Deschutes County Historical Museum

Tumalo

Platted in 1904, the current town of Tumalo was originally called Laidlaw after William Laidlaw, developer and founder of the community. Soon after the post office opened Dec. 17, 1904, the Laidlaw Chronicle went into production. With reports of two railroads expected through town and the prospects of an irrigation project, it was believed that Laidlaw would become the hub of development in western Central Oregon.

However, the railroads did not arrive and Laidlaw fell out of favor with the community and was run out of town. Wanting no connection with the name Laidlaw, the post office and town site were changed to Tumalo, Jan. 20, 1915.

B.S. Cook, a land agent with Columbia Southern Irrigation Company, came to the Tumalo area in 1904.

Cook’s camp was located north of town and occupied by people who had come to work on the irrigation project. Those in camp lived in tents and wooden buildings built where the present town is located today. Cook Street is possibly named after B.S. Cook, who advertised this area as “A Possible Paradise” of 27,000 acres of land, free to those who would pay $5 to $15 per acre for perpetual water rights.

Terrebonne

Located along the railroad, present-day Terrebonne formed in 1910 under the name Hillman. Residents combined the names of James Hill of the Great Northern Railway, and Edward Harriman, of Union Pacific, who had competed against each other to build a railroad into Central Oregon.

After a local real estate agent named Hillman came under scrutiny, the residents voted to change its town name to Terrebonne, French for good earth.

Terrebonne grew following the arrival of the Oregon Trunk Line in 1911. W.T. Johnson founded Terrebonne Oregonian newspaper in 1911. He served as editor and operated until 1913, when the paper was sold to the Tumalo Times.