Origin of Washington Geographic Names (Continued)

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ORIGIN OF WASHINGTON GEOGRAPHIC NAMES
[Continued from Volume XL, page 135]

Mentor, a former town three miles from Pataha in Garfield
County. It was at one time a candidate for the county seat. Known
first as Rafferty's Ranch, the town was later named Belfast and in
1881 the name was changed to Mentor in honor of President
Garfield's home town in Ohio. (History of Southeastern Washing-
ton, pages 504-505 and 549.)

Menzies Island, a former name of the island in the Columbia
River opposite Fort Vancouver, and on the Oregon side of the pres-
ent boundry. The name was an honor for Archibald Menzies,
surgeon and naturalist with the Vancouver Expedition, 1792. On
May 2, 1825, the botanist Douglas wrote : "Made a visit to Menzies
Island, in the Columbia River opposite the Hudson Bay Company's
establishment at Point Vancouver, seventy-five miles from Cape
Disappointment." (Journal of David Douglas, 1823-1827, page 115.)
Wilkes in 1841 charted it as "Barclay Island" (United States
Exploring Expedition, Hydrography, Volume XXIII., Atlas, chart
72). The United States Government now uses the name Hayden
Island (Coast and Geodetic Survey chart 6154.)

Mercer Island, along the Eastern shore of Lake Washington,
in King County. It was named in honor of Asa Shinn Mercer who
once owned land there. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, June 30, 1909).
By the Duwamish Indians the place was called "Klut-use." (J. A.
Costello, The Siwash.)

Meredith, a station three miles south of Kent, in King County.
It was named for some noted man or place in West Virginia by the
Puget Sound Electric Railway officials in 1905. (Postmaster at
Christopher, in Names MSS. Letter 73.)

MerrifiELD Cove, in Griffin Bay, San Juan Island, in San Juan
County. The name is in honor of Stafford Merrifield, an early
settler.

Mesa, a town on the Northern Pacific Railway in the central
part of Franklin County. The word in Spanish means "table-land."

Meskill, a town on the Northern Pacific Railway in the west
central part of Lews County. It was formerly called "Donahue"
or "Donahue Spur" in honor of Francis Donahue, of Chehalis, who
owned the land.

(203)

204 Bdtnond S. Meany

Metaune Fai<i,s, a town on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St.
Paul Railway in the south central part of Pend Oreille County.
The original town was across the Pend Oreille River and was named
by miners in the golden days of 1849 because they thought the
entire district was covered with minerals. The noise of the falls
in the river can be heard in the town which is some distance south of
the falls. (E. O. Dressel, in Names MSS. Letter 51.)

Methow, the name of a town in Okanog2m County, of a river
flowing through that county into the Columbia River, and of rapids
in the latter river below the mouth of Methow River. The tribe
of Indians known as Methow formerly living on lands between that
river and Lake Chelan now has some survivors on the Colville Res-
ervation. (Bureau of American Ethnology, Handbook of American
Indians, Volume I., page 85O.) The Wilkes Expedition, 1841, gave
the name "Barrier River." (Hydrography, Volume XXIIL, Atlas,
chart 67.) Alexander Ross says the Indian name for the river was
"Buttle-mule-emauch." (Oregon Settlers, page 150.) As early as
July 6, 1811, David Thompson wrote the name "Smeetheowe" for
the tribe he met there. (Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, Vol-
ume XV., page 51.) In 1853, George Gibbs called the stream Met-
how or Barrier River. (Pacific Railroad Reports, Volume I., page
412.) The name as now used has passed through many forms of
spelling.

Meyers Fahs, a town on the Great Northern Railway in the
west central part of Stevens County. It was named for Louther
Walden Meyers, the pioneer who took possession in June 1866,
having leased the Hudson's Bay Company mill property. The
name was applied to the vicinity about 1880 and to the townsite
in 1890. David Thompson in 1811 called it "Root Rivulet" on ac-
count of the camas root lands at the head of the river. Later the
name was "Falls on Mill Creek," or "Hudson's Bay Mills." The
Wilkes Expedition, 1841, called it "Mill River." Mr. Meyers died
in I9O9. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, March 3I, I9O9.) His family
still live in the old home at Meyers Falls. (Jacob A. Meyers, in
Nafkes MSS. Letter 86.)

MiCHEi< River, see Mashel Creek.

MiDCHANNEt Bank, in Admiralty Inlet, probably the same as
i^Ilen's Bank.

