Kamela is an
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...
in
Union County,
Oregon
Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
, United States.
[(no longer supported)] It is located west of
Interstate 84 about 20 miles northwest of
La Grande.
There are several stories about how the community got its name.
Among the explanations are that it was made up by combining the initials of the civil engineers working on the local railroad construction, or that it is the
Cayuse word for "tree".
[ Another informant stated that when the locale was a ]stagecoach
A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...
station, it was called "Summit Station", but when the Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...
was built through the area, a different name was needed.[ Local doctor W. C. McKay was asked to supply a number of names of Native American origin to be used for various stations along the line.][ ''Kamela'' was selected from this list. According to an interpreter at the Umatilla Agency, the word meant "]tamarack
''Larix laricina'', commonly known as the tamarack, hackmatack, eastern larch, black larch, red larch, or American larch, is a species of larch native to Canada, from eastern Yukon and Inuvik, Northwest Territories east to Newfoundland, and als ...
" in the Nez Perce
The Nez Percé (; autonym in Nez Perce language: , meaning "we, the people") are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who are presumed to have lived on the Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest region for at least 11,500 years.Ames, K ...
language. However, L. C. McKay, the daughter of Dr. McKay, was sure the word meant "summit".[ Another station on the line, Mikecha, was made up of the names of three civil engineers—Mink, Kennedy, and Chalk—and the compiler of '']Oregon Geographic Names
''Oregon Geographic Names'' is a compilation of the origin and meaning of place names in the U.S. state of Oregon, published by the Oregon Historical Society. The book was originally published in 1928. It was compiled and edited by Lewis A. McArth ...
'' believed that this name was confused with Kamela.[ Kamela post office ran from 1887 to 1949.][
Kamela is the highest railroad pass in the Blue Mountains, with an elevation of .][ In 1940 Kamela had a population of 27.][ At one time the community had a school.]train robberies
In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often know ...
began in Kamela in 1914.
References
External links
Images of Kamela
from Flickr
{{authority control
Unincorporated communities in Union County, Oregon
1887 establishments in Oregon
Populated places established in 1887
Unincorporated communities in Oregon
Oregon placenames of Native American origin