The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1918-01-23

names none but st. Afary's peak re-
mains.
The Shoshone Indians. an allied |
branch OF the Selfish tribe. called the
Bitter Root mountains Ko-Nah. Their
name for the Bitter Root river was
SPIT Lem. This name was applied in
discriminatory to all streams. The val
ley was known rs SPIT Lem En-.
'.Plaee Of Sparkling Water
The name Missoula. meaning
place Of ambush or terror. according
TO Father Paladino. is contradicted by
Duncan Mcdonald. who says that the
name comes from the coyote legends
of the Flathead tribe. meaning the
place Of sparkling water
THE f'lathead Indians particularly"
said Mr.. Stone. had significant names
for streams. All Of these have been
dropped. The euphoniOus name that
the Indians had for the Mission noun
,ains was Sinyaleman. The same name
was applied to Mission creek and sig
nified place of surprise the Fiat
heads having attacked and defeated a
Blackfeet war party in a battle on this
creek.
Biaekfeet Protest.
The names which the Blackfeet had
for the places of remarkable scenery
in Glacier park were beautiful and in
most cases connected with Indian Leg
ends. These names have given place
to English ones of no meaning what
ever In a letter to the secretary Of
the interior the tribe protested against
this. saying: we did not realize how
generally the white people have given
their names to our mountains. lakes.
and streams. We have been deeply
grieved because of this. The foolish
name Trick Falls has been given to
the falls of our virgin woman warrior.
| Running Eagle. The name McDermott
| has been given to our Beaver Woman's
| Lake. Another instance has come~&o
| us of n man who requested that his
name be given to a peak because he
had visited the park twice. The name
was given without question"
Deer Lodge Remains.
| Deer Lodge is one of the few places
that keeps the Indian name" said Mr..
Stone Long ago, before the country
was settled the deer used to winter
around the warm springs which kept
the grass green gall winter. For this
reason the Indians called the place the
lodge of the white tailed deer and the
name has remained.
| However" said Mr.. Stone in con-
clusion. 1--WE must be hopeful that in
the future Indian names will be re-
stored and applied in naming new
places. and in the meanwhile be thank
full that we have not been so unfor-
tunate as Arizona with such names ms
Flagstaff and Tombstone. There was
an effort made in Gallatin valley to
change the name of Bohemian creek.
named for one OF the most redonbtable
scouts OF pioneer days. to Sour Dough
creek. AS far az | know the change
was not made. / think az time goes
on the popular feeling on this subject
OF names will lead to the gradual res
toration Of adoption Of Indian names in
naming geographic landmarks"
i 10 important Matter.
"The matter OF properly naming
streams, mountains and the like is one
OF real importance" said +. A. Fem
assistant district forester Of district No
In Washington d. e. the board OF
geographic names il engaged in selec
ting suitable names for such places In
the entire country. At present natural
features are too often designated by
local names regardless OF their fitness
and irrespective of the places in tho
|same locality that bear identical names.
Frequently local points of interest win
given names that are peculiarly apt in
view of some physical characteristic,
or because of some notable occurrence,
Long prior to the time when the white
man came into this region. the aborig
| ines had names that characterized
special places with more fitness than
any Of the names that the white man
f'as since chosen to apply, inasmuch as
the particular name given would set
1t apart from any other spot in the
locality.
Names Must be Preserved.
Not only because OF the sentiment
| involved in retaining these original
designations. but because of the eu-
rhonious qualities, it should be of in
terest to every citizen that the names
IA 4 n Il