Title: How come it's called that?
First published: 1958
Description: Tall tales and speculation have long surrounded the origins of place names in the Big Bend Country--that "wild, thorn-incubating frontier" known earlier as the Bad Lands of Texas. The "Big Bend" refers to the crooked elbow of the Rio Grande, which curves around almost seven million acres of canyon, mountain and desert. It encompasses towns, canyons, creeks and draws bearing such curious and intriguing names as Vinegarron, Cow Heaven, Shot Tower, Pummel Peak, and Robber's Roost. Invariably these names cause the visitor to point and ask "How come it's called that?" This history of Big Bend name-christenings is designed to answer that question. Authors Virginia Madison and Hallie Stillwell obtained interviews, pored over old maps and newspapers, tracked down documents, forded streams, and junketed vertically up the mountains of the Big Bend to find the folktales, and the authentic stories too, behind the names. Travelers along highways 118 and 67 will thumb through this book to find out about Marathon, Alpine, and Maverick Mountain. Langtry visitors (Was it or wasn't it named for Lily Langtry?) will enjoy tales of irascible Judge Roy Bean. Tourists to the Big Bend National Park will marvel at the three-quarters of a million acres of mountainous magnificence. How Come It's Called That? will add greatly to their enjoyment of the area by relating the lore behind the landmarks. This little treasury of stories, preserving the richness of folk history and thought, will please tourists, residents, and armchair adventurers. Written informally, with fascinating sidelights and a charming conversational style, here is a chronicle of topographic name-calling by Texans -- Book jacket.
Subjects: Names, Geographical, History, Geographical Names
Places: Big Bend Region (Tex.), Big Bend Region, Texas