Middle Bank. One feature by this name is a shoal in the
Columbia River named by Belcher in 1839 (Report of the Superin-
tendent of the United States Coast Survey, 1858, appendix 44, page

Origin of Washington Geographic Names 205

394). Another is in the Strait of Juan de Fuca near the entrance
to the Canal de Haro. (Report of the Superintendent of the United
States Coast Survey, 1862, page %.)

Middle Channei<, see San Juan Channel.

Middle Oregon, a name used by the Wilkes Expedition, 1841,
for the Okanogan country. (United States Exploring Expedition,
Narrative, Volume IV., page 433.)

Middle Point, on Quimper Peninsula between Cape George
and Point Wilson, near Port Townsend, Jefferson County. It was
named by the United States Coast Survey in 1854. United states
Public Documents Serial No. 784, chart 51.)

MidvalE, a town in the southeastern part of Yakima County,
named by the Oregon- Washington Railway and Navigation officials.
(Postmaster at Sunnyside in Names MSS. Letter 402.)

Midway, a town north of Cheney in Spokane County named by
the electric railway about 1906. (C. Selvidge, of Four Lakes, in
Names MSS. Letter 168.)

Miles, a town in the north central part of Lincoln County
named in honor of General Nelson A. Miles who located Fort
Spokane at the junction of the Spokane and Columbia Rivers.

(A. E. Lewis in Names MSS. Letter 237.)

Mill Creek, eleven counties iri the State of Washington have
streams bearing this name. The most historic one is the tributary
of the Walla Walla River. Rev. Myron Eells says that the mis-
sionary. Dr. Marcus Whitman, rebuilt his flowing mill in 1844 and
the next year went up the stream twenty miles to the Blue Moun-
tains and there built a sawmill which caused the stream to be called
Mill Creek. (Myron Uells: Marcus Whitman, page 135.) The Mill
Creek in Skagit County was named by B. D. Minkler in 1878 when
he built on that stream the first sawmill in what is now Skagit
County. (Postmaster at Birdsview, in Names MSS. Letter 130.)

Mill River, see Meyers Falls.

Miller Point, see Point Polnell.

MillerTon, a town in the northern part of Whatcom County,
named for W. L. Miller, a veteran of the Civil War, who came to
Whatcom County from Nebraska and engaged in the lumber and
real estate business. He was mayor of New Whatcom in 1892 and
owned the townsite of Millerton.

Mills Creek, near Branham in Thurston County named for
Charles Mills who proved up on a homestead at the mouth of the
stream. (Noble G. Rice, in Names MSS. Letter 48.)

Milton Mills, see Longs.

206 Edmond S. Meany

MiNA, a town on the Northern Pacific Railway in the south-
western part of Thurston County. In that locaUty there are a
prairie and a creek with the same name. The name is said to
be an Indian word meaning "a little further along." (Dora E.
Webb, in Names MSS. Letter 35.)

Mineral, a town, creek and lake in the northeastern part of
Lewis County. The town is on the south shore from the lake
from which it derived its name. (Postmaster at Mineral, in Names
MSS. Letter 397.) The Surveyor General of Washington Ter-
ritory in 1857 charted the lake as "Goldsboro Lake." (United States
Public Documents, Serial No. 877.)

MiNKLER, a town in the western part of Skagit County. It was
named in 1897 in honor of the pioneer B. 0. Minkler by members
of his family. (Matie F. Prenedue, in Names MSS. Letter 34.)

Minnesota Reef, a ledge of rocks partly uncovered at low tide
on the eastern extremity of Madrona Peninsula, opposite Turn
Island, on San Juan Island, San Juan County. The name was given
in 1898 by Professor Josephine E. Tilden of the University of
Minnesota. (Walter L. C. Muenscher, in Puget Sound Marint
Station Publications, Volume I., Number 9, pages 59-84.)

Minor Island, "a very small, low islet called Minor exists one
mile northeast of Smith's Island and at low tides is connected with
it by a narrow ridge of boulders and rocks." (George Davidson in
Report of the Superintendent of the United States Coast Survey,
1858, page 429.)

MiNTER, see Elgin.

Minter River, see Owl Creek.

Mis CHIN Rocks. "There are two large rocks near the south
head of Long Island in the Bay [Willapa Harbor], called Mis chin,
or Louse Rocks, and the legend is that they were formerly a chief
and his wife, who were very bad people, and by their magic first in-
troduced lice among the Indians ; and one day, while bathing, they
were, by a superior medicine man, turned into stones as a punish-
ment." (James G. Swain. Northwest Coast, page 174.)

