not for sentimental reasons, and the name may mean "gravelly soil," but gravel is neither peculiar nor abundant at either one of the places mentioned. Many Indian names began with Che and Cham, particularly those applied to places in the Willamette Valley, such as Chemawa, Chehalem, Chemeketa and Champoeg. For information on this matter see article by H. S. Lyman, Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, volume I, page 316. Chemawa has an elevation of 165 feet.
Chenoweth Creek, Wasco County. Chenoweth Creek rises in the hills west of The Dalles, and after flowing across Chenoweth Flat reaches the Columbia River southeast of Crates Point. This stream was named for Justin Chenoweth who crossed the plains in 1849 as a member of the U. S . Mounted Rifles, which was the first military organization that came to Oregon overland after the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Justin Chenoweth was accompanied by his brothers, Hardin and Francis A., who were civilians. Chenoweth served as the first government mail carrier between the Cascades and Ft. Dalles, beginning his work July 1, 1851. He subsequently served as school superintendent for Wasco County and was a prominent member of the Methodist Church. He was a land surveyor by profession and surveyed the Methodist Mission site in 1850, for which he received the sum of $10. He made settlement on his donation land claim on Chenoweth Flat June 1, 1854, and left The Dalles about 1866, according to Mrs. Lulu D. Crandall of The Dalles. Nathan Olney owned a store near Crates Point before Chenoweth settled there, and Chenoweth Creek was then known as Olney Creek, but that name did not persist. The name of the geographic features near The Dalles is frequently spelled Chenowith, but the United States Geographic Board has officially adopted the form Chenoweth.
