Rogue River (1) - Gold Beach, Oregon - Oregon Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

Marker Name: Rogue River
Marker Text: Origin of the Rogue
120 air milts or 240 river miles northeast of your present location is Boundary Springs in Crater Lake National Park. At 5600 feet above sea level this spring becomes the official headwater of the Rogue River.
Origin of the Name
Thousands of years prior to the arrival of the European explorers the Rogue River Indians referred to the river as the phonetic sound “Trashit”. In 1603 the Spanish explorer Sebastian Vicaino named it “Reo de Aguilar” in honor of Martin Aguilar a captain on his expedition. In 1827 Alexander MeLeod and his Hudson Bay company fur trappers named the river “McLeod’s River”. The next year on June 18, 1828, the Jedidiah Smith expedition crossed the river but nade no reference to a name. During the 1833 Wilkes expedition it was referred to by the French as river of “Les Conquins” or river of the Rogues in reference to the local Indians. The popular misconception was that the French called it the “Rouge” due to a red color in the water during the rainy season.
River of the Rogues was the common and correct name during the next twenty years. The 1854 Oregon Territorial legislature decided to officially name it Gold River due to all the active Gold mines in the area. This name was contrary to common usage and the legislature was forced to officially name it Rogue River during the 1855 legislative session.

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