Oregon Geographic Names Board
Encyclopedia
The Oregon Geographic Names Board (originally known as the Oregon Geographic Board) is responsible for recommending names for geographic features in the state of Oregon
. The board submits its recommendations to the United States Board on Geographic Names
for approval. In 1959, administrative responsibility for the board was transferred from the state government to the Oregon Historical Society
.
established the United States Board on Geographic Names. The board was given responsibility for settling questions regarding the names of geographic features within the United States. The board was needed because inconsistencies in place names were causing serious problems for surveyors
, map makers
, and scientists who required uniform geographic nomenclature. This problem was especially acute in the western states and territories where explorers, soldiers, miners, and settlers all had a hand in naming geographic features in addition to the names given to features by Native Americans
. In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt
expanded the board's charter to include responsibility for approving all new place names and name changes on behalf of the U.S. government. In addition, the board was specifically directed to standardize and document geographic names of all domestic, foreign, or undersea features. Today, Antarctic
names are within the U.S. board's jurisdiction as well.
The Oregon Geographic Board was established by Governor George Chamberlain in an executive order signed on October 1, 1908. It was created to assist the United States Board on Geographic Names in naming geographic features within the state of Oregon. In 1911, the U.S. Board formally recognized the Oregon Board as its official advisory body for Oregon geographic names.
In October 1908, Governor Chamberlain appointed William Gladstone Steel
, Doctor Joseph Schafer, and John B. Horner to the board. In December of that year, he added George H. Himes and Major Thomas L. "Lee" Moorhouse
to the board. The members selected Steel, a well known outdoorsman and advocate for national parks, as the board's first president. On December 26, 1908, the Oregon Geographic Board took its first action in recommending that Mount Pitt in Jackson County be changed to Mount McLoughlin
in honor of Doctor John McLoughlin
, head of Hudson's Bay Company
in the Oregon Country
from 1825 until 1846.
After Steel left the board in 1911 to devote his time to the development of Crater Lake National Park
, the board elected George H. Himes as its president, a position he held until his death in 1940. Himes was one of Oregon's most respected historians and also a founder of the Oregon Historical Society, as well as museum curator from 1915 to 1940.
In 1914, Governor Oswald West
appointed Lewis A. "Tam" McArthur
to the board. McArthur was a Pacific Power and Light Company
executive with a passion for geography and history. In 1916, he was selected board secretary, a position he held until 1949. McArthur's position on the board allowed him to study journals of early explorers, read pioneer diaries, browse newspaper archives, research government documents, and thoroughly reviewed every book on Oregon history he could find. He also conducted personal interviews with living Oregon pioneers. The Oregon Historical Society published his research in eight issues of the Oregon Historical Quarterly in the early 1920s. In 1928, McArthur paid to have the first edition of Oregon Geographic Names
published. The book was quickly recognized as the authoritative source for information regarding the origins and history of Oregon place names. A second edition was published in 1944. The book's third edition was published in 1951, shortly after his death.
Another long-serving member of the Oregon Geographic Board was the well known newspaper journalist and science writer Phil Brogan
of Bend
. Brogan served as president of the board from 1947 to 1958 and then again from 1960 until 1968.
In 1959, Governor Mark Hatfield
transferred the administration of the Oregon Geographic Board from the state government to the Oregon Historical Society. As part of the reorganization, the name of the board was officially changed to the Oregon Geographic Names Board. The membership was also increased and the executive director of the Oregon Historical Society became the board's permanent secretary. The board secretary was also given responsibility for appointing new members to the board. The first board secretary under this arrangement was Thomas Vaughan, who served as permanent secretary from 1959 until 1989. Today, the board is still associated with the Oregon Historical Society, which maintains the board's records and provides limited administrative support.
In 2001, members of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs
persuaded the Oregon Legislative Assembly
to pass a law requiring that many place names including the word squaw
be changed.
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
. The board submits its recommendations to the United States Board on Geographic Names
United States Board on Geographic Names
The United States Board on Geographic Names is a United States federal body whose purpose is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geographic names throughout the U.S. government.-Overview:...
for approval. In 1959, administrative responsibility for the board was transferred from the state government to the Oregon Historical Society
Oregon Historical Society
The Oregon Historical Society is an organization that encourages and promotes the study and understanding of the history of the Oregon Country, within the broader context of U.S. history. Incorporated in 1898, the Society collects, preserves, and makes available materials of historical character...
.
