Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 26.djvu/428

 routes along the canyon. The total descent from the pass at the head of Canyon Creek to Canyonville is nearly 1300 feet, most of which occurs at the southern part of the canyon.

Canyonville was for many years known as North Canyonville, the post office having been established with that name July 6, 1852, with John T. Boyl, postmaster. Apparently there was a small settlement further south that was known as South Canyonville, but this was not a post office. The post office name was changed to Canyonville June 1, 1892. Canyon Creek is erroneously supposed by many to be Cow Creek. The Pacific Highway does not follow up the canyon of Cow Creek although it does traverse that stream through a wide valley east of Glendale. The pass at the head of Canyon Creek is about 2025 feet in elevation. Canyonville has an elevation of 747 feet. Those who have visited this part of the state will realize that Canyon Creek and Canyonville are appropriate names.

. The first exploration of the Oregon country by white people was by the sea, and on account of their presumed ease of identification, capes and promontories were sought after and named by the early navigators. Cape Blanco was the first geographic feature of the state to be named by a white man, although it is not now certain what feature was originally so identified, and for a period of nearly 200 years explorers carried on the work of naming the headlands of Oregon before the interior was touched upon.

The history of the naming of Oregon capes is therefore worthy of study, particularly in view of the fact that uncertainty exists as to what some of the early navigators saw and named on their charts. In order that the matter may be best understood, it is necessary to have a table of latitudes, which is shown below. This table gives the positions north of the equator of the important