Mission, a town in the central part of Okanogan County. A
Catholic mission was established there in 1887. The town now
supports a high school. (Postmaster at Mission, in Names MSS.
Letter 299.) Cashmere in Chelan County was formerly called
"Mission" and a small stream in that locality is still known as
Mission Creek. The Wilkes Expedition, 1841, placed four missions
on the map — one at Fort Vancouver, one on Cowlitz Prairie, a
Methodist mission at Fort Nisqually and a Presbyterian mission at

Origin of Washington Geographic Names 207

Walla Walla. (United States Exploring Expedition. Hydro-
graphy, Volume XXIII., Atlas, chart 67.)

Mitchell, see Arrowsmith.

Mitchell's Peak, in Cowlitz County, named for a member
of the party which climbed the peak in 1887. During the Indian
war the government maintained a station on the summit, signalling
to Davis Peak near Woodland and thence to Vancouver. (John
Beavers, of Congar, in Names MSS. Letter 201.)

Mnas-a-tas, see Manastash Creek. -

Mock, a station on the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway
in the southwestern part of Spokane County. It was named for
W. C. Mock, chief draftsman in the Principal Assistant Engineer's
office. (L. C. Oilman in Names MSS. Letter 590.)

MocuPS, a town near the mouth of a creek bearing the same
name, on the sea coast in the west central part of Grays Harbor
County. The word in the Quinault Indian language means a place
where girls were sent as they were approaching puberty.

MoH-HA-NA-SHE, See Palouse River.

Mold, a town in the eastern part of Douglas County. On April
11, 1899, the postmaster Marshall McLean, chose that name as being
different from any other in the State and as being descriptive of
the rich soil in that vicinity. (Marshall McLean, in Names MSS.
Letter 107.)

MoNAGHAN Rapids, in the Columbia River near the mouth of
Nespelem River. The name was given in 1881 by Lieutenant
Thomas William Symons of the United States Army, while sur-
veying the Columbia River, in honor of James Monaghan, pioneer
of Eastern Washington and prominent business man of Spokane.
(Clinton A. Snowden: History of Washington, Volume V., page
145.)

Money Creek, a tributary of the Skykomish River, in the
northwestern part of King County. It was named because of a large
sum of money sent by eastern stockholders to develop a mine and
other resources of the stream. (Postmaster at Berlin, in Names
MSS. Letter 447.)

MoNOHAN, a town on the eastern shore of Lake Sammamish,
in the northwestern part of King County. It was named in honor
of Martin Monohan, a native of Ohio who migrated to Oregon in
1853 and later lived four years in Idaho. He came to Seattle in
1871 and in 1877 took up a homestead where the town bearing his
name has developed. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, August 25, 1909.)

208 Edmond S. Meany

Monroe, a town in the southwestern part of Snohomish Coun-
ty. In 1878, Salem Woods made efforts to iCstablish a town at Park
Place, so named on account of the beautiful scenery. John A. Van-
asdlen arrived in October, 1889, and started a store. The next
year he secured a postoffice but the Postoffice Department in-
f onned him that another name would have to be chosen. He prompt-
ly selected Monroe which was adopted. His widow says so far as
she knows the name chosen had no speccial meaning or local ap-
plication. (Arthur Bailey, in Names MSS. Letter 504.) When the
Great Northern Railway was being built through that valley Mr.
Vanasdlen and J. F. Stretch platted a town one mile east of Park
Place and called it "Tye" after a locating engineer of the railorad.
A station was built there which the railroad officials named "Wales"
(History of Skagit and Snohomish Counties, pages 362-364.) Mr.
Vanasdlen moved his Monroe postoffice to the new settlement. Mr.
Stretch persuaded the railroad officials to change the name of their
station from "Wales" to Monroe. (J. F. Stretch, in Names MSS.
Letter 578.) The old settlement is still known as Park Place, a
suburb on the west, under the walls of the State Reformatory.

MoNTBORNE, a town on the Northern Pacific Railway, in the
southwestern part of Skagit County. The site was settled upon
in 1884 by Dr. H. P. Montbome of Mount Vernon. (History of
Skagit and Snohomish Counties, page 242.) On Kroll's map of
Skagit County the spelling is "Mt. Bourne."

