Jonathan Walpole/The Oregonian

What to call a river?

Oregon’s rivers are an integral part of our culture, and the names have become enmeshed in our society as well. But what do they mean? White explorers and trappers gave our places names, today reflecting both a rugged lifestyle of the time and a desire to honor their cultures and heroes. Today, however, it all represents Oregon.

--Jamie Hale | @HaleJamesB

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

*Reference

Just a note: To compile this list, I used the MacArthurs’ “Oregon Geographic Names,” sixth edition. A seventh edition has since been released, but this is the copy I have handy. I didn’t include every Oregon river here, but opted for the biggest and the ones with more interesting histories.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Alsea River

Alsea is thought to come from Alsi, the name of a Yakonan tribe that lived at the mouth of the river. Lewis and Clark recorded it as Ulseah, while a later explorer wrote Alseya. Regardless, the original pronunciation was three syllables, not two as is used today.

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Courtesy of Bureau of Land Management

Burnt River

There are two theories on Burnt River's name: One that it was named for burned timber along the shores, and another that it came from rocks that appeared to be burned at the lower reaches of the river.

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AP Photo/Don Ryan, File

Columbia River

The massive river was named for the Columbia Rediviva, the first modern ship to enter the rugged and elusive mouth of the river on the Pacific Ocean, sailed in by American Captain Robert Gray on May 11, 1792.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Crooked River

Fur traders in the early days of exploration named the Crooked River for its crooked nature, first drawn onto a widely-distributed map in 1824.

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Courtesy of the U.S. Forest Service

Deschutes River

French fur traders called the central Oregon river Riviere des Chutes, meaning "river of the falls" for the waterfall near where it fed into the Columbia River – the now-flooded Celilo Falls.

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Katy Muldoon/The Oregonian

Donner und Blitzen River

The Harney County stream was named by troops travelling with Col. George B. Currey during the Snake War of 1864, who crossed it during heavy thunder and lightening – translated in German to Donner und Blitzen.

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Mark Graves/The Oregonian

Fifteenmile Creek

Flowing to the Columbia River near Mount Hood, Fifteenmile Creek (which is 54 miles long) was named for a road that crossed it 15 miles from The Dalles. The road also crossed Fivemile Creek and Eightmile Creek.

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Jonathan Walpole/The Oregonian

Grande Ronde River

French-Canadian fur trappers named the eastern Oregon river Grande Ronde, which can be taken to mean a big, beautiful valley around the river. The name was given to the river, surrounding valley and nearby La Grande.

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Terry Richard/The Oregonian

Illinois River

The Althouse brothers, who first discovered gold on the river in the 1840s, named the river for their home state of Illinois, from which they emigrated. They also mined on Althouse Creek.

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Jamie Francis/The Oregonian

Imnaha River

The Wallowa County river was documented in 1814 by William Clark, who called it Innahar. In 1927, a county historian said "Imna" was the name of a local sub-chief, and that "ha" was added to indicate territory ruled by a chief – thus "Imnaha" was the land ruled over by Imna.

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Terry Richard/The Oregonian

John Day River

Like the town, the John Day River was named for John Day, a member of the overland party organized by John Jacob Astor to establish a fur trading post at Astoria. He and Ramsay Crooks fell behind the main party, and were attacked near where the river empties into the Columbia.

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Zach Urness/Special to the Oregonian

Klamath River

The name Klamath – used for the county, city and other features in southern Oregon – evolved from "Clammite," a word apparently used by local tribes to describe the land.

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Terry Richard/The Oregonian

Long Tom River

The Eugene-area river that flows through the Oregon Country Fair is an imitation of a tribal name, lung-tum-ler. Over the years it was also called "Sam Tomeleaf," "Lamitambuff," "Longtabuff" and "Lumtumbuff."

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Terry Richard/The Oregonian

Malheur River

The Malheur River was originally called River au Malheur, or "unfortunate river," by a group of French-Canadian fur trappers who lost a cache of property and furs hidden there to natives who found the items.

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Terry Richard/The Oregonian

McKenzie River

The Lane County river was named for Donald McKenzie, a member of Astor's Pacific Fur Company who explored the Willamette Valley in 1812. McKenzie later made a fortune in the fur trade and retired to New York.

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Jamie Francis/The Oregonian

Metolius River

The first written account of the Metolius River was spelled "Mpto-ly-as" by U.S. Army officers, a word used by local tribes to mean "white fish" for lighter colored salmon. It was alternately spelled "Metoluis" and "Matoles."

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Courtesy of the Bureau of Land Management

Nestucca River

There doesn't appear to be any English translation of Nestucca – a tribal word used for the river, a point on the banks or for a tribe living nearby. An 1841 account by J.H. Frost called the area "Nea-Stocka."

