The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1910-05-13
NAMED by IHE INDIANS
Riyersand Towns inthe United.
States Bearing Their TILES.
REASON FOR EACH ONE.

SEA0Slia FGlN EhNSt1i SliNl-
Commission ApPointe.l q TRANSLATE
Them into Concise, Correct Eng
fish some Powerful Traditions
,egend u HlaWatha Many
Historical Landmarks,
Tine commission appointed BY the
Goyethmeht to translate into con-
else, correct English al Indian
name found III the ographs 81 the
iJnited States has on It's hands 4 Job
% great magnitude as may beiconis
pretended when 1t Is considered
that more than 6, 900 names, now
iixed to Eatous points between
Maine and California and the Cana
dian line The RIO Grande. coninefilt
crate the fact that the red man once
was sole posssssoF Or The land The
names Of his chiefs and Of his tribes
are forever fixed N MEMORY. Indian
traditions are perpetuated and must
cal Indian words have been lncor-
porated into our tongue, a legacy Of
poetry and romance even In this
practical age!
Every name the Indian gave
meant something, says the Washlhg-
ton Star. ne left to- his paleiaeed
brother the abBurdities Of preaxlng
to. 300 towns and settlements the
stale descriptive terms east, west,
north, south; he left to the White
man the confusion Of thirty.tSree
springhelds Ii one hntoh, not a nth
of which were ever built In a field or
by a spring: ot Pinecilles without q
pine, oakdalss without an oak,
Weymouths and Plymouths that are
not at the. mouth of the Wey. the
Plym, or any other river; or Mount
|gyernons twenty-five strong. many OF
them without even a hill to their
credit, and Of 1000 New Hayens,
New Yorks, New-towns and New
very-thing-else, all of which have
long since ceased to be new.
Not so with the Indian. He
pitched his wigwam beside the
stream. Through the curling waters
the long dark stone on the rivers
bed looked like offers at play, and
forthwith the camping place re-
celved the name It bears to-day-
Kalamazoo 'stones=like-ottersn in
| the Indian tongue. Again, he saw a
river bank a pine tree wreathed In
flames: for hours 1t threw its torch
like glare over the landscape, as
would have beamed the glow Of
Some council FIRE fed by attendant
warriors, and Potomac that region
became, a literal translation Of
which is. the place Of the burning
pine, that resembles a codncil fire."
Poughkeepsie Is "a safe harbor for
place, of DEER; Ontario, the village,
ION the mountain; Saranac, the
river that flows under the rock"
Winona, MINI, has beautifulle-
gend. Winona "tirst-born daugh-
Ter" was the child of a stern war
rior. He babe her marry one Of the
notable braves Of his people. She
loved another. Rather than marry.
the brave, whom she hated, she
threw herself from the cliff of the
Maiden's Leap, that overlooks the
point where the Mississipbi's waters
flow through Lake Pepin, and be-
meath the rivers turbulent waters
found the peace that was denied her
on earth. Another Minnesota le-.
gend, that of MInnehaha recalls to
most minds Iongfellow's famous
poem. He, however. took the usual
poets license In the matter. In the
real legend. Mlnnehatia. Laughing
water did not become the bride Of
Hiawatha. but was crossed in love.
In her despair she sought the falls
of Minnehaha, after which she had
been named, Here, over a preclplce
sixty feet high, she took the fatal
leap. " q @ "
An indian traditions are not sor-
rowful. Quite the reverse in many
cases, as the story Of the namingot
Wakarusa, Kan will show. oncea
party Of Indians on the trail were
stopped in their progress by a sEol;
len and angry looking stream. Deep
water, bad bottom!" grunted the
braves; hesltatihg at the brink of the
river. unwilling 10 turn back, doubt:
ing that they could cross. At length
an indian crept UP behind his
squaw, who was seated on small
indian pony, and deliberately push;
ed pony, sauaS, and all over the
bank into the rapid, muddy current
meanwhile looking stoicaIly onto
see whether she would gain the op-
poslte bank in safety or drown be.
Fore his ewes. The astonished and