Oregon Geographic Names (1952)/Q
Quail CREEK, Curry County. This stream, a tributary of Rogue River, was named for Peter Quail, a pioneer prospector.
QUARTZ CREEK, Wasco County. Quartz is not a rare mineral in the Cascade Range, nevertheless it is not plentiful as compared with other rocks. As a result, when it occurs, it attracts attention. Quartz Creek in the north part of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation was named for the mineral in very early days. Captain H. D. Wallen of the Fourth Cavalry conducted a military expedition from Fort Dalles to Great Salt Lake in 1859, and on the night of June 10 of that year camped at a place about 50 miles south of The Dalles which he named Quartz Spring because of the first quartz seen on the march. This was after passing Tygh Valley and Oak Grove (Wapinitia). However, in the table of distances given for the trip Wallen uses the name Quartz Creek. See 36th Congress, 1st Session, Senate Executive Document 34, pages 7 and 46.
Quartz MOUNTAIN, Lake County. Quartz Mountain is a ridge about thirty miles northwest of Lakeview, crossed by the Klamath Falls-Lakeview Highway. The mountain got its name from a narrow but rather prominent ledge of quartz, something out of the ordinary for the locality. The name of the mountain has spread to other nearby geographic features. Quartz Pass is the highest point on the highway, and Quartz Creek heads just east of the pass and flows southeast into Quartz Valley. On November 24, 1930, a post office with the name Quartz Mountain was established on the highway a little to the southeast of the pass. Mrs. Vera A. Real was the only postmaster. The office was closed to Lakeview August 31, 1943.
QUARTZVILLE, Linn County. Quartzville was once an important locality, due to gold discoveries in the early '60s. The place was laid off as a town in 1864, and a stamp-mill was erected in the same vear. For in formation about routes to the Santiam mines see the Oregonian, July 9, 1864. For other information, ibid., June 9, 16, 30; September 1 and 8, 1860; October 14 and 22, 1863; June 30 and November 12, 1864, and October 29, 1869, page 3. See also Down's History of the Silverton Country, page 85. One of the largest tributaries of Middle Santiam River is Quartzville Creek, named for the town.
QUINABY, Marion County. This station on the Oregon Electric Railway was named for a local Indian celebrity who lived north of Salem in pioneer days.
QUINCY, Columbia County. Quincy was settled about 1882, and named for Quincy, Illinois, by J. W. Barnes, who came from that place. The post office was established October 8, 1892.
QUINN, Columbia County. The locality and post office called Quinn was near the south bank of the Columbia River on the low land northwest of Quincy. The post office was named for James Quinn, the first postmaster. He was appointed May 4, 1876, and served until June 30, 1909, at least that is the date the office was discontinued. There was never any other postmaster there.
QUINN LAKES, Lane County. These lakes north of Waldo Lake were named for a pioneer sheep man, William Quinn of Grizzly. He was fatally injured in 1894 while hunting in the Cascade Range near Waldo Lake, and died near Crane Prairie while being packed out toward Deschutes River. He was buried on the banks of the stream known as Quinn River, which is in Deschutes County.
QUINTON, Gilliam County. Quinton is a railroad station. It derives its name from an early settler named Quinn. The place was formerly called Quinn. For a few years there was a post office called Quinook, and this name was made up by taking part of the name Quinton and part of the name Squally Hook, which was the name of a railroad station to the west. For information about Squally Hook see under Hook. Quinook post office was discontinued in the fall of 1925.
QUOSATANA CREEK, Curry County. This name is said to come from an Indian word Quosaten. F. S. Moore of Gold Beach wrote the compiler that George W. Meservey, a half-blood Indian, told him that the Indian word meant a beautiful or fine creek. Quosatana Butte near the headwaters of the creek, got its name from the stream. J. Neilson Barry calls attention to the entry under Tututni, Handbook of American Indians, volume II, page 857, which lists among the bands of that tribe the Cosuttheutun, and other similar forms. The name is translated as "people who eat mussels," ibid., volume I, page 749. Possibly Quosatana is derived from it.