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Excerpt from The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States Major Gr. E. Bailey, of San Francisco, California, for extensive information concerning the Spanish nomenclature of several hundred towns in California. C. M. Drake, of Eureka, California, for information concerning names in Monterey and Humboldt counties. The Bureau of American Ethnology, to which I am especially indebted, not only for much information concerning Indian names, but for guidance, advice, and suggestions in obtaining sources of informa tion. Indeed, most of the information concerning the meaning of Indian names is derived, either directly or indirectly, from this source, and all names of Indian origin have been verified and corrected by officers of this Bureau. William N. Byers, of Denver, Colorado, for additions to and cor rections of county names. Mrs. J. V. Calver, Washington, District of Columbia, who has furnished valuable and extensive information concerning hundreds of place names in all the States of the Union. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

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George R. Stewart’s classic study of place-naming in the United States was written during World War II as a tribute to the varied heritage of the nation’s peoples. More than half a century later, Names on the Land remains the authoritative source on its subject, while Stewart’s intimate knowledge of America and love of anecdote make his book a unique and delightful window on American history and social life. Names on the Land is a fascinating and fantastically detailed panorama of language in action. Stewart opens with the first European names in what would later be the United States—Ponce de León’s flowery Florída, Cortés’s semi-mythical isle of California, and the red Rio Colorado—before going on to explore New England, New Amsterdam, and New Sweden, the French and the Russian legacies, and the unlikely contributions of everybody from border ruffians to Boston Brahmins. These lively pages examine where and why Indian names were likely to be retained; nineteenth-century fads that gave rise to dozens of Troys and Athens and to suburban Parksides, Brookmonts, and Woodcrest Manors; and deep and enduring mysteries such as why “Arkansas” is Arkansaw, except of course when it isn’t. Names on the Land will engage anyone who has ever wondered at the curious names scattered across the American map. Stewart’s answer is always a story—one of the countless stories that lie behind the rich and strange diversity of the USA.