Clackamas family name is finalist for Oregon City park name

By Danielle Frost

OREGON CITY -- A well-known Clackamas Tribal family name is one of four finalists for a new Oregon City community park.

Grand Ronde Cultural Resources Department Manager David Harrelson was contacted by Oregon City officials about a month ago to suggest a name since the area is part of the Tribe’s, specifically the Clackamas Chinooks’, ceded lands.

“I suggested that it be named Wacheno Park because if I could think of a name that fits the place, choosing the treaty signing chief for the Clackamas people that many are descended from today is a very worthy name,” Harrelson said.

John Wacheno signed the Willamette Valley Treaty of 1855 as chief of the Clackamas. Additionally, Victoria Howard, one of the primary tellers of the Clackamas Chinook narratives and traditions who died in 1930, was married to Dan Wacheno, whom she raised nine children with before their divorce.

Former Tribal Council Chair Reyn Leno and current Chairwoman Cheryle A. Kennedy are direct descendants of Wacheno.

Oregon City is now asking for community members to help determine which of the four names will be chosen via an online survey that runs through Sept. 30 at www.surveymonkey.com/r/QK7VHZH.

The park is currently in the planning process and will include an open lawn area, playground, picnic shelter, boardwalk, walking path system and off-leash area.

When Harrelson was first contacted, officials were pondering “Clowewalla Park” as one of the finalist names. However, it is representative of the indigenous peoples who lived on the West Linn side of Willamette Falls, not the Oregon City side.

“The name ‘Wacheno Park’ reflects the people and the place,” he said.

More than 400 names for the 9.1-acre park were initially submitted over a five-week period. The park is located in the Caufield neighborhood at the intersection of Glen Oak Road and High School Avenue.

The other three nominees are Caufield Creek Park, Tyrone S. Wood Memorial Park and Waldo Caufield Memorial Park.