Bonanza, Klamath County. Bonanza is a Spanish word meaning prosperity. This place is said to have been named because of the presence of a large number of fine springs in the vicinity. Good water is always a source of prosperity in a country that requires irrigation.
Bonita, Washington County. This is a station on the Oregon Electric Railway a short distance south of Tigard. It was named by a local resident, Geo. W . Cassaday, who was of a romantic turn of mind and selected the Spanish word for pretty or graceful.
Bonneville, Multnomah County. This is an historic spot in Oregon, and for many decades it has been a popular picnic grounds for people living along the Columbia River between Portland and The Dalles. The railroad company maintained an "eating house" at Bonneville, where tired travelers paid a modest sum for all they could eat. The station was named for Captain (later brigadier general) Benjamin Eulalie de Bonneville, the hero of Washington Irving's The Adventures of Captain Bonneville. He was born in France in 1795, graduated from West Point and fought with gallantry through the Mexican War. He explored the west from 1832-5, and visited many parts of Oregon and seems to have been the first white man to go into the Wallowa country. He died in 1878. For details of his life and travels see Scott's History of the Oregon Country, volume I, pages 170 and 297.
In 1925 the U. S. Geographic Board, at the suggestion of J. Neilson Barry of Portland, applied the name Mt. Bonneville to a conspicuous peak about three miles south of Wallowa Lake, previously known as Middle Mountain.
Bonney Butte, Hood River County. This butte is in the extreme southwest part of the country, and has an elevation of 5593 feet. Just east of it is Bonney Meadow. These two features were named for a Wasco County stockman, Augustus A. Bonney.
