Pocahontas, Oregon

Former unincorporated community in Oregon, United States

44°48′52″N 117°58′20″W / 44.81444°N 117.97222°W / 44.81444; -117.97222CountryUnited StatesStateOregonCountyBakerElevation

3,674 ft (1,120 m)Time zoneUTC-8 (Pacific (PST)) • Summer (DST)UTC-7 (PDT)GNIS feature ID1125494^[1]

Pocahontas is a historic former community^[1] in Baker County, Oregon, United States. It lies northwest of Baker City along Pocahontas Road near the Elkhorn Mountains.^[2]

The town was named after Pocahontas, a famous Native American woman.^[3] According to Oregon Geographic Names, which cites Thirty-One Years in Baker County, an unknown number of people laid out a town called Pine City in the 1860s near the base of the mountains. Pine City, probably founded in 1862, was along Pine Creek and was meant to serve as a place of accommodation for miners and others traveling through the region. Meanwhile, John McClain, a rancher who lived nearby, established Pocahontas and persuaded the people of Pine City to move there.^[3]

Pocahontas, also meant as a traveler's resting stop, soon had a hotel, blacksmith shop, and express office. It set up a post office on August 4, 1863, with Thomas McMurran as postmaster. The year of the post-office closing is in doubt, either 1864 or 1872.^[3]

References

^ ^a ^b "Pocahontas". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. November 28, 1980. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
^ Oregon Atlas & Gazetteer (7th ed.). Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. 2008. p. 79. ISBN 978-0-89933-347-2.
^ ^a ^b ^c McArthur, Lewis A.; McArthur, Lewis L. (2003) [1928]. Oregon Geographic Names (7th ed.). Portland, Oregon: Oregon Historical Society Press. pp. 771–72. ISBN 978-0875952772.