The Big Sandy news. [volume] (Louisa, Ky.) 1885-1929, 1921-02-25
ORIGIN OF NAMES
OF GREAT STATES
WM. e. coNNELLEY. HISTORIAN.
SAYS ORIGINAL OF kENTuc.
KY MEANS LAND OF
TOMORROW" ~

vi Z.
I Gently visited HIS sister Mrs. rhoa. 81.
Luther, at Louisa)
I columbus, Ohio, February liz. one 90
! the traditional exercises OF students M
recent history IN 10 dispute over NE
origin OF the name OF the state OF OhAo.
i u If. I" be more precise, q disagree
fnent over the origin OF the name Of
the mighty river after which the state
was christcned, 40 to speak.
There Ore perhaps round dozen OF
th"ories. many of them based upon
misty legends, or confusion OF tongugH
almost as pronounced al that M R,lbei
Much OF this can be applied 10 sha
lrdns=ohio state OF Kentucky
. lMlioiogical science which traced our
descent from the Aryan stock. n no~
being employed TO clear away the ~
A'Ss& errors which have been pr
petuAted through dependence upos,
popular TILES Like most primitive, p,.n.
plea. the Indians gave names 10 local.
lies Tor geographical reasons. the az
tepiions being TO mark scenes OF eru,,
occurrences or 10 glorify the yanity 81
chiefs and medicine men This e,,-
tom has been OF great service TO ths
Investigator, who uses the language ~
tue tribes TO whom tho naming Was -
'r.huted IN order to discover the rAe,i
meaning .... -"
Name Derived From River.
. On" OF these Inquiries, William =.
Honmily. an Illinois historianh has maua
public the result Of his nburs upon III,
nhincs OF the states In the AlssIsaippi
valley He finds that Onto got !ts sftI,4
from the river that marks its cnatarn
ana southern boundaries, but h. danIesf
VITA NiEor that the French, who cnlle.t
~ Ia B"llc liivierG''-@LhU bssautifu
river ever got this tItlc rom Inc In
dihh$ In Colonial times il vas spokeu
OF u" IN" River RcL win Blood,s or
the bloody River" i.airt thrse de
sTIptE" titles attached. Themselves 10
the k"ntuuky River through that n
during source ~ error. ,hg MISTAKES II,
pronunciation and location OF gander y
ng pioneers and explorers.
III" philolURisi asserts thai tn, wuf,,
ohio means gr,al NOT beatTtIftl-.and
* lrUUu"s, The Wynndpt variant 4.
u-he-zhu tn" Mohawk and the Cav
uga called IL O-hc-yu and tho Onaifin I,
O-he .'...:t.
The wyandotS, who. with inc shav
noes. lived IN Ohio, called Ihc stream
III" o-he, zhu the great river and tbls
applied to tn" waters from the source
to the Gulf ~ Mexico The Ohio. and
not the MiSisstppk was 10 them III.
main stream. Therefore II ~ -thp
great" not the beautiful" river m,
last was purely French In conception,
and wac fully lustthrh
IN Tn" same way the philoloefat
traces the name Of Kentucky 10 mean
tho Land of To- Morrow" The story
oi derivation is fascinating becausn OF
It's wealth of historical Incidents. some
OF the origins urged for the nane ars
Meadow Lands" AT the Hdad 81 4
River and THE Dark and bloody
Ground" As shown before. the fast
may have come from the tr.usfcr Of
the name of the bloody Rlyrre from
the Ohio to tho kentucky through The
mistakes Of Daniel Boone ana otharr
% his time.
Historically ii il known thar the Iru.
quo.a conquered the Ohio Valley and
either expelled or eEtcrminatcd The
tribes that dWclt therein T'hr had
wls made solitude and none OF tho
aWoaiCd dared 10 1.-Two (ntre These
SIhuEhtrrs account. ia rlr-t. fur tha
r lrri'S OF population found by thu
"Hiwr &UW'micR oi.uSt ~, dld their
share.
ne Congurrurs desiring tn rgtAtn
lordshtp over these dominlons got The
WyRndots, who were of Irouuoian stock
to rulc the territory IN their name. The
reason was that they had beheld The
ruin Of The tribes in the eastern part
Of tho country at the hands ~ tho nd
Eincing whites ana they wanted 4 ha
Won Of refuge 10 which thcy could re-
sort MI.
Wyandot Sape's Version.
This reserved land thoy called the
Land OF To- Morrow"--thnt N. the
land In which they intended td live If
ousted from their existing houoa The
history OF the name comes from a wy
andot sage, Bah-shc- trah. known as
George Wright. who died IN Oklahoma
IN 1889, at "A greatly advanced age. Ills
father was st. Regis Seneca, who had
lived In New York and Canada with
tho irouuois. The word Kentucky In
the Wynndot tongue is Kah- tan-tah
ten, and m@tns roughly. a day. II may
mean a period OF time and can be used
~ The past, present or future. short
hned to ken-tah-teh II means to-mor
row, or the coming day, although It is
not the word ordinarily used for those
terms.
Nevertheless, II came TO be the word
used by the Iroquois for their posso.,
sions in Ohio, and gradually for thoee
lands south of the great river II was
OF the country where they
expected one day TO lve--a promised
and flowing with the Indian oauiva
ents of milk and honey, II liz to the
Hhites that the corruption of the WORD
8 imputed. Ken tah-teh easily became
Cantocky, Cantuckee; Kaintuckee and.
inally, what Il is to-day. Kentucky.
As an official OF the Illinois Histor-
cal Society Mr.. Connolly has trans-
nitted the result OF his Investigations
o the Ohio Archaeological and Histor.
cal Society for insertion into it's pub
ications. There It will remain as a
challenge to other champions OF no
nenclature. 1t IL certain that Ken
uckians will be disposed to accept the
iewer and more attractive name OF
The Land OF To- Morrow for the cid
md rather frightful title OF The DARK
md Bloody Ground. - Cincinnati I'm