Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-02-17
LANGUAGE OF TIE MAP
STORIES TOLD BY PLACE NAMES
IN UNITED STATES.
influence Of English, Spanish and In
dian Tongles on American Geog-
raphy-Taste in Nomenclature.
From St. Nicholas.

T8puY-1aSLS III n0meuCl6CuIcs
From st. Nicholas
Do girls and boys of today. on glancing
over map Of the United States, wonder at
the strange tumble of names from many
sources? In no other country is this so no.
ticeable. In England, for example, though
the ancient islanders. the Romans. the Sax
ons. the Danish invaders and the Normans
all are represented In the geographical
names. time and usage have modified and
familiarized the words to such an extent
that any sense of strangeness is lost. Ches-
ter. for example. impres.ses one as an espe-
cially English word, and yet 1t really is
modification of the Latin castra Camp,
and dates from the first military occupa-
ton of the island by the Romans. 1t is
the same. by the way. as the ending ches-
ter or cester. used In such words as Vim
chester Worcester and Gloucester.
Other old countries such as Germany and
France and Italy, also have their lists OF
names from many times and many Ian
guages.
When the western hemisphere was dis
covered 1t was inhabited by scattered or
wandering tribes. OF course, these primt-
tive peoples had names for their noun
tains, lakes. streams and villages many of
, "AASh WCiS duOPttu Wy llt Ntiitc hiGH WIZ
took possession.
In the United States we find Indian"
names In profusion from ocean to ocean.
All the great lakes except Superior. the
largest rlvers-Mississippi, Missouri Ohio,
Arkansas countless other natural fea-
lures, such as rivers. lakes, mountains and
valleys, bear names of Indian origin. SO
do majority of our forty-five states, to
say nothing of counties and towns Many
of striking beauty-as for instance,
Tippecanoe. Minnehaha, Susquehanna, Ala
bama-and while some harsh, they
seem somehow to Eft remarkably well.
Immediately on the discovery Of the new
world explorers fiocked TO it, and colonies
Were soon founded. The territory now in
cluded in the United States was entered al
most at the same time from several sides.
The earliest naturally were the Spaniards,
who founded st. Augustine in Florida and
Santa Fe In New Mexico In less than a
century after Columbus first voyage. Their
settlements were confined to the warmer
regions, and 1t is In Florida and the south
west. together with the Pacific coast. that
we find the Spanish names most thickly
Sprtnkled. OF state names we have inher-
tied from them California, Colorado Flor
ida, Nevada and Arizona. They named for
US also the Sierra Nevada (''Snowy Saw
mountains, Blanca Peak. the Llano Esta-
cado the Rio Grande and the Colorado
river. From them come all the Sans" and
'Santas,' as San Francisco, San Antonio,
San Joaquin. Santa Barbara: names that
use the article ell los or las as Ell Paso,
FL Moro, Los Angeles Las Animas: and
such words as Sacramento Trinidad and
Pueblo
English Settlements.
Early in the seventeenth century the
English made settlements at various points
on the Atlantic coast, notably in Virginia
Maryland Pennsylvania and in New Eng
land. Like immigrants of all ages, they
sought to bring with them some reminder
of the old home by bestowing familiar
names of new places hence the great num-
Der OF News'-New York, New London,
New Hampshire, New Jersey; hence
Plymouth, Worcester, Dover. etc Honor
was often shown to distinguished patrons
py naming colonies or cities after them, as
III Baltimore. Delaware and Maryland. IN
some cases these were given their Latin
forms by explorers of classical taste as
Georgia, In honor Of King George II; the
Carolinas, in honor of Charles II and Vir-
ginia for Elizabeth, the virgin queen and
Nova Scotia or New Scotland In Penn
sytvania we see the two ideas combined
Penn the founders name, with the Latin
suffix sylvania (woodland) to describe the
nature of the country.
Meantime third force had been at work
The valley of the st. Lawrence was visited
early by adventures and missionaries from
France, who combined the religious instruc-
ton of the natives with very extensive and
romantic exploration. Up the St Lawrence
over the great lakes and through the dense
forests they forced their way, discovering
and travelling upon the Mississippi the
Missouri and the Ohio, besides many
smaller streams Among the notable ex-
plorers of this great inland region were
the Chevalier de la Sale Joliet and the
priests known Father Marquette and
tather Hannepin. But these were only the
pioneers, and were followed by a host of
others who have left lasting reminders OF
their service in the names that dot the map
so thicNy In the Mississippi valley Lower
IN ha IaIr
region, such names Sault Ste Marie
Pressure Isle, Grand Marais and Point aux
Pins are common. All down the $500 miles
of the Father of Waters we find French
names, from st. Cloud and St. Croix in the
north. TO Chouteau and st. Louis mid
way, and Baton Rouge near the delta.
Swedes and Dutch.
These were the three great powers who
sought political and commercial control OF
the new world. and incidentally contributed
the largest proportion OF it's geographical
names. Feebler efforts and smaller con-
tribptions were made by the Swedes and the
Dutch; but except in the vicinity of New
York-originauy a Dutch city, and known
as New Amstepdam-these were unimport-
ant. The three fought long and bitterly
for supremacy. but In the end 1t was the
Saxon who prevailed. The two Latin pow
ers were dElven out. but the marks they had
made on the map were permanent. AS is
natural. each left It's deepest impress in
the region where 1t haS been supreme-the
SpaniaTd in the southwest, the Frenchman
In the Mississippi valley, while over both
swept the tide of Saxon speech as well as
military and civil power.
AS an illustration Of our very mixed as
sortment of names, We may take within a
single state the railway passes through
towns bearing such English names as Tur-
ner, Morris, Reading and Newton others
with such Indian names as Tecumseh,
Topeka, Wakarusa, Usage and Pawnee;
French as Choteau, Lecompton and Offerle;
Spanish, as De Soto and Cimarron. and
Greek Euroda, Empofia and Syracuse.
A well-known eastern railroad. in its list
of stations, mingles Unfortunately such
classical names as Batavia, Macedon,
Palmyra, Syracuse, Ithaca. Rnme. Troy
and lion, with others taken from French,
Dutch and various other modern Iangu ges.
The more recent immigrants have added
certain names, too. Several northwestern
states have been settled largely by people
,t~x.L