Monte Cristo, a mining district and town in the east central
part of Snohomish County. It was named in dramatic fashion on
July 4, 1889, by Joseph Pearsall, a prospector who was climbing
over the hills and saw evidences of minerals. Through his field
glasses he saw what he believed to be a long and broad streak of
galena. Waving his arms he shouted : "It is rich as Monte Cristo !"
From that hour the name was established. (L. K. "Rodgcs -Mining
in the Pacific Northwest, published in 1897, and quoted in The
Mountaineer, Volume XL, 1918, page 32.) L. W. Getchell organ-
ized the Silver Queen Mining and Smelting Company with a cap-
ital stock of $5,000,000 and became general manager in 1890. A
railroad was built between the new town of Monte Cristo and
Everett. (Julian Hawthorne: History of Washington, Volume I.,
pages 437-438.) When the mining interests declined the region re-
mained famous as a resort for fishermen, hunters and campers.

MoNTESANO, the county seat of Grays Harbor County. The
first settler was Isaiah L. Scammon, who came from Maine by way

Origin of Washington Geographic Names 209

of California, arriving in 1852. (H. H. Bancroff: Works; Vol-
ume XXXI., pages 36-37.) When the county of Chehalis (name
later changed to Grays Harbor) was created on April 14, 1854,
the Washington Territorial Legislature located the county seat
"at the house of D. K. Welden (Laws of Washington, 1854, page
476.) On January 28, 1860, it was relocated "at the place of J. L.
Scammons." Mrs. Lorinda Scammon, wife of the pioneer was very
religious and wished to call the place "Mount Zion." At a little fire-
side council Samuel James, pioneer of Mound Prairie, suggested
that Montesano had a more pleasant sound and about the same
meaning. The suggestion was approved and soon afterwards a
postoflfice was secured with the same name. A few years later,
S. H. Williams, son-in-law of S. S. Ford, and one of the party
shipwrecked on Queen Charlotte Island, enslaved by the Haidah In-
dians, ransomed and rescued by other pioneers, bought sixteen
acres on Medcalf Prairie and recorded his plat of "Montesano."
The Chehalis River and a mile and a half of swampy road lay
between the two places. A town-site war resulted. The county
seat remained at the Scammon place but population and business
flowed to the prairie town. The people of the county voted in
1886 to move the county seat and the Scammon place became known
as South Montesano. (M. J. Luark, in Names MSS., Letter 548.)
One of those who platted and helped to build the new town was
Charles N. Byles. (History of the Pacific Northwest: Oregon and
Washington, Volume II., pages 239.) The new town had been in-
corporated by the Legislature on November 26, 1883.

MoNTicELLO, a former town on the west bank of the Cowlitz
River, about a mile from its mouth, in the southern part of Cowlitz
County. It had been a landing place for some years before H. D.
Huntington in 1849 affixed the name of Monticello in honor of
Thomas Jefferson's home. The pioneers held a convention there
in November, 1852, and succesfuUy petitioned Congress for the
creation of a new territorial government, which received the name
of Washington. The old town is gone and the property belongs
to Wallace Huntington. (John L. Harris, of Kelso, in Names
MSS., Letter 473.)

Monument, a station on the Spokane, Portland and Seattle
Railway, in the southeastern part of Franklin County. It is named
for a rock formation known as Devil's Pulpit and Monument in
Devil's Canyon. (L. C. Oilman, in Names MSS. Letter 590.)

Moody Point, see Johnson Point, page 125.

210 Bdmond S. Meany

MooHOOi, River, see Grays River, page 103.

MooNAX, a town on the Columbia River in the southeastern
part of Klickitat County. Lewis and Clark in 1805 found the
Indians there had a pet woodchuck and Moonax is the Indian name
for woodchuck. (L. C. Oilman, in Names MSS., Letter 590.)

Moore, a postoffice on the east shore of Lake Chelan in the
north central part of Chelan County. It was named for J. Robert
Moore who homesteaded Moore's Point and operated a summer
hotel there for more than twenty years. He was also postmaster
until his death on August 31, 1909. The entire property was sold
to H. Frank Hubbard on June 17, 1912. (Postmaster at Moore,
in Names MSS., Letter 293.)

Moore's Bluff, see Devil's Head, page 68.

