Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 26.djvu/477

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OREGON GEOGRAPHIC NAMES
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elevation is 1073 feet. It was a part of the John B. Talbot donation land claim and was subsequently owned successively by C. A. Beal, James Steel and Graham Glass, Sr. The hill was for a time known as Glass Hill and was later called Fairmount, which name is still retained by the boulevard which encircles it.

On July 11, 1898, delegates to the National Council of Congregational Churches met on top of this hill. Some discussion was had concerning a good name for it. A delegate from Portland, Maine, suggested Council Crest. This name was at once approved by Geo. H . Himes, who was present, and a report of this meeting was sent to newspapers.

The Indians at one time may have used the crest as a meeting place and signal station because of its wide outlook, but there is no historic record of it.

Couse Creek, Umatilla County. Couse is derived from the Nez Perce Indian word kowish, and is the name of an edible root used for making bread. Piper and Beattie in their Flora of Southeastern Washington give its botanical name as cogswellia cous. It is a member of the natural order Umbelliferae.

The stream in Umatilla County rises in the western slopes of the Blue Mountains and flows into Walla Walla River southeast of Milton. There are probably other geographic features in the state with the same name, due to the fact that the Indians found the roots plentiful in such localities.

Cove, Union County. Cove lies in a natural pocket where Mill Creek flows from the Wallowa Mountains, and it has an elevation of 2893 feet. It is on the eastern edge of the Grande Ronde Valley and at the western foot of Mount Fanny. The first family settled there on October 9, 1862, and on May 4, 1863, a post office was established which was given the name of Forest Cove, for descriptive reasons. Samuel G. French was the first