Balch Creek renaming rejected by state board
Effort to replace it with an indigenous name fails
An application to rename Balch Creek to remove association with the first person legally executed in Oregon was rejected by the Oregon Geographic Names Board on June 27.
Northwest Portland resident Nancy Helmsworth proposed renaming the stream Kulla Kulla Creek to honor indigenous people of the area. Kulla Kulla is the Chinuk Wawa word for bird.
According to the official minutes of the meeting, “Proponent Nancy Helmsworth spoke on behalf of the proposal. A vigorous discussion ensued with a number of members expressing their view that the proposal did not meet the renaming standards provided by the USGNB (United States Geographic Names Board).”
The board voted “do not pass” on the recommendation, 12-9, with one abstention.
Northwest Portland resident and historian Mike Taylor, who submitted testimony against the renaming, recommended that new names to honor native peoples may be appropriate for other features in Forest Park that have not been named.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danford_Balch
Danford Balch shot Mortimer Stump (26) because he married his daughter, Anna (15), against his wishes.
The Chinook were “prominent figures in the extensive slave trade network of the Pacific Northwest."
I take from this that Nancy and 9 of the 12 board members are a little less opposed to organized and hereditary slavery than child marriage.