Sams Valley named after Indian chief
Who is the Sam of Sams Valley, and why don't we use an apostrophe?
-- Karen S., Central Point
The valley just north of the Table Rocks is named after Chief Sam, an Upper Takelma Indian leader who once lived in the area, according to the 1992 edition of Oregon Geographic Names.
Chief Sam signed a treaty with Gen. Joseph Lane in 1853 after hostilities erupted between white settlers and the Indians. The treaty gave Chief Sam and his people a reservation around Lower Table Rock.
When hostilities broke out again in 1855-56, Chief Sam and his relatives were forced to move with about 400 other Indians to the Grande Ronde Indian Reservation west of Salem.
Chief Sam died on the reservation in 1861 at age 60.
As for an apostrophe showing possession in a place name, that died when the U.S. Board of Geographic Names, a division of the U.S. Geological Survey, deemed it just too cumbersome.
"Basically, it's a matter of editorial decision-making, rather than to disassociate individuals with an object," says Elizabeth Winroth, recording secretary for the Oregon Geographic Names Board, an affiliate of the national board.
"They aren't disinclined to have people associated with features," she adds. "They just wanted a cleaner, simpler version of it. And they have the final word."
However, an apostrophe is acceptable if it's part of a surname, such as O'Malleys Peak, she notes.
Every now and then there's something in the paper about a golf course going in on the vacant land between Whittle and Corona avenues in northeast Medford, the property that belongs to the Medford airport. Nothing has been mentioned for several months now.
Is there still something planned, or is this to remain a vacant field?
-- Philip W., Medford
You're not the only one wondering, Philip. (We got your query too, Craig N.) The short answer: It's still a go.
"We've just had a couple of technical issues to clear up," says Airport Director Bern Case.
Specifically, there's an old covenant on the title that declares that all uses in the area will be residential. Never mind that you couldn't put a house there today, and that the airport has bought up -- and removed -- all the houses in the area at considerable expense.
It's a Catch-22 that needs fixing.
Also, developer Roland Haertl of the Rogue Valley Sports Center (formerly Pacific Golf) says a new layout to direct the driving range away from other properties will require an amendment to the city-approved conditional use permit.
The new layout also includes a nine-hole pitch-and-putt, a par 3 nine-hole range, a chipping range and a baseball and softball pitching range (that's a bit like a batting cage but a hit ball actually flies out over a range rather than bouncing off a cage or net).
Both men say you can expect to see earth start moving come spring '98.
The Rogue Valley Sports Center's lease covers a 47-acre parcel with frontage on Corona and Whittle about 600 feet from Crater Lake Highway.
The parcel belongs to the county-owned airport, which bought the land in the 1970s for approach clearance for its main runway. In 1992, Jackson County commissioners approved the airport's plan to develop the land as a golf course.
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