Kamela, Oregon

Last updated

Kamela is an unincorporated community in Union County, Oregon, United States. [1] It is located west of Interstate 84 about 20 miles northwest of La Grande. [2]

There are several stories about how the community got its name. [3] Among the explanations are that it was made up by combining the initials of the civil engineers working on the local railroad construction, or that it is the Cayuse word for "tree". [3] Another informant stated that when the locale was a stagecoach station, it was called "Summit Station", but when the Union Pacific Railroad was built through the area, a different name was needed. [3] Local doctor W. C. McKay was asked to supply a number of names of Native American origin to be used for various stations along the line. [3] Kamela was selected from this list. According to an interpreter at the Umatilla Agency, the word meant "tamarack" in the Nez Perce language. However, L. C. McKay, the daughter of Dr. McKay, was sure the word meant "summit". [3] Another station on the line, Mikecha, was made up of the names of three civil engineers—Mink, Kennedy, and Chalk—and the compiler of Oregon Geographic Names believed that this name was confused with Kamela. [3] Kamela post office ran from 1887 to 1949. [3]

Kamela is the highest railroad pass in the Blue Mountains, with an elevation of 4,206 feet (1,282 m). [4] Kamela had a roundhouse and served as a wood and timber handling point for the railroad. [5] In 1904, the population of the community was 220. [5] In 1940 Kamela had a population of 27. [4] At one time the community had a school. [6] One of the last Oregon train robberies began in Kamela in 1914. [7] [8]

Related Research Articles

Sprague River is an unincorporated community in Klamath County, Oregon, United States. It is about 45 miles (72 km) northeast of Klamath Falls near the Sprague River, northwest of Oregon Route 140.

Alicel is an unincorporated community in the Sand Ridge area of the Grande Ronde Valley in Union County, Oregon, United States. It is northeast of La Grande on Oregon Route 82. It was a station on Union Pacific Railroad's Joseph branch, and in 1890 was named for Alice Ladd, wife of local resident Charles Ladd. Alicel was platted in 1890, and had a post office from 1890 until 1972.

Sylvan-Highlands is a neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, United States located on the west side of the West Hills.

Orodell, also known as Oro Dell, is an unincorporated historic community in Union County, Oregon, United States, on the Grande Ronde River at the northwest edge of La Grande. It is considered a ghost town. Either Charles Fox or Stephen Coffin started the first sawmill in the Grande Ronde Valley there in the summer of 1862, after a joint-stock company between Coffin and other local settlers failed to materialize in 1861.

Starkey is an unincorporated community in Union County, Oregon, United States, about 26 miles southwest of La Grande. It is about two miles south of Oregon Route 244 in the Blue Mountains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hilgard, Oregon</span> Unincorporated community in the state of Oregon, United States

Hilgard is an unincorporated community in Union County, Oregon, United States, at the junction of Oregon Route 244 with Interstate 84/U.S. Route 30, near the Grande Ronde River. It is also the site of a junction (wye) of the Union Pacific Railroad. Hilgard Junction State Recreation Area is across the river from the community.

Morgan is an unincorporated community in Morrow County, Oregon, United States. It lies along Oregon Route 74 between Cecil and Ione, northwest of Heppner.

Nolin is an unincorporated community in Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. Nolin is about 8 miles (13 km) southeast of Echo, next to the Umatilla River. At one time the area was known as "Happy Canyon". Adam "Ad" W. Nye, a settler of the 1860s, named the Nolin area Happy Canyon, for the spirit of the people who lived there. The name was later adopted by Pendleton Round-Up for its indoor show in commemoration of this time. Nye was County Sheriff in 1872–74. The nearby community of Nye was named for him.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bingham Springs, Oregon</span> Unincorporated community in the state of Oregon, United States

Bingham Springs is an unincorporated community in Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. It is about 8 miles (13 km) east of Gibbon in the Blue Mountains near the Umatilla River.

Cecil is an unincorporated community in Morrow County, Oregon, United States. It is approximately 14 miles (23 km) northwest of Ione, on Oregon Route 74. The Oregon Trail crossed Willow Creek here, and it was once an important stagecoach stop.

Dixie is an unincorporated historic community in Grant County, Oregon, United States. It was a station on the Sumpter Valley Railway near Dixie Summit. The station was named for Dixie Creek, a tributary of the John Day River near Prairie City. The creek was named for the many gold miners from the U.S. South who worked claims on the creek.

Pleasant Valley is an unincorporated community in Baker County, Oregon, United States. It is about 13 miles (21 km) southeast of Baker City on U.S. Route 30, slightly bypassed by Interstate 84.

Dodson is an unincorporated community in Multnomah County, Oregon, United States. It is located about 4½ miles (7.2 km) east of Multnomah Falls and one mile west of Warrendale, in the Columbia River Gorge on Interstate 84/U.S. Route 30. It is across the Columbia River from Skamania, Washington. Dodson is within the Cascade Locks ZIP code.

Jonesboro is an unincorporated historic community in Malheur County, Oregon, United States. It is located on U.S Route 20, between Juntura and Harper, near the Malheur River.

Crowley is an unincorporated community in Polk County, Oregon, United States. It is located east of Oregon Route 99W, about four miles north of Rickreall.

Rieth is an unincorporated community in Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. It is south of Interstate 84/U.S. Route 30/U.S. Route 395 about 5 miles (8 km) west of Pendleton near the Umatilla River.

Cascade Summit is an unincorporated community in Klamath County, Oregon, United States. It is located on the west shore of Odell Lake near Shelter Cove; about 30 miles southeast of Oakridge.

Hutchinson is an unincorporated community in Baker County, Oregon, United States. It is about 5 miles (8 km) northwest of Haines, west of U.S. Route 30.

Encina is an unincorporated community in Baker County, Oregon, United States. Encina is about 10 miles (16 km) southeast of Baker City near exit 313 of U.S. Route 30/Interstate 84.

Tallman is a ghost town in Linn County, in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located northwest of Lebanon.

References

  1. "Kamela". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. November 28, 1980. Retrieved February 6, 2012.(no longer supported)
  2. Oregon Atlas & Gazetteer (7th ed.). Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. 2008. p. 74. ISBN   0-89933-347-8.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 McArthur, Lewis A.; McArthur, Lewis L. (2003) [1928]. Oregon Geographic Names (7th ed.). Portland, Oregon: Oregon Historical Society Press. p. 523–524. ISBN   978-0875952772.
  4. 1 2 Writers' Program of the Work Projects Administration in the State of Oregon (1940). Oregon: End of the Trail. American Guide Series. Portland, Oregon: Binfords & Mort. p.  258. OCLC   4874569.
  5. 1 2 Wood, Stanley (1904). Over the Range to the Golden Gate A Complete Tourist's Guide To Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, California, Oregon, Puget Sound, and the Great Northwest. R. R. Donnelley. p.  316.
  6. "County Superintendents' Department: Union County". Oregon Teachers Monthly. 21 (1). Oregon State Teachers' Association: 99. September 1916.
  7. Patterson, Richard M. (1985). Historical Atlas of the Outlaw West. Boulder, Colorado: Johnson Publishing Company. ISBN   0-933472-89-7.
  8. Mason, Dick (October 17, 2011). "Was there a train robbery at Kamela many years ago?". The Observer . Retrieved February 6, 2012.

45°26′03″N118°23′37″W / 45.434296°N 118.393568°W / 45.434296; -118.393568