Page:Oregon Geographic Names, third edition.djvu/72



christened Little Butte Creek. The name Butte Creek when applied to Big Butte Creek is incorrect. Big CANYON CREEK, Wallowa County. This stream flows into Wallowa River just east of Minam. It has been shown with various names on older maps, including Bear Creek, Deep Canyon Creek, Little Minam Creek and Sheep Creek. The USBGN has officially named it Big Canyon Creek.

BIG CREEK, Clatsop County. Big Creek has been known by that name for many years, and yet at one time it must have had another name. Old maps show it as Tillasana Creek, changed later to Tilly Ann Creek and even Tilly Jane Creek. The writer has been unable to determine where these older names originated. H. S. Lyman in OHQ, volume I, number 4, says that the Indian name for the locality near Knappa was Tle-las-qua, which may have been the same as Tillasana. Big EDDY, Wasco County. Big Eddy is at the western end of the obstructions in the Columbia River at The Dalles. It was at this point that travelers and freight began the portage around these obstructions. As far as the writer can determine the name was not used in the days of exploration but probably came into use at the time of gold discoveries in eastern Oregon just after 1860.

BIG HOLE, Lake County. Big Hole is a sunken spot in the northwest part of the county, with an area of about a quarter of a square mile. It is roughly circular, and its bottom is about three hundred feet below the surrounding land level. The name well describes it. Big Hole Butte lies just to the northeast. Big MEADOWS, Curry County. This descriptive name for an area in the northeast part of Curry County has been in use since the days of the Rogue River Indian War of 1855-56. Big Meadows are near the southeast corner of township 32 south, range 10 west, about two miles airline north of Rogue River. Fort Lamerick was established in this locality May 1, 1865. According to L. J. Cooper, Forest Service ranger at Galice, this stockade was near the quarter-corner between sections 1 and 2, township 33 south, range 10 west. The Big Meadows referred to above are not the same as Big Meadows at the Big Bend of Rogue River near Illahe, where there was a sharp engagement with the Indians at the end of May, 1856. BiG Noise CREEK, Clatsop County. This stream is about 20 miles east of Astoria. It was named in early days because of the fact that there was a sluice gate near its mouth used to control the water for floating logs. This sluice gate made an excessive noise and the stream was named on that account.

BIG PRAIRIE, Lane County. Big Prairie post office was probably the first post office in the upper valley of Middle Fork Willamette River. This ofhce was established July 14, 1873, with Addison Black first postmaster. The office operated until December 10, 1879, with one intermission. The name was descriptive of the locality. Old maps show Big Prairie at or near the present locality of Westfir. The modern name for the plateau northeast of Westfir is High Prairie, and that was probably the reason for the name of the post office. The compiler does not know if the post office Big Prairie was near the Middle Fork or up on the plateau. Biggs, Sherman County. Biggs is the junction of the main line of the Union Pacific Railroad and the branch south into Sherman County. It was