master. This office was a few miles west of Rainier and close to Beaver Creek. It was closed out to Delena. W. N. Meserve wrote in November, 1947, that the place was apparently given the family name of Mrs. U. S. Grant, but Mr. Meserve could give no reason except that the name Dent was terse. Members of the Meserve family were reared at Delena on Beaver Creek and their opinions about the history of the area are doubtless reliable.
DENVER, Clatsop County. Denver, a locality in the Nehalem Valley, was not named for the Colorado city of the Plains, but for William J. Denver the postmaster. The post office was established May 26, 1884, and discontinued October 31, 1888. The business was turned over to the Jewell office, and little remains in the place.
DENZER, Lincoln County. This post office was named for its first postmaster, Frederick C. Denzer. It was established April 10, 1909.
DEPOE BAY, Lincoln County. Depoe Bay is a popular place on the Oregon Coast Highway. The exact origin of the name has been obscured by time, although there is a general knowledge of the matter. The bay and other geographic features in Lincoln County, including a creek flowing into Yaquina River near Toledo, appear to have been named for an Indian who was associated in some way with an early-day army or Indian supply depot in the Siletz territory. He assumed or was given the name Depot, but it appears to have been entered on the records as Depoe, and that is the form now universally used. The spelling Depoe has been adopted by USBGN for the community, bay and two streams. The name is generally pronounced without stress on either syllable. For editorial comment about the name Depoe Bay, see the Oregonian, September 9, 1936, where it is said that the bay was named for William DePoe, a Siletz Indian. He was also known as "Old Charley' and his wife's name was Matilda. An interesting item about the bay appears under a Pendleton dateline in the Oregon Journal for November 8, 1935, and recounts the fact that Dr. F. W. Vincent of Pendleton and his grandfather cruised up the Oregon coast north from Newport in 1878 and observed a break in the shoreline. Lowering the sails of their 40-foot boat, they finally rowed it into the little harbor. "We found there the anchor chains of a sea-going craft, two headlights and the letters 'U.S.,' so we named the little spot 'Wreckers Cove'," said Dr. Vincent. That name has not prevailed.
DERBY, Jackson County. Derby, a locality northeast of Eagle Point, was named for William H. Derby, a well-known local settler. The post office was established January 23, 1892, with Derby first of a series of five postmasters. The office was closed May 15, 1919, with papers to Eagle Point. The locality name continues in use, even though the post office has been closed.
DERRY, Polk County. This station on the line of the Southern Pacific Company just east of Rickreall, was named by James W. Nesmith shortly after the railroad was built, for Derry, New Hampshire, where his family had resided. In 1912 an effort was made to change the name of Derry to Loganberry. For editorial on the subject, see the Oregonian, August 12, 1912. See also news items and letters, ibid., August 13, 14, 1912.
DESCHUTES, Deschutes, Sherman and Wasco counties. There have been several post offices and localities in Oregon named Deschutes, in
