Readers Who Write

Madras at sunset. There is just enough time to drive to the river.

First the drop into and out of the canyon just east of, and then skirting the flank just north of Round Butte. At the overlook is the layer cake geology of the Columbia River basalt flows. And finally, 400 feet below, nestled in shadow, cradled by the canyon, is the river. Just the river.

To the south, behind the Round Butte Dam and below the surface of the lake is the confluence with the Metolius, the “White Fish” river of the native Sahaptin. Further south, still below the lake’s surface, is the confluence with the Crooked River, obviously named. But it is the river that has brought me to this point, the Rivière des Chutes. The River of Falls.

Lewis and Clark were, literally, the Grand Opening. A mere 37 years after the triumphant return of the Corps of Discovery’s exploration the Oregon Trail was in regular use, and the great western expansion was on. A mere 37 years after their return the first provisional state government of Oregon was established at Champoeg.

Champoeg. The word’s origin remains a mystery. Is it from the indigenous Kalapuya (“campuik” or “champooik”)? Is it a French derivative of the Kalapuya language? After all, French-Canadian explorers led Lewis and Clark to the Willamette Valley, although the former’s journey took about 300 years.

Les Voyageurs had been trekking across the North American continent since the 16h century, starting with the arrival in eastern Canada of Jaques Cartier in 1534. The centuries-long process was based upon trade (especially the fur trade) and was marked by the integration of the voyageurs into indigenous societies. The Charbonneau area outside Wilsonville is named for Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, a Métis, son of the voyageur Toussaint Charbonneau, and carried into the Oregon country by his mother, Sacagawea.

The way west is blanketed by their names. The trail follows the Platte River (“the flat river”, from the French “plat”) from eastern Nebraska to central Wyoming. The first European to see it was Étienne de Veniard. In Wyoming, Laramie is named after the voyageur Jacques La Ramie. In Idaho, Payette is named after the voyageur Francois Payette. The town of Gervais is named after voyageur Joseph Gervais who, along with his indigenous wife, were part of the founding settlers of the French Prairie region in the northern Willamette Valley.

The sun finally set, a brilliant night sky developing over the desert, it’s time to head back to Madras. Tomorrow is the return home. The trip down US 97 will go through Terrebonne (“good earth”) and La Pine (“the pine”). Other paths have led to other places: Detroit, Grand Ronde, Lafayette, La Grande, Langlois, the Malheur country, Nonpareil, Saint Louis, Saint Paul, Sauvie Island. The names may not be thick on the ground, but they cover a lot of country, as did Les Voyageurs.

A favorite, possibly because it is home terrane and certainly because it is so enigmatic: “Siskiyou.”

George Stewart, America’s authority on place names, thought that Siskiyou defies explanation. I tend to agree.

Stewart allowed that six cailloux, or “six stones” could be voyageur landmarks somewhere in Southern Oregon, although those landmarks seem to be lost in the mists of time. Lewis McArthur, Oregon’s premier collector of place names, preferred the “bob-tailed horse” reportedly lost in an 1828 mountain snowstorm. McArthur was likewise not entirely certain, as the origin of Siskiyou in this case appears to be from the Cree language.

Interesting. Time deepens, connections multiply. Les Voyageurs would have first encountered the Cree at Hudson Bay. Est-il possible? Pourquoi pas? Why not?

So you say you want to write?

Go for it.

Send us 500 or so words of scintillating copy. Make it funny. Make it poignant. Make it count. Make it any way you want.

Just don’t cuss. Don’t be boring. And have a point.

If we like it, we’ll run it.

Email submissions to community@rv-times.com. Put “Readers Who Write” in the subject line, and tell us the city where you live.