Tumtum River

Tumtum River
Name origin: Chinook Jargon word for "heart", referring to the heart of the valley through which the river flows [1]
Country United States
State Oregon
County Lincoln, Benton
Source Central Oregon Coast Range
 - location near Burnt Woods, Lincoln County
 - elevation 1,018 ft (310 m) [2]
 - coordinates 44°35′52″N 123°39′04″W / 44.59778°N 123.65111°W [3]
Mouth Marys River
 - location near Alder, Benton County
 - elevation 584 ft (178 m) [3]
 - coordinates 44°35′18″N 123°30′43″W / 44.58833°N 123.51194°WCoordinates: 44°35′18″N 123°30′43″W / 44.58833°N 123.51194°W [3]
Length 9 mi (14 km)
Basin 19.1 sq mi (49 km2) [4]
Location of the mouth of the Tumtum River in Oregon

The Tumtum River is a 9-mile (14 km) tributary of the Marys River in Benton and Lincoln counties of the U.S. state of Oregon, rising in the Central Oregon Coast Range west of Burnt Woods and draining into the Marys River north of Alder.[3] The creek passes through the communities of Burnt Woods and Blodgett.[5]

The name Tumtum is a Chinook Jargon word for "heart", and the river was so-named because it was considered to be the heart of the valley through which it flowed.[1] When the Burnt Woods post office was to be named, one of the names proposed to the Post Office Department was Tumtum.[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 McArthur, Lewis A.; McArthur, Lewis L. (2003) [First published 1928]. Oregon Geographic Names (7th ed.). Portland, Oregon: Oregon Historical Society Press. p. 974. ISBN 9780875952772. OCLC 53075956.
  2. ↑ Source elevation derived from Google Earth search using GNIS source coordinates.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Tumtum River". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. November 28, 1980. Retrieved April 26, 2011.
  4. ↑ Augerot, Xanthippe; Harding, Karen Fleck; Ashford, Meleah; Murphy, Tom; Seeliger, Kurt; Whittier, Thorn (February 20, 2010). "Marys River Model Watershed Proposal" (PDF). Marys River Watershed Council. p. 8. Retrieved April 27, 2011.
  5. ↑ Oregon Atlas & Gazetteer (7th ed.). Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. 2008. pp. 32–33. ISBN 0-89933-347-8.