Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1863-10-29
Nomenclature.

The Aurora Times does not Ike the
name of Washoe for our new State, and
the Humboldt Register objects to the pop
ular change of that of Lake Bisler to Lake
Tahoe. There is no dsputing about tastes.
We bow to the shoe-ties of our editorial
brethren, and confess that our fancy doth
most seriously incl inc in favor of both the
"hoes." In the words of the poet
People will differ in opinion
Some likes a orange some likes inyun."
Our Aurora friend prefers Nevada as
the name for the State upon the score of
euphony, and despises, loathes and abhors
the aboriginal name of Washoe, the sound
Of which it considers outlandish, barbar-
GUS, and altogether damnable. We admit
that Nevada is rather a melliAuous word,
and by no means an uncomely name for
State. 1t has, however, its objections.
1t is word in ordinary Use in the Span
ish language, signifying " deep snow" 1t
is quite a common name for localities
where the unusual depth of the snow is
n distinguishing characteristic, and from
its common use is Invested of that dis
Effectiveness which is a desirable charac-
teristic on the name of State. The
Spanish use of the word as a name for the
lofty and snow-clad range of mountains
which divide us from California, is very
descriptive and therefore eninently pro-
per; but it is not at all descriptive of this
Territory as whole, any more than
..Agua Caliente" would be, because there
are hot springs at Steamboat, or 4" Burro,
because there may be jackasses in Aurora.
As TO the name of WaShoe, so far as the
harshness of the word is concerned, we
are, perhaps, from the parchment-like ma
ture OF the tympanum of our ear, not
qualified to judge. 1t looks very well
however, in print and it certainly is not
liable to the objection of being common.
What under Heaven it means we have not
the remotest idea, and having no Pi-Ute
dictionary in our library, we cannot as
certain. 1t may or may not be descrip-
tive of the face of the country; it may
mean sage BRUSH" and if so, it Is highly
appropriate, and we shall insist all the
harder bully for Washoe." 1t has been
Washoe from that far-off antiquity when
the great aboriginal ancestor of all the
Pi-UuteS, fatiguedin an all day fruitless
chase of the first jackass rabbit, sat down
beneath the outrageous shade of the first
sage-brush, and Staying his first grass-hop-
per, ate his first square meal, and then lay
down and slept the sweet sleep of savage
innocence, nor dreamed of lodes nor
. indications" Down through the long
. ages that have changed the names of all
the mighty nations of the "buried past"
and seen Britain change to England, Gale
donna to Scotland, Gaul to France. and
Hangtown to Placerville, Washoe has
still remained Washos, and shall remain
.Washoe forever. If the Aurora man does
not like it he can leave, and We will send
some of our old type and hand-press
, down there, and start paper ourselves
that will startle the Inadvertently $5
yea r, Invariably IN adrance.
AS to the objection of our Humboldt
friend, to the change in the name of the
most beautiful mountain lake that ever
mirrored the clouds and stars of heaven,
we can only account for it on the impro-
bable hypothesis, that there is on the wide
face of earth one living, moving. scrib-
bling survivor, who admires John Bigler
as a statesman, politician, and man,
10 an extent that makes even that disgust
ing name sound of music to his. ear.
And that man lives in Humboldt. When
he comes back to the white settlements,
and becomes re-civilized and enlightened,
he'll get over the Bigler notion. He has
not heard that Bigler's name has been a
by-word and a seofing any time these
many, many years gone by, and has never
been seen in print, save when type and
printers ink was prostituted to the print
ing of Copperhead tickets. This misera-
BILE toad-eating practice of naming States
territories, mountains, rivers, etc., after
living men, who, from some chance, draw
in the dirty lottery of politics, a brief
eminence, should come to an end, and
where the folly has been enacted at suf-
fciently recent date to admit of amend
ment, it should be done in time. Whena
man has passed from life, md his history
is ended, and that life has been pure,
blameless, patriotic and deserving of glo-
rious immo rtality, it may be well to give
such an enduring honor to perpetuate his
memory. But so long as man lives he
is liable to err and fall from fame to igno-
miny. Bigler never had any fame to fall
from, and so is not an example, but in
stances are not wanting. We well re-
member when the Legislature of Califor-