Mora, a postoffice at the mouth of the Quillayute River in
the southwestern part of Clallam County. Mr. and Mrs. Frank T.
Balch named the place Boston but so many letters for Boston,
Massachusetts, were sent to the little office near the Pacific Ocean
that K. O. Erickson, the next postmaster, had the ner,' name sub-
stituted and thus honored his home town in Sweden. (Mrs. Frank
T. Balch, in Names MSS., Letter 553.)

Morse Island, north of Henry Island, in the west central
United States brig Porpoise. (United States Exploring Expedi-
tion, 1841, in honor of William H. Morse, purser's steward on the
United States brig Porpoise. (United States Exploring Expedi-
tion, Hydrography, Volume XXIIL, Atlas, chart 77.)

Morton, a town in the central part of Lewis County. When
the postoffice was established it was named in honor of Vice Pres-
ident Levi P. Morton. (John M. Jones, in Names MSS., Letter
479.)

Moses Coulee, extending from the central part of Douglas
County to the Columbia River. It was named for Chief Moses
whose tribe made winter headquarters in the coulee near the mouth
of Douglas Canyon. (Irving B. Vestal, of Palisades, in Names
MSS. Letter 80.) A stream in the coulee is called Moses Creek.

MosEs Lake, in the central part of Grant County. It was
named from the fact that the tribe of Chief Moses used the shores
of the lake for camping grounds. A postoffice on the shore of the
lake was named on April 16, 1906, Moseslake. (Jessie MacDonald,
postmistress, in Names MSS. Letter 37.)

Mosquito Lake, in the west central part of Whatcom County.
It was named by surveyors on account of insect pests they there

Origin of Washington Geographic Names 211

encountered. (Frank B. Garrie, postmaster at Welcome, in Names
MSS. Letter 145.)

Mossy Rock, a town on the Cowlitz River in the central part
of Lewis County. It was named in 1852 by Mr. Halland after a
point of moss-covered rock about 200 feet high at the east end of
Klickitat Prairie. The local Indians had called the prairie "Coulph"
but the Klickitat Indians came and drove out the white settlers
one of whom, Henry Busie, killed himself. Since then the prairie
is called Klickhitat. (N. M. Kjesbin, in Names MSS. Letter 22.)

MoTTiNGER, a station on the Spokane, Portland and Seattle
Railway in the southern part of Benton County. When the rail-
road was built in 1906-1907 the officials named the station out of
courtesy to the homesteaders there, G. H. and Martha Mottinger.
(G. H. Mottinger, in Names MSS. Letter, 7.)

MouATT Reef, in Cowlitz Bay, Waldron Island, in the north
central part of San Juan County. The name appears on the British
Admiralty Chart 2840, Richards, 1858-1860. See also Cowlitz Bay.
This honor was for Captain William Alexander Mouatt, who served
on various boats for the Hudson's Bay Company. (Lewis and
Dyden's Marine History of the Pacific Northwest, page 21.)

Mound Prairie, in the southeastern part of Thurston County.
Many geologists have given differing theories about the origin of
the mounds which caused the name of this prairie. One of the
early references is by the Wilkes Expedition, 1841, as follows:
"We soon reached the Bute Prairies, which are extensive and cov-
ered with tumuli or small mounds, at regular distances asunder.
/ s far as I could learn there is no tradition among the natives rela-
tive to them. They are conical mounds, thirty feet in diameter,
about six or seven feet high above the level, and many thoussmds in
number. Being anxious to ascertain if they contained any relics,
I subsequently visited these prairies and opened three of the
mounds, but nothing was found in them but a pavement of round
stones. (United States Exploring Expedition, Narrative, Volume
IV., page 313.)

Mount Adams, in the southeastern part of Yakima County.
Elevation, 12,307 feet. (Henry Landes : A Geogr aphis Dictionary
of Washington, page 60.) The first mention of this mountain was
by Lewis and Clark on April 3, 1806, who refer to it as a "very high
humped mountain," but do not give it a name. (Elliott Coues'
edition of Lewis and Clark Journals Volume III., page 923. See
also The Mountaineer, Volume X., 1917, pages 23-24.) Hall J.

