Page:Oregon Geographic Names, third edition.djvu/453

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to open a trail along Rogue River. Packwood was a soldier in the party. Lieutenant R. S. Williamson rode a mule named John, and when it was turned loose to graze near this stream, it wandered off and despite a search, the animal was not recovered. The stream was named John Mule Creek because of this incident. Old maps show the name in full, but in recent years the name has been reduced to Mule Creek. There is a Mule Mountain nearby. Packwood also said that a few years later he found the mule at Siletz in the possesssion of an Indian, who had apparently salvaged it. Stories to the effect that the stream was named for a prospector John Mule cannot be substantiated.

MULESHOE MOUNTAIN, Wheeler County. Muleshoe Mountain is east of Service Creek, and Muleshoe Creek is just east of the mountain. J. H. Tilley of Service Creek told the compiler that there was a story in the neighborhood to the effect that someone found a muleshoe near the head of this creek, which accounts for the name. On the other hand it is also said that the mountain itself is shaped something like a muleshoe with the toe to the north. The reader may take his choice of the explanations.

MULINO, Clackamas County. Mulino was named by C. H. Howard in 1882, and the name was a corruption of the Spanish word molino, which means mill. Postal authorities would not accept the name Molino because it was too much like the nearby Molalla. There was a flour mill at Mulino in pioneer days, and the place was known as Howards Mill. Mulino post office was established March 21, 1882, with James G. Foster first postmaster.

MULTNOMAH, Multnomah County. The community of Multnomah took its name from Multnomah County. The Oregon Electric Railway was built from Portland south to Salem in 1907 and began operation in 1908 and it was the policy of the officials to apply Indian names, wherever possible, to the stations as they were established. For the origin of Multnomah, see under MULTNOMAH COUNTY. The post office at Multnomah was established February 7, 1912, with Nelson Thomas first postmaster.

MULTNOMAH CHANNEL, Columbia and Multnomah counties. For many years the channel between Sauvie Island and the mainland to the west was known as Willamette Slough, probably because its southern entrance was close to the mouth of Willamette River. Commercial interests and citizens interested in historical matters prevailed upon the

USBGN to adopt the name Multnomah Channel for this stream. Multnomah Channel was discovered on October 28, 1792, by W. R. Broughton, and named Calls River, apparently for Sir John Call. See Meany's Vancouver's Discovery of Puget Sound, page 261. Lewis and Clark called this channel Wappato Inlet because it lay to the west of what they called Wappato Island, now Sauvie Island. Wilkes used the name Warrior Branch because the stream joined the Columbia at Warrior Point. Sauvie Island was referred to as Multnomah Island by Wilkes.

MULTNOMAH COUNTY. Multnomah County was created December 22, 1854, and was taken from Washington and Clackamas counties as they then existed. Multnomah County has a land area, according to the Bureau of the Census, of 424 square miles and is the smallest county in the state. Multnomah is an Indian name. The word is first used by Lewis and Clark in their journals for November 3, 1805, with the style Mulknomah, referring to the stream now known as the Willamette. On the following day the explorers record a village of Mulknomans on the east Mil! G. W28 East. It 0.94 OR where ram outh