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. As of 2011, the book is in its seventh edition and is compiled and edited by Lewis L. McArthur.

In its introduction, it identifies six periods in the history of the state which have contributed to the establishment of local names:

• The thousands of years of Native American life;
• The period of Spanish, British, French and early American exploration, with arrivals by sea and overland, exemplified by the activities of the Hudson's Bay Company and the Lewis and Clark Expedition;
• The pioneer period, up to and particularly including the days of the Oregon Trail;
• The period of Indian Wars and mining claims inspired by the California Gold Rush and later facilitated by the Mining Act of 1872;
• The period of homesteading between 1875 and 1925, which affected nine million acres (36,000 km²); and
• The modern period of neologisms