Geographic names expert makes rare Sisters visit

Sisters area residents will have the rare opportunity to hear the top authority on geographic names of “Oregon speak this week. Lewis L. McArthur, author of Oregon Geographic Names — 7th Edition,” will speak on Friday, April 15, at 6: 30 p.m. at Paulina Springs Book Company, 252 West Hood Ave. in Sisters.

McArthur is expected to speak for 30 to 40 minutes and then respond toquestions.

An 86-year-old retired executive with a Portland construction company, McArthur has edited four editions of this leading reference book on names of Oregon towns, rivers, mountains, and other features. His father, Lewis A. McArthur, wrote the first edition in 1928, taking time in his business travels to talk to elderly pioneers, foresters, Native Americans, and others to seek information.

This was followed by a second edition in 1944 and a third edition in 1952, a year after the father died.

The son took over the monumental task of updating the reference book with other editions in 1974, 1982, 1992, and the current edition in 2003.

In each decade between editions, new information has become available on origins of names and new names have been adopted. The current edition includes over 6,200 entries in its 1,088 pages with 27 photographs.

Like his father, McArthur is a long-time member of the Oregon Geographic Names Board, the volunteer group that reviews proposals for names and makes recommendation to the U.S. Board of Geographic Names.

McArthur will be speaking about 15 miles north of a geographic feature named for his father, Lewis A. “Tam” McArthur. Tam McArthur Rim runs east from Broken Top above Three Creeks Lake.

After the father’s death, there was interest in honoring him by naming an Oregon geographic feature for him. His long-time friend, Robert Sawyer, then editor of The Bulletin, proposed the rocky rim south of Sisters.

The U. S. Board approved the action.

However, in every edition since he started editing the book, the younger McArthur points out that “the Broken Top alpine uplands was one of the few spots in central Oregon that McArthur had not visited, and he probably would have expressed some dissatisfaction with the inclusion of a nickname in an otherwise serious nomenclature.”