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. The book was originally published in 1928. It was compiled and edited by Lewis A. McArthur., the book is in its seventh edition, which was compiled and edited by Lewis L. McArthur.
Content
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 ; and
- The modern period of neologisms
Edition history
The first three editions were edited by Lewis A. McArthur and published by Binford & Mort; Lewis L. McArthur took over from his father as of the fourth edition, which was the first to be published by the Oregon Historical Society Press.The seventh edition also includes a CD-ROM with a complete biographic and geographic index as well as various maps of Oregon locations.
| Year | Edition | Editor | Publisher | Pages | Library of Congress Control Number | |
| 1928 | 1st | McArthur, Lewis A. | Binford & Mort | 450pp. | ||
| 1944 | 2nd | McArthur, Lewis A. | Binford & Mort | 581pp. | ||
| 1952 | 3rd | McArthur, Lewis A. | Binford & Mort | 686pp. | ||
| 1974 | 4th | McArthur, Lewis L. | Oregon Historical Society | 835pp. | ||
| 1982 | 5th | McArthur, Lewis L. | Western Imprints | 839pp. | ||
| 1992 | 6th | McArthur, Lewis L. | Oregon Historical Society | 957pp. | ||
| 2003 | 7th | McArthur, Lewis L. | Oregon Historical Society | 1073pp. |
Lewis L. McArthur died in 2018. His daughter, Mary McArthur, reportedly took over editorship for the book's upcoming 8th edition.