Board responsibility
Today, the Oregon Geographic Names Board is responsible for recommending names for geographic features within the state of Oregon. It ensures standard geographic nomenclature is applied to Oregon place names and prevents name duplication. The board assists federal, state, and local governments by reviewing geographic name proposals. The board submits its recommendations to the United States Board on Geographic Names for approval.History
In 1890, President Benjamin HarrisonBenjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd President of the United States . Harrison, a grandson of President William Henry Harrison, was born in North Bend, Ohio, and moved to Indianapolis, Indiana at age 21, eventually becoming a prominent politician there...
established the United States Board on Geographic Names. The board was given responsibility for settling questions regarding the names of geographic features within the United States. The board was needed because inconsistencies in place names were causing serious problems for surveyors
Surveying
See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...
, map makers
Cartography
Cartography is the study and practice of making maps. Combining science, aesthetics, and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality can be modeled in ways that communicate spatial information effectively.The fundamental problems of traditional cartography are to:*Set the map's...
, and scientists who required uniform geographic nomenclature. This problem was especially acute in the western states and territories where explorers, soldiers, miners, and settlers all had a hand in naming geographic features in addition to the names given to features by Native Americans
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
. In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
expanded the board's charter to include responsibility for approving all new place names and name changes on behalf of the U.S. government. In addition, the board was specifically directed to standardize and document geographic names of all domestic, foreign, or undersea features. Today, Antarctic
Antarctic
The Antarctic is the region around the Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica and the ice shelves, waters and island territories in the Southern Ocean situated south of the Antarctic Convergence...
names are within the U.S. board's jurisdiction as well.
The Oregon Geographic Board was established by Governor George Chamberlain in an executive order signed on October 1, 1908. It was created to assist the United States Board on Geographic Names in naming geographic features within the state of Oregon. In 1911, the U.S. Board formally recognized the Oregon Board as its official advisory body for Oregon geographic names.
In October 1908, Governor Chamberlain appointed William Gladstone Steel
William Gladstone Steel
William Gladstone Steel , called the "father of Crater Lake", referring to the creation of Crater Lake National Park in Oregon, United States. A native of Ohio, he worked in the newspaper business before becoming a mail carrier...
, Doctor Joseph Schafer, and John B. Horner to the board. In December of that year, he added George H. Himes and Major Thomas L. "Lee" Moorhouse
Lee Moorhouse
Thomas Leander Moorhouse of Pendleton, Oregon, United States, was a photographer and an Indian Agent for the Umatilla Indian Reservation. From 1888 to 1916, he produced over 9,000 images documenting urban, rural, and Native American life in the Columbia Basin, and particularly Umatilla County,...
to the board. The members selected Steel, a well known outdoorsman and advocate for national parks, as the board's first president. On December 26, 1908, the Oregon Geographic Board took its first action in recommending that Mount Pitt in Jackson County be changed to Mount McLoughlin
Mount McLoughlin
Mount McLoughlin is a steep-sided lava cone built on top of a shield volcano in the Cascade Range of southern Oregon and within the Sky Lakes Wilderness area. It is one of the volcanic peaks in the Cascade Volcanic Arc. The mountain is north of Mount Shasta, south of Crater Lake, and west of Upper...
in honor of Doctor John McLoughlin
John McLoughlin
Dr. John McLoughlin, baptized Jean-Baptiste McLoughlin, was the Chief Factor of the Columbia Fur District of the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Vancouver. He was later known as the "Father of Oregon" for his role in assisting the American cause in the Oregon Country in the Pacific Northwest...
, head of Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
in the Oregon Country
Oregon Country
The Oregon Country was a predominantly American term referring to a disputed ownership region of the Pacific Northwest of North America. The region was occupied by British and French Canadian fur traders from before 1810, and American settlers from the mid-1830s, with its coastal areas north from...
from 1825 until 1846.
After Steel left the board in 1911 to devote his time to the development of Crater Lake National Park
Crater Lake National Park
Crater Lake National Park is a United States National Park located in southern Oregon. Established in 1902, Crater Lake National Park is the sixth oldest national park in the United States and the only one in the state of Oregon...
, the board elected George H. Himes as its president, a position he held until his death in 1940. Himes was one of Oregon's most respected historians and also a founder of the Oregon Historical Society, as well as museum curator from 1915 to 1940.
