of their importance. Sometimes the Williamson River was called Ya-aga-Koke, ya-aga being the word for willow trees not far from the mouth of the stream. This name was generally applied to that locality only. Lieutenant Robert Stockton Williamson explored parts of central Oregon for the Pacific Railroad Surveys in 1855, and Williamson River was named in his honor. He was the first man to determine with reasonable accuracy the height of Mount Hood, which he did in 1867. Fremont's party fought the Klamath Indians on this stream on May 12, 1846, and Fremont named it Torrey River for his friend Professor John Torrey, the botanist. See Fremont's Memoirs of My Life, pages 493-5. The battleground was up stream from the former highway crossing, probably near the old Indian trail ford. WillITS RIDGE, Jackson County. Willits Ridge is in the north part of the county a little southeast of Persist and about six miles airline west of Prospect. The ridge took its name from William W. Willits who in 1884 settled on a homestead at the place later called Persist. For a brief mention of Mr. and Mrs. Willits see under PERSIST.

WILLOUGHBY, Jefferson County. Willoughby post office was estab