There are two stories as to how it received its name. One is to the effect that it is sharp and has the appearance of a battle axe, while the other is that it was named by an old woodsman of the North Santiam Valley for a brand of chewing tobacco which was popular in the '90s, and which he used liberally while exploring in the neighborhood of the mountain.
Battle Creek, Marion County. This stream heads on the east slopes of Prospect Hill about eight miles south of Salem and flows easterly to Mill Creek near Turner. Its name commemorates one of the few conflicts between settlers and Indians in the Willamette Valley. It was at a point near this stream that a party of Oregon Rangers engaged in a minor encounter with a band of eastern Oregon Indians in June, 1846, as a result of cattle depredations. Only one Indian was killed in the excitement, and peace was finally restored by gifts.
Battle Rock, Curry County. This historic landmark is at the shore line of Port Orford and is a long, massive block of rock standing well above the water. In June, 1851, Captain William Tichenor, who was at that time in command of the steamer Sea Gull operating between the Columbia River and San Francisco, endeavored to establish a commercial enterprise at Port Orford. He engaged J. M . Kirkpatrick and a number of others to go to Port Orford where the party was landed and provisioned on what is now kriown as Battle Rock. The party was besieged by Indians and, according to statements made by Kirkpatrick, an actual battle was fought with them June 10, 1851, at which time seventeen Indians were killed, mostly by fire from a small cannon. Kirkpatrick and his party finally succeeded in stealing away from the rock after several days' siege and made their way north along the coast until they reached settlements of the whites. When Captain Tichenor's representative returned by sea he found the contingent gone and assumed it had been murdered by the Indians. For a full
