The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1894-02-08
NAMES OF STATES.

| About Half Are Indebted to the Language
of the Indians.
OF tho forty-four states Of our union
| twenty-one 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 Dor
rowed the name of an Indian tribe.
The states which are indebted 10 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 pure Indian word, trans
lated by some authorities a. 1.-The beau
tiful land" and by others as 1.-The
sleepy ones" Kansas, said to mean
''smoly water" is the desig nation OF
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 1.-The dark
and bloody ground" while others say
the state is named from a phrase signi-
tying 'at the head of river" Mas
sachusetts was the name of 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 Iroouois tribe. signifies
great plains" The Indian names OK
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
brasks, "water valley" Ohio. ''beauti-
full river" Tennessee, river of the big
BEND" Wisconsin, wild, rushing river.
Names having personal significance
are: Delaware, from Lord Delaware,
the first governor of the Virginia colo
ny. Georgia, from George IL. king OF
England. Louisiana, from Lonis XIV,
of France. Maryland, from Henrietta
Marie, queen of Charles l., of England
North Carolina (also South Carolinal,
from Charles l., Carolina being the
feminine form of Charles New York
Dutch is named after the duke Of York,
who received a valuable grant of land
In 1864 from his brother Charles IL. of
England. Pennsylvania is ma AIMED after
William Penn, the termination being
from sylvia" latin, "a grove" Vir-
ginia is from Eliza beth, the virgin
queen Of England West Virginia was
until 1868 part Of Virginia Washing
ton takes its name from the father Of
his country"
A few states obtained their titles
from old world geographical designa-
tionx. Maine is supposed To have been
named BY early French settlers after
the old province of Maine in Franco
The county of Hampshire in old En-
gland furnished the name of the state OK
New Hampshire in New England New
Jersey as named in honor OF Sir George
Cartarst, who was governor Of the ISL
and Of Jersey in the English channel,
and held it for King Charles L "a his
contest with parliament
Descriptive names not of Indian
origin are: Colorado. from the span
ish, signifying red" or 'coiored:'
Florida, from the Spanish. meaning
"the fovery." so called by Ponce dc
Leon, in allusion TO the aspect Of the
country, and also because IL WAS hrst
visited by him on Pascua florida, or
Easter Sunday; Montana, from the
Spanish. signifying hill" Nevada,
from the Spanish. meaning white
with snow" Vermont. from the French
words "verd," green" and mont
mountain Rhode Island, from the
Dutch, corruption of Roode Islandt
cred Island J, so named because Of the
abundance Of eranberries growing
along the coast
There are three states concerning
which there is some doubt as TO the
origin of their names California 10
frst mentioned 10 the writings Of Ber-
nard Disz del Costello, an officer who
served under Cortez IN the conqoes: OF
Mexico One authority s.ys the name
was proba big found by Cortez ia .
Spanish romance entitled "Espian-
adam" published IN 1910, and another
thinks !. may have been derived from
the Spanish word ''calita' i''ez,sph"1.
Oregon Is said TO signify River In the
West II is also claimed 70 oorrse from
the spanish word ''oregano-- or wild