The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1894-02-17
NAMES or srATea.
About Half Are Indebted to tho Language
of tho Iusliaus.

Of the Indians.
OF the forty-fOur states OF our union
twenty-oue are named wholly or in
part from Indian languages. Some of
these titles are descriptive, others ex-
press sentiment or q fancy, and oc-
casionally the pale faces" have bor-
rowed the sname Of an Indian tribe
The states which are indebted to these
sources for their designations are: Ala
bama, which is a combination of words
signifying Here we rest" Connecti-
cut is from 'quah-na-ta-cut," or
"quinni-tuk-cut," meaning ION the
long river" Illinois is formed in part
of the Indian word "Illini," meaning
superior men," the termination being
French. Indiana is slight variation
of the term "Indian." Iowa is sup
posed to be a pure Indian word, trans
lated by some authorities as 'the beau
tiful land" and by others as "the
sleepy ones" Kansas, said to mean
''smoky water" is the designation of a
tribe which descended from the Osages
through the Dakotas Arkansas is the
same with the French prefix arc, "a
bow" Kentucky was originally kan
tuck-kee," which is interpreted by
some authorities as meaning "the dark
and bloody ground" while others say
the state is named from phrase signi-
flying ''at the head of a river" Mas
sachusetts was the name of a sub.tribe
of the Algonquins, and the term
also means about the great hills"
The Dakota Indians furnished the
name of the territory which has been
divided into two states, North and
South Dakota. Wyoming, another
name of the Iroquois tribe. signifies
great plains" The Indian names of
other states are. by general agreement,
translated as follows: Idaho, gem of
the mountains" Michigan, great
lake;" Minnesota, ''cloudy water;" Mis-
sissippi, ''great river" or ''father of
waters;" Missouri. muddy river;" Ne
braska, "water Valley" Ohio, "beauti-
tul rivers" Tennessee. river of the big
bend;" Wisconsin. wild. rushing river" I"
Names having personal significance
are: Delaware, from Lord Delaware
the first governor of the Virginia colo
ny. Georgia, from George H., king of
England. Louisiana, from Louis NV,
OF France. Maryland. from Henretti.
Marie queen of Charles l., of England
North Carolina (also South Curolina),
from Charles l., Carolina being the
feminine form of Charles New York
first called New Netherland by the
Dutch) is named after the duke of York
who received n valuable grant of land
in 1864 from his brother, Charles H., of
England. Pennsylvania is named after
William Penn, the termination being
from Sylvia" (Latin). "a grove" Vir-
ginia is from Elizabeth, the virgin
queen of England. West Virginia was
until 1868 part of Virginia. Washing
ton takes it's name from the father of
his country"
A few states obtained their titles
from old world geographical designa-
tions. Maine is supposed tn have been
named by early French settlers after
the old province of Maine in France
The county of Hampshire in old En-
gland furnished the name of the state of
New Hampshire in New England New
Jersey was named in honor of Sir George
Cartaret who was governor OF the ISL
and of Jersey in the English channel,
and held it for King Charles l. in his
contest with parliament.
Descriptive names not OF Indian
origin are: Colorado from the Span
ish. signifying red" Or "colored;''
Florida, from the Spanish meaning
''the flowery," SO called by Ponce de
Leon. in allusion to the aspect of the
country, and also because it was first
visited by him on Pascua Florida, or
Easter Sunday; Montana. from the
Spanish. signifying hill" Nevada,
from the Spanish, meaning white
with SHOWS" Vermont. from the French
words "verd," green" and mont
''mountain:" Rhode Island, from the
Dutch, corruption of Roole lslandt
cred island"), so named because of the
abundance of cranberries growing
along the coast.
There are three states concerning
which there is some doubt as to the
origin of their names. California is
first mentioned in the writings of Ber-
nard Diaz del Costello, an officer who
served under Cortez in the conquest of
Mexico. One authority says the name
was probably found by Cortez in a
Spanish romance entitled "Esplan-
adian," published in 1910, and another
thinks it may have been derived from
the Spanish word "califa" ('caliph'J.
Oregon is said to signify ''River in the
West" 1t is also claimed to come from
the Spanish word "oregano," or wild
marjoram. a plant which grows abund-
antly on the Pacific coast. 1t is said of
Texas ~ that the name is of Spanish
origin; (2) that it WAS the collective
title of numerous aboriginal tribes; (8)
that 1t is an Aztec term, signifying
''north ountry."-Rochester Demo
crat-