Name that waterfall?

[BrianEdwards]

The name 'Grand Union' always seemed different. I wondered if the trail construction had a special location nearby, a prominent figure had met their spouse there, etc. Now it makes sense, in a rather less-exciting, less-historical manner than I had assumed. Thanks for the info nonetheless!

[Sore Feet]

Late to this party, but thought I'd chime in.

I've been calling the two falls: Blue Grouse (id above as Grand Union) and Upper Eagle (id above as 7 Mile falls).

Not sure what the naming source is for "Grand Union", but Greggory Plumb ("Waterfall Lovers of the Pacific Northwest" author) has used Blue Grouse for a couple of decades.

Plumb has a rather tenuous history of not researching the content of his waterfall books quite as thoroughly as he maybe should. He often will use a generic "placeholder" type name when he hasn't been able to find the correct one (though to be fair, a lot of the data I've uncovered over the years has been rather obscure), and he frequently identifies waterfalls on the wrong stream, or in the wrong location, or in a few cases has assumed a waterfall to be an entirely different feature - in one case he made an assertion in the first three volumes of his book that a 100 foot waterfall existed where there is in fact no waterfall at all. He just used "Blue Grouse" because it was a nearby landmark (Blue Grouse Camp) that could be used as a reference. As Tom stated there is pretty significant local precedent behind the name Grand Union. I don't see him referring to anything as "Upper Eagle" though - he does call Twister Falls "Eagle Creek Falls" though, again just a generic title for lack of knowledge otherwise.

Another waterfall name I've noticed is Multnomah Creek's Weisendanger Falls, used for the lower cascade of Double Falls. I remember when this plaque was installed on the rocky overhang bellow the falls and remarked "when did this happen." I wonder what the upper cascade of Double Falls is named now?

"Double Falls" was never an official name, it was again just a title that Plumb used to refer to the falls in his books. "Weisendanger" was officially adopted as the name of that waterfall in 1997, but the usage among the Forest Service personel who proposed it may have extended back several more years. Before that it was more frequently known as Upper Multnomah Falls than anything else. The upper of Plumb's two "Double Falls" is known as Ecola Falls, and while this name has not apparently been ratified and adopted by the USGS GNIS officially, the Forest Service does recognize it as official.