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Home , History of Utah, Mount Ellen (Utah)

Brief history of geographic names from: Utah Place Names

Just as your personal name is important to you, geographic names are important to the community, the state, and the historian. Communication is virtually impossible without names. Legal papers, maps, geographic or geologic descriptions and locations must have names, and on names rest history. The history of the regulation and control of geographic names is an important concern because everyone is directly or indirectly affected by these regulations and controls. The stories behind the names in this book illustrate how our environment, culture, and heritage were shaped by history. Major named the , but how far up the river did he intend the name to apply? After considerable litigation, it was decided the name applied only as far as the junction of the Fremont and Muddy rivers. Upon such decisions rest water rights, grazing rights, and, in the early days, even land rights. On a national scale this name problem became evident and was finally acted upon in 1890. Prior to that time too many features had duplicate names, making the naming process confusing and unreliable. Applications for new names or decisions between competing names had no legal base or established rules to follow. Since cartographers require precise information, they were having difficulty compiling accurate, reliable maps. To make matters worse, private map makers were competing with one another, which also resulted in less-than- accurate maps. Some states attempted to compile state name books, but these projects were tedious because neighboring states failed to cooperate and no federal laws existed to use as a guideline. One example was the fiasco resulting over the naming of 's Boulder Dam--or was it Hoover Dam? A more recent example is the controversy over renaming Florida's Cape Canaveral to Cape Kennedy. As a result of public pressure, the name was changed back to Cape Canaveral. Such incidents illustrate the problems of confused, misinterpreted, or misguided place-naming. On September 4, 1890, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names was established by presidential executive order. Unfortunately, the board was not authorized to make decisions because it was given an evaluating, organizing, and listing function only. Even though the organization was ineffective, it was an important beginning. The lack of a board had been a problem for many years. For example, in the of 1847 problems occurred when new immigrants named features that were previously named by the native Indians. Prominent among those native tribes were the , , Piutes (Pahutes), Navajoes, and Utes. From them we have names such as Washakie (), Ibapa (), Kanosh (Piute), Oljieto (), and Ouray (Ute). Because the tribes had no written language, preserving the original phonetics and names became difficult. The people attempting to record Indian names added to this confusion because they were often illiterate and spelled words as they thought they were pronounced. The Indian word for water, for instance, was spelled "Pa," "Pa'a," "Pah," "Paw," or "Pai." It was a hopeless situation for those dedicated to protecting early native languages. The first known outside influence on the early Indian cultures in Utah Territory were recorded by Domínguez and Escalante in their 1776 expedition. The Spanish place names listed in the written records were strongly influenced by the they represented. One example is present-day --the explorers called the "El Sierra Blanca de los Timpanois." Very few name changes transpired in the area over the next forty years. Then in 1818 a major but subtle invasion occurred which forever changed the name history of the region. From the east William Henry Ashley and his "enterprising young men" brought names that would be permanently implanted on western name history. The group represented English, Scottish, French, Dutch, Scandinavian, and German ancestry. Some of the dozens of place names of the early trappers and adventurers were Ashley National Forest, Jedediah Smith Mountain, Bridger Lake, and former Carson County, named for Kit Carson. During the same period, a group including the French Canadian came from the northwest. The city of Ogden is named after him. From the Southwest, out of Taos, New Mexico, came another French Canadian, Etienne Provost whose name honors Provo River, Canyon, and City. The mountain men trapped and explored in the area until the early 1840s when resources dwindled, demands changed, and the wagon trains began making the tortuous route into the West. It was at this time that the remainder of these earlier individualists were forced to turn to other pursuits such as professional scouting, acting as guides, and farming and/or ranching. The Bartelson-Bidwell wagon train was the first to leave wagon tracks across what is presently Utah; they also left many imprints with their names. Pilot Mountain and Donner-Reed Pass reflect the activities of that period. Though tragic in their poorly developed and executed plans, the Donner-Reed party helped break the trail for the great drama of the following year of 1847 when the first and second Mormon migrations arrived in the Valley. The , with their close-knit families and strong religious convictions, immediately began naming their new surroundings. Within hours, Ensign Peak was named. And soon Great , Great Salt Lake, and Emigration Canyon entered the records. The Mormons named more places in Utah than any other individual or group. From the Bible they bestowed Hebron, Salem, and Canaan. Today Utah ranks high on the list of states with Bible-connected names. From their alternate scripture, the , came Nephi, Lehi, Moroni, Manti, and Bountiful. Prospectors, lumbermen, railroadmen, cattlemen, and sheepmen also contributed to Utah's place names. Most of the names were given by males since they were out in the field, the forest, the desert, or on the range. Their hard-working and long-suffering wives kept the home fires, raised and cared for the children and developed gardens among many other activities. Utah honors many wonderful women with Lydia's Canyon, Kiz, Mount Ellen, and the

