Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 1.djvu/179

Rh undesirable. In another place Sancho says: "I would not have him marjoram (oregano), for covetousness bursts the bag, and the covetous governor does ungoverned justice." Here the word is used in the sense of "eager for gain."

Others have professed or proposed to derive the name of Oregon from the Spanish word "oreja," the ear supposing that the Spaniards noted the big ears of the native Indians and named the country from the circumstance. But the Spaniards themselves have left no record of the kind; nor has it been noted, so far as we are aware, that the ears of our Indians were remarkably large. The word "orejon" is nearer our form; it signifies "slice of dried apple," we may suppose from its resemblance to the form of the ear. Many years ago Archbishop Blanchet, of Oregon, while in Peru, noted a peculiar use of this word "orejon" in that country, which he ingeniously conjectured might throw some light on the origin of the name of Oregon.

But it is unnecessary to formulate any fanciful theory. The name of Oregon first appears in Carver's book of "Travels" in the Upper Mississippi region in 1766-67. Did he invent the name? Probably. Did he get it from the Indians? Possibly something like it. But it never has been discovered among the Indians of that country since Carver's time, nor anything like it. There remains a possible supposition that French travelers who had passed through that country some years before, and had proceeded on their westward journey far toward the Rocky Mountains, and then returned, had been making inquiries among the Indians as to the great western river that all geographers had postulated, and had spoken a word that the Indians had tried to imitate possibly "Aragon" knowing that the Spaniards had explored the western coasts, and intimating that the country by