212 Edmond S. Meany

Kelley in 1839 undertook to call the Cascades the "Presidents'
Range" and to rename the peaks for individual presidents. In
his scheme Mount St. Helens was to be "Mount Washington" and
Mount Hood was to be "Mount Adams" after John Adams as he
proposed to call Mount McLoughlin "Mount J. Q. Adams."
{United States Public Documents, Serial Number 351, House Re-
port 101, pages 53-54.) The Wilkes Expedition, 1841, on chart 67
in the Atlas accompanying the volume on Hydrography shows most
of the peaks but does not include Mount Adams. The Pacific Rail-
road Reports, 1853 chart the mountain and refer to it frequently by
the name now in common use. Its confusion with the nearby Mount
St. Helens, on nearly the same latitude, was at and end. In this in-
direct way. Hall J. Kelley's plan to honor a president has been ac-
complished. The author who proposed "Tacoma" as the name for
Mount Rainier proposed the same name for Mount Adams as
follows: "Tacoma the second, which Yankees call Mt. Adams,
is a clumsier repetition of its greater brother, but noble enough to
be the pride of a continent." (Theodore Winthrop: The Canoe and
the Saddle, J. H. Williams edition, page 39.)

Mount Baker, in the central part of Whatcom County. Ele-
vation, 10,750 feet. (United States Geological Survey.) The In-
dian name is said to be "Kulshan." The Spaniards called it
"Montana del Carmelo." The explorer, Vancouver, wrote on April
30, 1792 : "The high distant land formed, as already observed, like
detached islands, amongst which the lofty mountain, discovered in
the afternoon by the third lieutenant, and in compliment to him
called Mount Baker, rose a yery conspicuous object." (Captain
George Vancouver: A Voyage of Discovery, second edition. Vol-
ume II., page 56.) The third lieutenant was Joseph Baker for a
biography of whom see Edmond S. Meany's Vancouver's Dis-
covery of Puget Sound, pages 82-83.

Mount Booker, in Chelan County at the mouth of Stehekin
River. Mrs. Frank R. Hill of Tacoma, a landscape painter, engaged
by the Great Northern Railway Company to paint for them some
pictures to exhibit at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, 1904,
painted this mountain, which newspaper critics called "No Name
Mountain." Mrs. Hill then appealed to the proper authorities and
had the name Mount Booker adopted. She said she wanted to
honor Booker T. Washington, adding "because the peak itself sug-
gested the name to me. It is high and lifted up, towering above the
other mountains surrounding it and inspiring me with its massive

Origin of Washington Geographic Names 213

slopes and lofty peaks." {Seattle Post-Intelligencer, April 22, 1904.)
The elevation is estimated at 7,500 feet.

Mount Chatham, in the northeastern part of Jefferson
County, southwest of Port Discovery Bay. The bay had been
named by Vancouver in 1792 after his vessel and the United States
Coast Survey named the mountain after Vancouver's armed tender
Chatham. (Edmond S. Meany's Vancouver's Discovery of Puget
Sound, page 3.) The Indian name for the peak is O-oo-quah mean-
ing "crying baby," because, they say, if you point your finger at
that mountain rain will fall. The elevation is 2,000 feet. {Re-
port of the Superintendent of the United States Coast Survey, 1858,
page 422.)

Mount Cleveland, in the northeastern part of King County,
south of Berlin. Elevation, 5,301 feet. "Our most conspicuous and
highest mountain, named when Cleveland was elected, would have
been named for his opponent if he had been successful." (Postmas-
ter at Berlin, in Names MSS. Letter 447.)

Mount Coffin, on the north bank of the Columbia River in
the southwestern part of Cowlitz County. Elevation, 240 feet. It was
mentioned by its present name by Alexander Henry on January 11,
1814. (Alexander Henry and David Thompson, Journals, Elliott
Coues, editor Vol. II., page 796.) Wilkes described the Indian
canoes used as coffins and tells of a fire accidentally started by his
men in 1841. (United States Exploring Expedition, Narrative,
Volume v., 121.)

Mount Colville, about eight miles northeast of Colville, in
the central part of Stevens County. Elevation, 5,667 feet. It was-
named from the Hudson's Bay Company's Fort Colville. It is
sometimes called "Old Dominion Mountain."

Mount Constance, above Hood Canal, in the east central part
of Jefferson County. Elevation, 7,777 feet. (United States Geo-
logical Survey, Dictionary of Altitudes, page 1015.) Captain George
Davidson of the United States Coast Survey named it in 1856 for
Constance Fauntleroy, later Mrs. James Runcie. She was a woman
of much talent in literature and music. She died in Illinois on
May 17, 1911, aged 75 years. (Edmond S. Meany: The Story of
Three Olympic Peaks, in the Washington Historical Quarterly,
Volume IV., pages 182-186.)