In 1914, Governor Oswald West
Oswald West
Oswald West was an American politician, a Democrat, who served most notably as the 14th Governor of Oregon. Called "Os West" by Oregon writer Stewart Holbrook, who described him as "by all odds the most brilliant governor Oregon ever had."- Early life and career :West was born in Ontario, Canada...
appointed Lewis A. "Tam" McArthur
Lewis A. McArthur
Lewis Ankeny McArthur , known as "Tam" McArthur, was an executive for Pacific Power and Light Company. He was also the secretary for the Oregon Geographic Board for many years and the author of Oregon Geographic Names. His book, now in its seventh edition, is a comprehensive source of information...
to the board. McArthur was a Pacific Power and Light Company
PacifiCorp
PacifiCorp is an electric power company in the northwestern United States.PacifiCorp has three primary subsidiaries:# Pacific Power is a regulated electric utility with service territory throughout Oregon, northern California, and southeastern Washington.# Rocky Mountain Power is a regulated...
executive with a passion for geography and history. In 1916, he was selected board secretary, a position he held until 1949. McArthur's position on the board allowed him to study journals of early explorers, read pioneer diaries, browse newspaper archives, research government documents, and thoroughly reviewed every book on Oregon history he could find. He also conducted personal interviews with living Oregon pioneers. The Oregon Historical Society published his research in eight issues of the Oregon Historical Quarterly in the early 1920s. In 1928, McArthur paid to have the first edition of Oregon Geographic Names
Oregon Geographic Names
Oregon Geographic Names is an authoritative compilation of the origin and meaning of place names in the U.S. state of Oregon. , the book is in its seventh edition and is compiled and edited by Lewis L. McArthur, who took over from his father, Lewis A. McArthur, as of the fourth edition...
published. The book was quickly recognized as the authoritative source for information regarding the origins and history of Oregon place names. A second edition was published in 1944. The book's third edition was published in 1951, shortly after his death.
Another long-serving member of the Oregon Geographic Board was the well known newspaper journalist and science writer Phil Brogan
Phil Brogan
Philip Francis Brogan was an Oregon journalist and author. He was a reporter, writer, and editor for the Bend Bulletin for 44 years, earning numerous awards for his work. He was also a well known historian, geologist, paleontologist, geographer, meteorologist, astronomer, and outdoorsman. He...
of Bend
Bend, Oregon
Bend is a city in and the county seat of Deschutes County, Oregon, United States, and the principal city of the Bend, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area. Bend is Central Oregon's largest city, and, despite its modest size, is the de facto metropolis of the region, owing to the low population...
. Brogan served as president of the board from 1947 to 1958 and then again from 1960 until 1968.
In 1959, Governor Mark Hatfield
Mark Hatfield
Mark Odom Hatfield was an American politician and educator from the state of Oregon. A Republican, he served for 30 years as a United States Senator from Oregon, and also as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee...
transferred the administration of the Oregon Geographic Board from the state government to the Oregon Historical Society. As part of the reorganization, the name of the board was officially changed to the Oregon Geographic Names Board. The membership was also increased and the executive director of the Oregon Historical Society became the board's permanent secretary. The board secretary was also given responsibility for appointing new members to the board. The first board secretary under this arrangement was Thomas Vaughan, who served as permanent secretary from 1959 until 1989. Today, the board is still associated with the Oregon Historical Society, which maintains the board's records and provides limited administrative support.
In 2001, members of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs
Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs
The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs is a federally recognized confederation of Native American Tribes who currently live on and govern the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in the U.S...
persuaded the Oregon Legislative Assembly
Oregon Legislative Assembly
The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper and lower house: the Senate, whose 30 members are elected to serve four-year terms; and the House of Representatives, with 60 members elected to...
to pass a law requiring that many place names including the word squaw
Squaw
Squaw is an English language loan-word, used as a noun or adjective, whose present meaning is an indigenous woman of North America. It is derived from the eastern Algonquian morpheme meaning 'woman' that appears in numerous Algonquian languages variously spelled squa, skwa, esqua, sqeh, skwe, que,...
be changed.
Membership
The Oregon Geographic Names Board has twenty-five members representing all geographic areas of the state. They are selected by the board secretary for their knowledge of Oregon geography and history. Board members are appointed to three-year terms and serve without compensation. The board members elect the board president and vice-president for two-year terms. The executive director of the Oregon Historical Society serves as the board's permanent secretary. In addition, the board is supported by advisers from state and federal land management and mapping agencies as well as the Oregon Historical Society.Board presidents
Members of the Oregon Geographic Names Board elect the board president. Since the board was established in 1908, these individuals have served as president:- William G. Steel, 1908–1911
- George H. Himes, 1911–1940
- Merle R. Chessman, 1940–1947
- Phil F. Brogan, 1947–1958
- Bernal Hug, 1958–1959
- Phil F. Brogan, 1960–1968
- Eric Allen, Jr., 1968–1973
- J. Herbert Stone, 1973–1980
- William Wessinger, 1980–1986
- Tom McAllister, 1986–1999
- Kathleen Beaufait, 1999–2003
- Champ C. Vaughan, 2003–present