Page:Oregon Geographic Names, third edition.djvu/681



CUESTER, Douglas Colition of San Francisco Oregon, volume 11, tributary of Fall Creek, but Winberry post office was discontinued in 1933.

WINCHESTER, Douglas County. This place, which was founded by the Umpqua exploring expedition of San Francisco in 1850, was laid out by Addison R. Flint. See Bancroft's History of Oregon, volume II, page 183. For a number of years it was the largest settlement in the Umpqua Valley. It was the county seat until 1854, when Roseburg won that distinction. Winchester post office was established November 3, 1851, with A. R. Flint first postmaster. There were two Winchesters in the expedition, Heman and John. The party sailed from San Francisco on July 5, 1850. Heman Winchester was captain. The expedition was headed for Klamath River, but actually first landed at Rogue River, and later established a settlement at the mouth of Umpqua River. Nathan Scholfield, a member of the party, kept a diary and used the form Heman Winchester, which is also the form used by Bancroft, and it may be assumed that the spelling Herman is wrong. The compiler has been unable to substantiate stories to the effect that Winchester was named for the younger brother John. Attention is called to the fact that there is also a discrepancy in the name of the schooner used by the party, various accounts giving William Roberts and Samuel Roberts. George Davidson of the U. S. Coast Survey, authority on Pacific Coast marine history, used the name Samuel Roberts, Bancroft uses that form, and Samuel Roberts appears in Lewis & Dryden's Marine History of the Pacific Northwest, which seems conclusive. Nathan Scholfield's diary is in the State Library at Salem. His son, Socrates Scholfield, wrote a summary of this diary, which was published in OHQ, volume XVII, page 341.

WINCHESTER BAY, Douglas County. Winchester Bay is a town on Winchester Bay on the Umpqua River, near its mouth. Winchester Creek flows into Winchester Bay. These geographic features were all named for Heman Winchester, a member of the expedition that came to Oregon from San Francisco in 1850 and established itself on Umpqua River. See under WINCHESTER.

WINCHESTER CREEK, Coos County. Winchester Creek, which flows into South Slough, drains a considerable area southeast of Cape Arago. Its geography may be found on the USGS topographic atlas sheets for the Empire and Bandon quadrangles. It was named for T. D. Winchester, a pioneer who tried to develop a logging and milling project at the head of the slough. See Dodge's Pioneer History of Coos and Curry Counties, page 16.

WINCHESTER LAKE, Lane County. Winchester Lake is northwest of Waldo Lake. Mrs. Lina A. Flock of Oakridge wrote the compiler in July, 1927: "I think Winchester Lake was named for a gun of that make that was found near the lake. It was lost by some prospector who was killed or lost near there."

WINCHUCK RIVER, Curry County. F. S. Moore, in Curry County Reporter, December 16, 1926, says this stream was called by the Indians Hasonta, for the tribe living nearby. Moore has a theory that the mod. ern name is derived from the Chinook jargon, wind chuck, or windy water. The compiler has been unable to identify the Hasonta Indians. Old maps show Windchuck, but modern use is generally Winchuck River, which seems to be the accepted local style. George Davidson in