Page 1 town of Annabella, named for Isabella Dalton and Ann Roberts, two early pioneer women who settled in that community. The developing farms, ranches, towns, and cities attracted outlaws who took advantage of the weak and the unwary and left their names during the wild period between 1870 and the early 1900s. Flat Nose George and Blue John both died violently, leaving their names on canyons north of the town of Green River. Silver Tip, killed by an Arizona sheriff, gave his name to a spring near the north end of the Robbers Roost country. Even though an alert citizen killed bank robbers Billy McCarthy and his son Fred, they left their names for McCarthy Springs and Canyon. In 1860-61 the Pony Express and the Overland Stage passed through, leaving names on many features, among them Overland Canyon and Pass. Wallace Stegner wrote that Major Powell and his river runners contributed more place names to Utah than any other group or individual except the Mormons. From Powell's expeditions we have Browns Park, Desolation Canyon, Cataract Canyon, Glen Canyon, and Lake Powell. One of Utah's Mormon converts was Andrew Jenson, a man whose enthusiasm for history helped him eventually become an assistant Mormon church historian. In 1919 he published the "Origin of Western Geographic Names," then in March 1940, as part of the program of the Work Projects Administration and Utah Writers Projects, he produced a small publication called the Origins of Utah Place Names. The emphasis of this book was on the name of towns, cities, and counties. The National Board on Geographic Names had to be reorganized if it was to be of any benefit to the program. So in 1947 that goal was accomplished when the board received the authority to standardize names on and maps, and to establish uniform rules and regulations for all domestic geographic names. The board could now deal with name proposals and problems in all states. Several other important events occurred in the past. In 1900, Henry Gannett published A Gazetteer of Utah and in 1944 Kate Carter wrote "Origins of State Names" in the fifth volume of Heart Throbs of the West. The Work Projects Administration and Zoology Department of the University of Utah produced the Gazetteer of Utah Localities and Altitudes in 1952, in 1961 Rufus Wood Leigh published Five Hundred Utah Place Names, then in 1972 the National Place Name Survey Committee was formed. The following summarizes events up to 1984 that led to the formation of committees and organizations affecting the governance of place names in Utah. Several problems occurred because a state or central organization had never been established to protect place names. Concerns were also expressed that Utahns were not given enough input on the federal name decisions for their state. Historians and geographic names buffs could not find comprehensive reference material on Utah place names. Therefore, steps were taken to form a committee to work on the geographic names of Utah. At the request of Dr. Byrd Granger, director of the National Place Names Survey, Dr. David Miller, former chairman of the University of Utah History Department, started a program to remedy the situation. James Jacobs, a retired U.S. National Forest supervisor and member of the American Name Society, was contacted by Donald Orth, executive secretary of the National Board on Geographic Names. Orth proposed that James Jacobs and Dr. Miller be co-chairmen of the National Place Names Survey in Utah. Jacobs voluntarily withdrew in favor of Miller, who was then appointed director of the project. I had been conducting research for a place names book on Utah and was invited to join the project. Wendy Hassibe was chief public service officer in the Salt Lake City offices of the map division of the United States Geological Survey when she was invited to join. She was working to encourage place names studies in the region. Kent Malan, a cartographer in the Regional Offices of the U.S. Forest Service in Ogden, was also asked to join since he was heavily involved in name research in his daily activities. He was also the backbone of the formation of the Utah Geographic Names Handbook, an assignment Malan and I undertook. The first edition appeared in October 1975 and a revised edition was published in July 1976. Supervising, guiding, advising, and encouraging was Dr. Jay Haymond, librarian of the Utah State Historical Society and executive secretary of our committee. It was the concerted effort of these people, with the full cooperation of the National Board in Washington, D.C., and the National Place Name Survey, that culminated in a committee for the control of geographic names in Utah. On October 24, 1973, the first planning meeting was held and Dr. Miller was moved to chair the committee. He appointed Dr. Haymond as associate director. A tentative name for the committee was "The Committee on Place Names of Utah." By January of 1975 the committee name had been modified to "The Utah State Committee on Geographic Names," which was approved and accepted by the Utah State History Board. At this point all new names or name changes, all adjudications involving place names, would be submitted to the Utah Committee on Geographic Names and through them to the United States Board on Geographic Names for review and acceptance or rejection by both the state and national organizations. A tentative first edition of the Utah Geographic Names Handbook, a guide and instructional manual, was published in October 1975. In January 1976, Governor Calvin Rampton formally established the Utah State Committee on Geographic Names by executive order. The First Conference on Intermountain Geographic Names, initiated by the Utah Committee, was held in November 1977 to advance interstate relations and study interstate problems on geographic names. Representatives from Montana, Oregon, Washington, and attended. A vote was made to continue the meeting on an annual basis. The tragic news of Dr. David Miller's death was announced on August 21, 1978. He was replaced by Kent Malan, with Dr. Haymond continuing as executive secretary. At the Fifth Annual Western States Geographic Names Conference in 1981, Kent Malan made a resolution that Jay Haymond be made permanent secretary for the conference. The resolution passed. Wendy Hassibe volunteered to keep the Geographic Names Information System records current. Donald Orth suggested that the Canadian Provinces and northern states of Mexico be included on the invitation list to study the problems of naming features on

