Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 22.djvu/103



ORIGIN OF THE NAME OREGON 93

It is well to get clearly in mind the chronological sequence of Jonathan Carver's book and the documents referred to and reproduced herewith. Captain Carver's "Travels Through the Interior Parts of North America", which has had such a re- markable vogue in literature and contains our first known mention of the name OREGON, was published in London in the year 1778, from manuscript finally prepared just previous to publication but based upon "journals and charts" (to use Carver's own words) claimed to have been made during his journey to the West in 1766-67, and while at Mackinac, in the fall of 1767. A proposal or petition by Major Rogers to the King's Privy Council containing the name Ouragon bears date in August, 1765; and a similar proposal by Major Rogers containing the name Ourigan bears date in February, 1772. A petition by Captain Carver to the King's Privy Council, show- ing the original association of Carver with Major Rogers for the purpose of Western exploration, was acted upon in May, 1769; and a later petition by Captain Carver, which shows that the journals and charts aforesaid had been and then still were deposited with the Board of Trade, London, bears date in November, 1773. Not only did Major Rogers put into writing the name Ouragon during the year before he engaged Captain Carver to undertake a Western journey but none of the several petitions (as far as yet examined) by Captain Carver contain the name Oregon, although mentioning other localities he visited in the West.

Our special interest is in Major Rogers' knowledge of the geography of the interior parts of North America. His first visit to the Great I^akes was in the Fall of 1760. After the capture of Montreal in September of that year Gen. Jeffrey Amherst, then commanding the British forces in America, detailed him with about two hundred men to accept the sur- render of the various French military posts as far west as Mackinac in Michigan. This was a duty quite suited to him and it was performed with energy and dispatch, for he was back at headquarters in New York City on the 14th of Feb-