Mount Constitution, on Orcas Island in San Juan County.
Elevation 2,409 feet. Wilkes in 1841 named the island in honor of
Commodore Issac Hull, who had command of the famous Amer-

214 Bdmond S. Meany

ican ship Constitution. To intensify the honor he named the high-
est point on his "Hulls Island" after the ship and to East Sound
he gave the ship's pet name — "Old Ironsides Inlet." (United States
Exploring Expedition, Hydrography, Volume XXIII., Atlas, chart
77.)

Mount Dali^as, near the west coast of San Juan Island in San
Juan County. Elevation, 1,086 feet. It was named by Captain
Richards of the British ship Plumper, in 1858, in honor of Alex-
ander Grant Dallas, of the Hudson's Bay Company. (Captain John
T. Walbran : British Columbia Coast Names ^ page 129.^)

Mount EtUNOR, two miles northeast of Lake Cushman in
the northeastern part of Mason County. Elevation, 6,500 feet. It
was named in 1856 by Captain George Davidson in honor of
Ellinor Fauntleroy, who later became his wife. (Edmond S.
Meany: The Story of Three Olympic Peaks, in the Washington
Historical Quarterly, Volume IV., pages 182-186.)

Mount Erie, on Fidalgo Island, in the west central part of
Skagit County. Elevation, 1300. Wilkes in 1841 honored Commo-
dore Oliver Hazard Perry by giving the name "Perry Island" to
what is now known as Fidalgo Island. To intensify the honor he
named the peak after Perry's famous Battle of Lake Erie. (United
States Exploring Expedition, Hydrography, Volume XXIII., Atlas,
chart 77.) The name of Perry has been supplanted but the name
of the mountain persists as in the case of Mount Constitution.

Mount Finlayson, near Cattle Point, on the southeastern por-
tion of San Juan Island, San Juan County. It appears on the
British Admiralty Chart 2689, Richards 1858-1859, where the height
is indicated as 550 feet. It does not appear whether the honor was
intended for Duncan Finlayson or Roderick Finlayson, both of
whom, in the Hudson's Bay Company service, were honored with
place names in British Columbia. Mount Finlayson does not ap-
pear on present day charts.

Mount Fitzhugh, about four miles due east of Snoqualmie
Falls, in King County. The name appears on the 1857 map of the
Surveyor General of Washington Territory. ( United States Public
Documents, serial number 877.) It is probable that Captain Rich-
ards sought to honor Colonel, afterwards judge, Edmond C. Fitz-
hugh, who was manager of the Bellingham Bay Coal Company.

Mount Gladys, near Lake Cushman, Mason County. Eleva-
tion, 5,700 feet. It was named by a company of campers in the
summer of 1913, in honor of Gladys, daughter of Chaplain Edmund

Origin of Washington Geographic Names 215

P. Easterbrook, of the United States Army. (Seattle Post-Intelli-
gencer, August 17, 1913.)

Mount Ikes, in the Cascade Range, just north of Naches Pass.
The name, while not carried on present day charts, appears on the
1857 map of the Surveyor General of Washington Territory.
( United States Public Documents, serial number 877. )

Mount Little, see Little Mountain.

Mount McKay, in Okanogan County, named by the Tiffany
Boys after one of their associates. (C. H. Lovejoy to Frank Put-
man, April 6, 1916,in Names MSS. Letter 345.)

Mount Olympus, highest peak in the Olympic Range, in the
north central portion of Jefferson County. Elevation, 8,150 feet.
(United States Geological Survey: A Dictionary of Altitudes, page
1022.) The mountain was discovered by the Spanish Captain,
Juan Perez, in 1774 and named by him "El Cero de la Santa Rosa-
lia." {Pacific Railroad Reports, Volume XII., Part I., page 262.)
The Spanish chart was not published until years, had elapsed. On
July 4, 1788, the British Captain, John Meares, saw the mountain
and named it Mount Olympus. Captain George Vancouver saw the
mountain in 1792 and charted the name as given by Captain Meares.
(yoycage of Discovery, second edition, Volume II., pages 41-42.)
The name has remained on all subsequent maps.

Mount Pilchuck, ten miles east of Granite Falls, in the cen-
tral portion of Snohomish County. Elevation, 5,334 feet. (United
States Geological Survey: A Dictionary of Altitudes, page 1023.)
The name comes from a nearby creek which the Indians had called
Pilchuck, meaning "red water."