Page 2 the international border. On August 20, 1982, twelve individuals met to form a new Utah Place Names Society and I was appointed as first president. I also agreed to formulate a tentative constitution. The goals of the new society are as follows:

1. To search out the folklore and origins of Utah's place names. 2. To hold at least two meetings a year to encourage local interest in place names and their cultural origins. 3. To encourage and sponsor the preparation of papers on the history of place names through original research. 4. To help locate the remaining original sources of information on Utah's place names. 5. To provide a central location for information on place names at the Utah State Historical Society Library where storage, protection, and study will be properly carried out. 6. To provide a central location for assisting county committees working on local place names. 7. To encourage general interest in Utah place names by promoting articles in local newspapers. 8. To develop a newsletter for the purpose of communicating more efficiently with our membership.

During the 1983 seventh annual meeting of the Western States Geographic Names Conference held in Boise, , it was announced that the conference was now fully incorporated and officially recognized by the laws of Utah, with Articles of Incorporation filed February 8, 1984. The first issue of the Utah Place Names Society newsletter was distributed in 1984 and Keith Rosevear, cartographer/supervisor, Utah State Department of Transportation, assumed office as president of the Utah Place Names Society, replacing me, whose term had expired.

EXPLANATION OF SYMBOLS... 1. An asterisk (*) following a place name indicates past or present inhabitation. 2. When a series of letters and numbers are present towards the end of an entry after the ">" symbol, the first group indicates section/township/range as closely as can be pinpointed (i.e., S12,T3S,R4W,SLM, or USM). A section equals approximately one square mile, reflecting U.S. Geological Survey topographic map sections. Because Utah is not completely mapped, some entries are incomplete. In this case, whatever information is available will be provided. The second group, when present, is altitude in feet followed by meters in parentheses [i.e., 6,000' (1,829m)]. Altitude is not included with canyons or deserts with varying altitudes.

______SOURCE... Utah Place Names. Salt Lake City, Utah : University of Utah. University of Utah Press, 1990.

AUTHOR... Van Cott, John W.

USE RESTRICTIONS... The contents of this article may be repurposed for non-commercial, non-profit, educational use.

______Distributed by the Utah Network eMedia service: http://www.uen.org/emedia Original digital conversion by UCME: Utah Collections Multimedia Encyclopedia project: http://www.uen.org/ucme File ID = t_001007 A softbound copy of the original book may be purchased online from the University of Utah Press at: http://www.uofupress.com

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