Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1909-12-02
INDIAN PLACE NAMES.

INDIAN PLACE NAMES.
O. 8 +. In the PlattsbuTgh starr
How often the question is asked
"Vha, Is the meaning OF the Indian
name Of this place? and how seldom
tho question is answered, even by life
long residents OF the place.
We ere reputed tn he practical. busy
nation of money petters. and vet there
are many of us who have Inherited our
citizenship through the three centuries
since Jamestown and plymouth. who are
not utterly Indifferent to what may be
called the sentimental history of our
country That there are both sentiment
and history in the names given by the
Indians to objects In nature and to the
places where our ancestors built settle
ments which In many instances. have
grown into cities, is beyond doubt.
Those who are interested in the sub
iect ind cause fof regret that the care
lessness Of ORTHODOXY and photography on
the part Of our ancestors has been the
means Of losing both the musical sound
of the Indians descriptive names and
their poetic meaning.
"Masthope" a town in Pike county.
Pennsylvania. is an instance and when
this rude corruption Is compared with
the original a-sha--pi. Uhe vowels be-
ing given the long sound rs, Mar-shar-
peel the mental Incidence or the dullness
Of the circular nerves, OF our ancestors
may he appreciated. Not only is the
pleasant sound lost, hut Masthope means
nothing whereas. Ma-sha-pi Is a
Lonape Indian otherwise known as
Delaware word meaning. beads-of- glass
and doubtless refers to a transaction be-
tween the settlers and Indians in which
the brlght-colored beads. so highly val
ued by tho Indians. were given in ex-
change FOR the land the settlers desired
and thus bought.
Another instance is "Skunkscut." the
name Of a high hill in middle Connecti-
cut. This Is corruption of kong-scut
tmuch more pleasant to the ear well
as less suggestive of something unpeas-
anti word derived from honcksit,
meaning goose-country.
It Is interesting to notice in this con-
nection that the expression "Everything
is lovely and the goose hangs high" used
to convey the knowledge that the cond-
tons in all particulars are favorable,
really should be-and the goose honcks
high. "Honck," the cry of the goose in
fight, being the Indian name for that
bird.
INDIAN PLACE-NAMEs DESCRIP-
TIVE.
The names given by the Indians to OBJ
jects in nature and to localities We're de-
scriptvc of what seemed to them their
most striking features, or characteristics.
SO 1t frequently happened that the same
object or locality was known by two
or three different names and that each
name would he perfectly descriptive.
AS an instance of what is meant: In
dians from the mountains of Virginia
seeing the locality where y champion
Mass, now is, would be most impressed
by the fact that it Is great valley and
they would give it name describing
it as such. Other Indians from the arid
regions of the Southwest would be most
impressed by its great fertility, and the
Connecticut river, so they would natur-
| ally call it-fertile land on-the side OF n =
great river possibly some such cobiUa-
tion rs mettews -tul-ut. literally. black
earth water lace-of. Still others from
| the fiat. low-lylng portion OF southern
New Jersey would be most impressed by
the two isolated rocky mountains tMt
, rom ana MI. itOlyOkel between which
| the Connecsicut flows, so they would
| give Il name as truly descriptive as the
others
In the majority of instances. when M
| object in nature or place was known
by more than one Indian name. 1t was
! due to exactly such causes The town
and lake, Chautauqua. in New York, /.
an excellent instance of what Is mean,
/ for ii is said to be derived from Indian
words meaning. foggy place; bas-tied.
int middle lin reference to its
shape; place where-a child was washed
away: place-of-easy- death: place where
one was lost and. according to DR.. Peter
Wilson, an educated gentleman Of the
| Seneca tribe, place where the fsh-w
/ taken-out. Swampscott. Mass, is anoth-
or instance, for it was known to the In
/ dian as pleasant water place; red-rocl
! and broken waters.
NAMES MISPLACED.
\ source or great confusion. for per-
| sons who are interested in the study of
| Indian place-names, was the habit OF the
settlers Of Fitting the name Of n certain
definite object or place and carrying /,
miles away to be applied to an object
or locality which II in no way described