The Palatka news and advertiser. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1908-19??, 1912-08-02
THE CLYDE'S new
RIVER STEAMER
To be Named for Indian Chief
or Nation.


Florida institution of which all of u
are proud and if we give this notabl,
corporation advice or seem TO be med
ding in its business, let it be assured
that it is family matter and we are onl,
seeking, like Jack Horner, 10 draw
plumS from the pie. Therefore, tt
business.
The announcement that the Clyde
would build new steamer for the St
Johns river especially adapted TO the
business, caused ripple of excitemen
in all this section. Very promptly San
ford and Palatka asked for permission tc
chriSten the baby, but there were diff
cullies. Vice President Raymond say,
he highly appreciates the good will oi
all his friends and patrons along the
river but he is confronted by an eStab
liShed rule that "the ships of the line
must be named Tor Indian chiefs or ma
tionS." The rule is good one even il
it does seem to bar out these applicants
let us sec.
Palatka does not insist that the boat
be called The City of Palatka; she
would appreciate just as highly the use
of her name. But that name is not dis.
tinctive OF her site. There was palat.
kahaha where Jacksonville now stands
and another al Tocoi and another at the
northern end of Lake Monroe which is
sufficiently near TO give show for San
ford. Why would not the name Palat,
ka prove a compliment to these three
communities, all patrons OF the line, as
well as to many others? Because Palat-
ka is not the name of an Indian nation
or chief. says Mr.. Raymond. All right:
why go TO bad Indian nations like the
ATapahoeS and ComancheS who are dis
tant ones when we have good Indians
belonging TO our own territory?
When the first white men sailed into
the St. Johns its whole valley and the
country contiguous from Fernandina to
Cape Canaveral, westward TO the upper
edge of the Everglades and across near
ly 10 Ocala was held by the Timuquans
"a distinctive nationality, OF high
qualities and most handsome appearance.
Why would not Timuqua prove an ac-
Ceptable name for the new steamer if
the name of tribe be desired? The
name would well cover the country
tributary 10 the business that will be
done by river sleamer-it is euphon-
iouS, appropriate and distinctive.
When the Frenchmen on ST. Johns
Bluff or Fort Caroline had exhausted
the hospitality of the sub chief in their
vicinity they were eXhorted 10 visit the
head chief and met him on the bluff at
Palatka, afterwards occupied by the
Larkin House and then by the Presby-
terian church. The meeting was most
picturesque and the chief proved him
self every inch man-hiS name was
Outina. If the name of a chief be de
sired why would not Palatka accept that
of the man who originally presided over
her deStinieS when, as now, "Palatka
had not one vacant reSidence?"
But if the fates prove kinder 10 San
ford than TO Palatka, Mr.. Raymond
should remember that Mellonville was
the primitive Sanford. There, when
the noble Timuquan race had been re.
duced to a handful of desperate warriors
and fugitive women and children, its
last chief fought his best fight and drew
upon himself the admiration of friends
and foes. Caocoochee stood to the at
tack on the fort at Mellonville with the
bravery he always showed in battle and
his men came out OF cover TO offer their
naked breasts to the rifles of the white
man. Sanford might we'll ask that the
steamer be named Caocoochee in her
honor. A nobler red man is not known
in our annals-a stouter foe, a firmer
friend nor a more devoted patriot.
While we honor LeonidaS and George
Washington we need not look else.
where for better name than that OF
Caocoochee, the Timuquan wild cat
who rightly claimed lordShip over all
the St. Johns valley and the waters
thereof as the lineaI descendant of line
of chieftains reaching back uncountcd
ages.
For Jacksonville we only ask that the
Clydes do not seek Indian nations or
native chiefs in the WcSt-we can give
them good Florida names for all their
ships even when these have increased
to the limit of their desires and of our
hopes. Palatka and Sanford and Jack.
Sonville and all the rest of US might join
in asking for the name Timuqua.