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Courtesy of the Bureau of Land Management

Owyhee River

The eastern Oregon river was named in honor of two Hawaiian pioneers killed in the area in 1819. It was first called The Sandwich Island River, then Owyhee – both early names for Hawaii.

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Wikimedia Commons

Powder River

According to one account the Powder River was named for two Chinook jargon words, polallie illahe, meaning a sandy or powdery ground. Lewis and Clark mapped it as the "Port-pel-lah River."

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Molly Harbarger/The Oregonian

Pudding River

The tributary of the Willamette River was originally called Hons-u-cha-chac, but renamed by a group of French pioneers who during a bout of bad weather ate blood pudding made from an elk they shot, dubbing the spot Riviere de Boudin, or Pudding River.

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Terry Richard/The Oregonian

Rogue River

The first white men in the area, who were French, ran into trouble with tribes along the river, calling it La Coquines, translated as The Rogues.

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Sam Caravana/The Oregonian

Sandy River

Capt. Vancouver's expedition originally called it the Barings River, but Lewis and Clark renamed it the Quicksand River after noticing how much sand the shallow river dispensed. Over the years, "Quicksand" was shortened to "Sandy."

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Santiam River

The Willamette Valley river was named for the Santiam Indians, a Kalapooian tribe living nearby.

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Ross William Hamilton/The Oregonian

Siuslaw River

The word Siuslaw was a local tribal name, first noted by Lewis and Clark as Shiastuckle. It was also recorded by later white explorers as Saoustla, Saliutla and Saiustla.

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Terry Richard/The Oregonian

Smith River

The tributary of the Umpqua River was named for Jedediah Strong Smith, a fur trader and explorer whose party camped close to the river in 1828, where they were attacked by a local tribe. Four men, including Smith, escaped.

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Terry Richard/The Oregonian

Snake River

The big river that runs through eastern Oregon and beyond is named for the Snake Indians (the Shoshone and Paiute tribes), a group named in the trading days for their necessity of digging at the barren land for food.

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Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian

Sprague River

White settlers named the southern Oregon river for Capt. F.B. Sprague, commander of Fort Klamath and a participant during the Snake and Paiute Indian wars. Tribes called the river Plai or Plaikni Koke to mean a stream that came from the higher country.

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David~O/Flickr

Succor Creek

An obscure story tells of weary travelers saved by the fresh water of the eastern Oregon creek, naming it Socorro, meaning aid or help. For decades it was called Sucker River, supposedly for the prevalence of sucker fish or for miners played for suckers, though neither story has merit.

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Wikimedia Commons

Sycan River

Both the Sycan River and Sycan Marsh are named for a combination of Klamath tribal words saiga and keni, which mean a level, grassy place. The river was named by association with the marsh.

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Steve Gibbons

Tualatin River

Early pioneer recorded the tribal word meaning "lazy or sluggish," to describe the slow flow of the river, or "land without trees." It was earlier noted as Twha-la-ti, Faladin and Nefalatine.

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Wikimedia Commons

Umatilla River

Lewis and Clark first recorded the tribal name, though there's no known interpretation. It was originally recorded as Youmalolam and later as You-matella, Umatallow, Utalla, Ewmitilly, Eu-o-tal-la, Umatilah and Umatella.

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Terry Richard/The Oregonian

Umpqua River

Umpqua was the tribal name for the area, eventually used by white pioneers for both the tribe and the river. Alternate spellings were Umptqua, Umquah and Umkwa.

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Sam Caravana/The Oregonian

Willamette River

The largest river entirely within Oregon was named for a tribal word thought to mean "spill water" for the waterfall near Oregon City. A controversy on the spelling raged for years, as locals debated Willamette, Wallamette and Wallamet.

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Terry Richard/The Oregonian

Williamson River

White settlers named the Klamath County river after Lt. Robert Stockton Willamson, an explorer of central Oregon. Capt. John C. Fremont alternately called it the Torrey River for botanist and friend John Torrey, while local tribes called it Ya-aga-Koke.

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Wikimedia Commons

Youngs River

Lt. William Robert Broughton, of Capt. George Vancouver's expedition, named Youngs Bay and Youngs River after Sir George Young of the British navy. Lewis and Clark called the bay Meriwether, for Meriwether Lewis, but it didn't stick.

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Oregonian Archives

...More history

Itching for more history? Find out the stories behind the names of Oregon's 36 counties, the Cascade Mountains and the performance venues of Portland. And check out oregonlive.com/history for regular stories from our past.

--Jamie Hale | jhale@oregonian.com