The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1899-05-13
HE DIDN'T LIKE SPANISH.
A Judge Who Loved Plain English
Names Misled by Local
Pronunciation.


In any ease in Colorado courts in
yolying land titles much depends ON
derivation Of title from this or that
Spanish grant Sooner or later this
brings up metes and bounds which are
as Spanish and foreign as recent war
map. Wise lawyers having case in
yolving these particulars try to get IL
set for hearing by some judge other
than Judge Hallett. for he is known
and every other Spanish thing.
In territorial days. when he had but
recently been appointed TO organize
that circuit, he had To listen 10 a case
which involved the ownership of nearly
a quarter of the territory, all the land
along the Arkansas valley from the
divide almost TO the eastern boundary
line. Day after day he had to listen 10
IA recital of the positions OF the various
floating and fixed grants included in
the litigated domain. Ii had none of
the simplicity of the checkerboard sys-
TEN of the United States land office,
where Twp II 6 Denver merid.' es-
'ablishes definite and fixed spot as 10
which there can be no arguing Instead
OF this the grant line began at Santa
Maria and then trailed off TO San Juan,
tLen il cut oil To SAINT lago and be-
fore il was finished, il had managed to
include fair share of the saints of the
calendar and more than a trifle of Odds
and ends of theology. As saint sue
ceeded saint IN the presentation of the
case, Judge Hallett grew more and
more irritable; still il was impos sible
10 leave out single saint, for broad
acres and many dollars were depend
ing on just this proof of ownership.
When II was felt that the Judge had
reached tha swapping point OF nervous
tension lucky swing of the boundary
line carried il for few miles clear both
OF saints and Spanish; on this stretch
il was established by the banks and
channels of the Picket Wire river. As
soon as Judge Hallett caught the name
he frightened up and seemed TO take
a new and livelier interest in the case.
Gentlemen" he said, lit Is a relief
TO come TO n name like this among all
this Spanish lumber that ought 70 be
swept off our maps. Picket Wire, home
~ name. but American. You can inn
agine the naming Some hardy Amer
lean is on his way over these ,patLless
prairies. He camps alongside the river.
his rope is mislaid, he pickets his horse
with bit of wire as the next best thing,
the circumstance fixes the place in his
mind. That is the way American en-
ergy names the country; every name
has some such little history; each has
landmark TO be respected"
After this burst of enthusiasm the
bench appeared puzzled. AS the delImi-
tation of the boundary continued the
Judge was seen TO be engaged in some
sort OF struggle with the maps At
last he interrupted the counsel and
said that he was forced to ask him TO
point out the Picket Wire river, which
was not laid down on the map supplied
the court.
Counsel made haste to explain that
the name of the river was not pro-
nounced as il was spelled, and that he
lad employed the common pronuncia-
ton.
$50 much the better, said Judge Hal.
lett. testify. How 1t may be with this
Spanish rubbish | don't know and
don't care, but in a plain American
name like this there is only one way
10 pronounce ii, and that is the way
the plain American people pronounce
it--Piclxet Wire. Point it out on the
map"
Council touched his pencil to the map
al the name Purgatoire river. TO which
he had given the pronunciation en-
Iloyed on the plains. Judge Ha.lett
barked out: THE court takes cogni.
zance," and the case went on.
AS the judge had expressed himself
In terms OF such characteristic appreci-
alton OF the name of the river as car
rying the genuine American ring to IL,
there was not member of that bar
who deemed il advisable to instruct the
court as TO how the name came TO pass.
| The old French trappers of that region
Of the Rockies had named the river
after the place which is between Heaven
and hell. The American cowboys. TAX
Jag the name by way of the ear, did not
recognize IL as Purgatory river. but
4, tiled on Picket Wire as the nearest
approach to the sound they heard
y. Y. Sun.
A Curious Industry.
~ ,.kat a. Ipn.v,,