Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-09-19
THE EVENING STAR FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 10 10000 PAGES
ODD NAMES OF PLACES
UNPRoNoUNCEABLE INDIAN DEs-
DONATIONS IN MAINE.
Interesting Facts Found in q Recent
Bulletin by Prof. dannett OF the
Geological Survey.

Maine is the original home of chewing
gum. It was not until Prof. Gannett OF
the United States geological survey, char-
| man of the board Of geographic names, pre-
pared his bulletin Of 10000 name places that
the American public realized the necessity
| OIL the gum chewing habit in Maine 1t is
jocularly said that it Is absolutely neces-
sary for the people Of that state TO keep
their jaws in constant practice to pronounce
the names Of most Of the towns, rivers and
lakes Soothing tourists declare that the
| brakemen on the fast trains seldom finish
one name before the next station Is reached
and the stranger coughs and looks pleasant
when asking the way to Aboljackarmegas
or Abocadneticook. Most of the names are
Indian and mean something, but the Indian
language is largely made up OF grunts,
hard to spell and harder still to pronounce:
AboljackarmegaS means bare, or bold,
while Abocadneticook is "a stream mar
rowed by the mountains" Here are some
of the names:
Abahtacook, "a stream that runs parallei
with a big river
Acknowledgements Smoked Fish Point -
Agamenticus, ION the other side of the
river"
Alamoosook, great dog place.
Allagash, bark cabin lake"
Ambajeejus, two rocks, one on top of
the other.
Ambejemackomas, little cross pond L. :.
compelled to drag his canoe"
Caucomgomoc, big gull lake"
Cheputnaticook, great hill lake."
Cobbosseecontee. place where sturgeon
are taken"
Damariscotta, place of little fishes.'
Eskutassis, small trout
Eskweskwewadjo. "she-bear mountain"
kenduskeag, little eel river
kennebunk, where he thanked him.
Lapompiaue rope stream"
Madawaska. where one river empties
into another"
Matanaucook, place of bad lands
Mattahumkeag, sand creek pond
Mattawamkeag, down stream which
empties into a river
kaskeeseehunk, little spruce brook. y
Mounkus, "a short stretch of high land
on a small stream"
Mooselookmeguntic. where the hunters
watch the moose at night.
Nesowadnehunk, stream among the
mountains.
Passadumkeag, falls running over a
gravel bed"
Patagumkis, "sandy-ground cove"
Pemadumcook, lake of the sloping noun
tain
Pemaquid. Tong point"
Pesconeamoc. divided lake"
Piscasset, white stone"
Pockwocamus, mud pond"
Sagadahoc, mouth of the river
Sawadabscook, place Of large smooth
rocks.
Umcolus, "whstling duck
Winnegance beautiful river
A Number Of Odd Names.
Professor Gannett has evidently picked
out some of the easy ones, not having
room in his bulletin for the long, hard
names. Alaska, with it's Russian names,
and Florida and Wisconsin probably come
next to Maine in difficult names. The bull
letin also discloses the derivation of some
of the odd names of the country. Califor-
mia has an Angel Island, Kansas a Barber,
Texas a Bee, Idaho a Berry, North Caro-
lima BERTHE, Michigan a Betsie, Ala
bama a Bibb, Kansas Bird. Colorado a
Bison, Nebraska a Blackbird, New York a
Bouquet, Texas a Deaf Smith, California
a Death and a Die All, Arizona a Dirty
Devil, Washington Disappointment, Wis
consin a Door, Texas an Eden, Michigan
an Elsie and Arizona an Emma, Arkansas
an Evening Shade, Tennessee February,
Michigan Fence, South Carolina a Fifty
Eight and Washington Flattery. Colo
RADIO has the Garden of the Gods, while
New York, of course, has Hell Gate. A
creek in Arizona is He'll Roaring. Homo
lulu has got into South Carolina, Jamaica
in New York, as is Java. Jeddo and Jeru-
salem. Niger Baby Hill is in Colorado
Ninety-six in South Carolina. Proctor
Knott is in Minnesota, Promised Land in
New York. Prosperity Is in South Caro-
| lima. Purgatory is in Colorado. Rabbit
Ears is a eak in Colorado and Raccoon a
creek in Pennsylvania.
Rawhide creek in Nebraska was so named
because a man was flayed on it's banks by
the Indians. st. John the Baptist is a par
| ish in Louisiana. Sheepeater is a cliff in
| the Yellowstone, named for tribe of In
| dams, the only known original occupants
| of the park. Skull Is a valley in Utah, and
| Skunk a stream in Iowa. The old Stamp
| ing Ground is In Kentucky. Sylvan Grove
| is in Kansas, Tin Cup in Colorado Tomb
| stone is of course, In Arizona, and Toma-
| hawk in Wisconsin. Tom Green county Is
| in Texas. Yell is a county in Arkansas
| and Yellow Medicine a county in Mime
| sofa.
| Professor Gannett's bulletin by no means
| gives all the odd names in the United
| States, and that Is not the object Of the
| compilation. He is seeking to make list
| of the most common names whose deriva-
| ton is not obvious and to give the most
| reliable derivation, giving several authori-
| ties where there is dispute which cannot
| be decided.