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 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 ...

. The board submits its recommendations to 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 ...

for approval. In 1959, administrative responsibility for the board was transferred from the state government to the

Oregon Historical Society The Oregon Historical Society (OHS) 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, preser ...

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. Vaughan, Champ C.
"Oregon Geographic Names Board"
''Oregon Blue Book'', Oregon State Archives, Office of the Oregon Secretary of State, August 28, 2009. Payne, Roger L.
"Oregon Geographic Names"
Oregon Historical Society, Portland, Oregon, 2008. Vaughan, Champ Clark

''Oregon Historical Quarterly'' (Volume 109, Number 3), Portland, Oregon, Fall 2008.

History

In 1890, President

Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 23rd president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia–a grandson of the ninth pr ...

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 or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...

, map makers, and

scientists A scientist is a person who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosophica ...

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 Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

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 The Antarctic ( or , American English also or ; commonly ) is a polar region around Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica, the Kerguelen Plateau and other ...

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. Frustration Falls

In October 1908, Governor Chamberlain appointed

William Gladstone Steel William Gladstone Steel (September 7, 1854 – October 21, 1934) was an American journalist who was known for campaigning for 17 years for the United States Congress to designate Crater Lake as a National Park. Steel is from Ohio, and worked in th ...

, 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 Mount McLoughlin is a dormant steep-sided stratovolcano, or composite volcano, in the Cascade Range of southern Oregon and within the United States Sky Lakes Wilderness. It is one of the volcanic peaks in the Cascade Volcanic Arc, within the Hi ...

in honor of Doctor

John McLoughlin John McLoughlin, baptized Jean-Baptiste McLoughlin, (October 19, 1784 – September 3, 1857) was a French-Canadian, later American, Chief Factor and Superintendent of the Columbia District of the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Vancouver fro ...

, head of

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...

in the

Oregon Country Oregon Country was a large region of the Pacific Northwest of North America that was subject to a long dispute between the United Kingdom and the United States in the early 19th century. The area, which had been created by the Treaty of 1818, co ...

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 is an American national park located in southern Oregon. Established in 1902, Crater Lake is the fifth-oldest national park in the United States and the only national park in Oregon. The park encompasses the caldera of ...

, 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 (May 20, 1873 – August 22, 1960) was an American politician, a Democrat, who served most notably as the 14th Governor of Oregon. He was called "Os West" by Oregon writer Stewart Holbrook, who described him as "by all odds the mo ...

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 ''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 ...

'' 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 Mark Odom Hatfield (July 12, 1922 – August 7, 2011) 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 Appropr ...

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 The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs is a recognized Native American tribe made of three tribes who put together a confederation. They live on and govern the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in the U.S. state of Oregon. Tribes The confederat ...

persuaded the

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 Ho ...

to pass a law requiring that many place names including the word ''

squaw The English word ''squaw'' is an ethnic and sexual slur, historically used for Indigenous North American women. Contemporary use of the term, especially by non-Natives, is considered derogatory, misogynist, and racist.King, C. Richard,De/Scri ...

'' 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, 2003–2010 *Sharon Nesbit, 2010–present

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

Oregon Blue Book - Oregon Geographic Names BoardOregon Historical Society - Oregon Geographic Names Board
Geography of Oregon Defunct state agencies of Oregon Organizations based in Portland, Oregon 1908 establishments in Oregon Geographical naming agencies