Jackieinpdx's Blog

Creeks seem to be a place of hazard for both major and minor disaster.

Goose Creek, Lane County

About 1870 Mr. and Mrs. Sims were on the way to a Thanksgiving dinner with Uncle George Frissel. Mrs. Sims had her baby in one arm and a dressed goose in the other. The horse jumped suddenly and the goose fell in the creek. Thank God it wasn’t the baby!

Coffepot Creek, Lane County

A coffeepot fell out of an immigrant wagon and was run over by a wheel and ruined here.

Egg Creek, Linn County

Ray Talbert, a member of a trail crew was insulted by one Anderson, another crew member, and Talbert retaliated by hitting Anderson with a hard boiled egg. Peeled or unpeeled is the question? Not as slimy as a raw egg.

Corset Creek, Linn County

A corset was found and wrapped around a tree trunk waiting and waiting to be claimed.

Compass Creek, Hood River County

Van Embree lost his compass while building the Timberline Trail crossing

Carcus Creek, Columbia County

Local residents found a dead horse on its bank

Hominy Creek, Wallowa County

Alex Warnock spilled a kettle of hominy there.

Kettle Creek, Wallowa County

A packhorse bucked his pack off and jammed the kettle beyond use. The kettle lay in the water for many years afterward.

Bruce Bones Creek, Curry County

In 1950 a crew was surveying for the new alignment of US 101. Bruce Schilling got lost and his buddies said they would find his parched bones next spring. Bruce did find his way back without mishap however.

Dog Creek, Douglas County

Perry Wright, an early settler, had to rescue his two dogs from drowning in this creek, with considerable difficulty.

Deadman Creek, Wallowa County

James Dale, a sheepherder for Aaron Wade, said he might just as well be dead as to be in such a lonesome place (1890).

Butcher Knife Creek, Wallowa County

An early pioneer lost a butcher knife here.

TNT Creek, Lane County

A pack mule bucked off a box of TNT at this creek when the trail was being built.

Tiger Creek, Umatilla County

A Swede, while looking for timber, spotted a ‘tiger’ here

Lucky Creek, Curry County

A backfire was started to stop the great Chetco 30,000 acre fire. The fire was held fast at this creek.

Blowout Creek, Wallowa County

Anyone camping near the creek had trouble getting a fire started because the wind blew so hard

Shotpouch Creek, Benton and Lincoln Counties

George Knowlton lost his shotpouch near here

Whiskey Creek, Tillamook County

Two couples traveling together had to spend the night at this stream. While the wives made camp, the men took the whiskey keg to cool in the creek. The cooling apparently required continuous supervision and the wives were unable to get the men to perform routine chores such as gathering firewood. The matter was resolved when the ladies dumped the whiskey in the creek and broke up the keg for the campfire

Whisky Creek, Jackson County

An enterprising pioneer bootlegger planned to take a load of whiskey from Jacksonville over the mountain to Fort Klamath. Snow impeded his progress and he buried his load for the winter. Someone discovered his cache and the soldiers of Fort Klamath gradually cleaned out his stock so that when he returned in the spring there was nothing left.

Whisky Creek, Wallowa County

In the summer of 1872, traders brought a supply of whisky by pack train from Walla Walla and began to barter the firewater to the local Indians for goods. Local residents became alarmed and went to the camp, broke up the kegs and dumped the whiskey into the stream.

Bluebucket Creek, Grant and Harney Counties

Members of the Meek party of 1845 picked up yellow pebbles and placed them in a blue bucket that hung under one of the wagons. The wooden bucket was either lost or abandoned later. It was not until some time had elapsed that the emigrants realized that they had possibly found gold. Err duh!

Filed under: Oregon | Tagged: "creek names", Oregon |