Abernethy Creek, Clackamas County. This stream rises at an elevation of about 1100 feet ten miles southeast of Oregon City and flows into the Willamette River at Oregon City. It was named for George Abernethy, first governor of Oregon under the provisional government. He was elected to this position on June 3, 1845. Be died on May 2, 1877. He was long engaged in the mercantile business in Oregon City in partnership with Hiram Clark, Thomas Pope and James R. Robb. His biography appears in the Transactions of the Oregon Pioneer Association for 1886. See also Scott's History of the Oregon Country. George Abernethy once owned the island in the Willamette River at the edge of Willamette Falls at Oregon City. It was formerly known as Governors Island but is now known as Abernethy Island. The geography of Abernethy Creek is shown on the U. S. Geological Survey maps of the Boring and Oregon City quadrangles.
In 1924 Professor Edwin T. Hodge of the University of Oregon applied the name Abernethy Island to a geographic feature in the lava fields near McKenzie Pass. This was also in commemoration of Governor Abernethy.
Abiqua Creek, Marion County. Abiqua Creek rises in the western slopes of the Cascade Range, and joins Pudding River about three miles northwest of Silverton. It was on the Abiqua that a skirmish of the Cayuse War was alleged to have been *fought in March, 1848, and some non-combatant Indians killed. For a discussion of this battle by John Minto, see The Oregonian, March 12, 1877, by James W. Nesmith, ibid. March 15, 1877; by John Minto March 20, 1877, page 1; by A. F . Johnson March 22, 1877, page 1. It is apparent from reading the above newspaper articles that the battle was neither bloody nor important, even if it was actually fought. Nothing is known of the meaning of the Indian name Abiqua. It may have referred to a small tribe or to a camping place
