The Little River is a tributary of the
Coast Fork Willamette River in the
U.S. state of
Oregon. Rising along the
Calapooya Divide
The Calapooya Mountains are a mountain range in Lane and Douglas counties of southwestern Oregon in the United States. The range runs for approximately west from the Cascade Range between Eugene on the north and Roseburg on the south.
Geology ...
near the border between
Lane and
Douglas
Douglas may refer to:
People
* Douglas (given name)
* Douglas (surname)
Animals
*Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking
*Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil W ...
counties, it flows generally west-northwest to meet the
Big River. The combined Big and Little rivers form the Coast Fork near Black Butte.
The butte is a dark-colored mountain, the site of a former mine, and the site of a former post office.
On older maps, Little River appears as a tributary of
Garoutte Creek
Garoutte Creek is a tributary of the Little River in the U.S. state of Oregon. Rising along the Calapooya Divide near the border between Lane and Douglas counties, it flows generally northeast to meet the larger stream near Black Butte. The butte ...
, also known as Saroutte Creek.
However, in 1988 the
United States Board on Geographic Names
The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geographic names throughout the federal governm ...
renamed the lower reach of Garoutte Creek so that it became part of Little River. The upper reach of Garoutte Creek thus became a tributary of Little River.
Named tributaries of Little River from source to
mouth
In animal anatomy, the mouth, also known as the oral cavity, or in Latin cavum oris, is the opening through which many animals take in food and issue vocal sounds. It is also the cavity lying at the upper end of the alimentary canal, bounded on ...
are Weyerhaeuser Creek, which enters from the right; Cinnabar Creek, left; Trail Creek, right; Garoutte and Blood creeks, left; and Dennis Creek, right.
Post office
The Black Butte Mine, developed by S. P. Garoutte in the 1890s, led to the establishment of a post office at Black Butte. William Harris was the first postmaster, and the office, established in 1898, was known by his last name, ''Harris''. The name was changed in 1901 to
Blackbutte. It operated under that name until permanently closing in 1957.
Pollution
In the 21st century, the former mine and the area around it have become a
Superfund site
Superfund sites are polluted locations in the United States requiring a long-term response to clean up hazardous material contaminations. They were designated under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERC ...
. The
Environmental Protection Agency
A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...
is concerned about
methylmercury
Methylmercury (sometimes methyl mercury) is an organometallic cation with the formula . It is the simplest organomercury compound. Methylmercury is extremely toxic, and its derivatives are the major source of organic mercury for humans. It is a ...
contamination of streams including Garoutte Creek, the Little River, and the Coast Fork, as well as the Cottage Grove Reservoir on the Coast Fork. During its heyday, the mine was the second-largest mercury producer in Oregon.
From 1900 to 1957, it yielded a total of 16,904 flasks of elemental
mercury
Mercury commonly refers to:
* Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun
* Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg
* Mercury (mythology), a Roman god
Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to:
Companies
* Merc ...
; equivalent to about .
See also
*
List of rivers of Oregon
References
Rivers of Lane County, Oregon
Rivers of Oregon
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