Mount Pleasant, a station on the Spokane, Portland and
Seattle Railway, in the southwestern part of Skamania County.
It is an old settlement deriving its name from the nearby hills.
(L. C. Gilman, in Names MSS. Letter 590.)

Mount Polk, see Mount Baker.

Mount Rainier, the highest mountain in the State of Wash-
ington, in the southeastern part of Pierce County. Elevation, 14,-
408 feet. (United States Geological Survey in Edmond S. Meany's
Mount Rainier, A Record of Exploration, pages 297-301.) The
mountain was discovered on Tuesday, May 8, 1792, by Captain
George Vancouver and named by him in honor of Rear Admiral
Peter Rainier of the British Navy. {Voyage of Discovery, second
edition. Volume II., page 79.) As related above, see Mount Adams,
Hall J. Kelley sought to name the peaks for Presidents of the

216 Bdtnond S. Meany

United States. He did not disturb the name of Mount Rainier but
his scheme was expanded by J. Quinn Thornton who proposed to
place the name of President William Henry Harrison on that moun-
tain. (Oregon and California, 1849. Volume I., page 316.) In
1853 Theodore Winthrop declared the Indian name of the mountain
to be "Tacoma." {The Canoe and the Saddle, 1862. Pages 43-45
and 123-176.) The author there frequently mentions "Tacoma,"
which he says was a generic name among the Indians for all snow
mountains. For that reason he called Mount Adams "Tacoma the
Second." Later, a city developed on Commencement Bay with the
name of Tacoma. As that city grew and became 2mibitious there
arose an agitation to change the name of Mount Rainier to the
Winthrop name of "Mount Tacoma." That controversy was con-
tinued for many years with much spirit and some bitterness. The
United States Geographic Board has rendered two decisions in the
case, both in favor of Mount Rainier. The first decision was in
1890 and the second in 1917. On the latter occasion a public hear-
ing was granted and much information was assembled by both sides.
It was shown that the agitation had gone so far as to propose the
name "Tacoma" for the State when it was about to be admitted into
the Union in 1889. It was further shown that a number of names
had been used by Indians for the mountain. Dr. William Fraser
Tolmie, of the Hudson's Bay Company had written in his diary
May 31, 1833, that the Indians called the mountain "Puskehouse."
Peter C. Stanup, son of Jonas Stanup, sub-Chief of the Puyallup
Indians, told Samuel L. Crawford that the name among his people
was "Tiswauk." This was confirmed by F. H. Whitworth who had
served as interpreter for the Superintendent of Indian Affairs in
Washington Territory. Father Boulet, a missionary among Puget
Sound Indians for many years was authority for the Indian name of
"Tu-ah-ku" for the mountain. (In the Matter of the Proposal to
Change the Name of Mount Rainier, by Charles Tallmadge Conover
and Victor J. Farrar.) As the controversy over the name has con-
tinued a number of compromise names have been suggested. While
this is being written (July, 1920,) members of the Grand Army
of the Republic are framing a campaign to change the name to
"Mount Lincoln," as an honor for the President, under whom they
fought in the Civil War.

Mount Rainier National Park, including Mount Rainier,
in the southeastern part of Pierce County, created by an act of
Congress on March 2, 1899. Within the park there are many
named features. The origins of those names have been published

Origin of IVashington Geographic Names 217

so far as known in Edmond S. Meany's Mount Rainier, A Rec\prd
of Exploration, pages 302-325.

Mount Saint Helens, in the northeastern part of Skamania
County. Elevation, 9,671 feet. (Henry Landes: A Geographic
Dictionary of Washington, page 244.) In May, 1792, Captain
George Vancouver saw the mountain from Puget Sound. In the
Tollowing October, while oflF the shore near the mouth of the
Columbia River he saw it again and named it "in honor of His
Britannic Majesty's Ambassador at the Court of Madrid. {Voy-
age of Discovery, second edition. Volume II., page 399.) In the
Hall J. Kelley scheme for names in the "Presidents' Range," Mount
Saint Helens was to have been "Mount Washington." It was for
a time confused with Mount Adams in the same latitude. The
Indian name is said to have been Louwala — clough meaning
"smoking mountain." (Oregon Native Son in The Washington
Historian, September, 1899, page 52.) The volcano is said to have
been in eruption as late as 1842. (James G. Swan : The Northwest
Coast, 1857, page 395.)

[To be continued."]