Origin of Washington Geographic Names
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I LIBRARy f U.S.F,S. POWTLAND, or. LFJIE COPY ORIGIN OF WASHINGTON GEOGRAPHIC NAMES BY EDMOND S. MEANY PROFESSOE O1P rnSTOBY, UNIvrnSITT O1 WASHINGTON, PRESIDNNI' OP TR MOUNTAINFIEBS, AUTHOR ON VAN000VBR'I DISOOVFXRY OF FUGET SOUND, HISTORY OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON, SIOIINT E1IcIDR, EAGOEJI OY EXTLOIFATION SEATPL i3NIV1tS1Ty OF WASHTGTON P1SS 1923 HERBERT THOMAS CONDON COLLEAGUE AND FRIEND IN APPRECIATION OF HIS LOYALTY, INDUSTRY, FAITHFULNESS AHD EPPICIERCY INTRODUCTION In the first half of the sixteenth century, the Spaniards placed the beautiful geographical name of California upon the Pacific shore of North America. At first that name was extended indefi- nitely to the northward along the undiscovered or unexplored coast line.In 1579, Captain Francis Drake, on the memorable voyage which earned him knighthood at the hands of Queen Elizabeth, landed on the coast of California, took possession for England and gave the region the name of Nova Albion.The bounds of that name, like the bounds of the original California, were indefinite, although each name may be thought to have reached the shore of Washington. In 1625, Samuel Purchas: His Pilgrims was published, con- taining a letter by Michael Lok.That famous letter gave the world the purported information that in 1592 Juan de Fuca, a Greek navigator, whose real name was Apostolos Valerianus, seek- ing the fabled Straits of Anian, had found a spiral rock "between 47 and 48 degrees of Latitude" and also a great strait into which he sailed.Most of the historians who have made search for sus- taining documents in the centuries that ensued have concluded that the Juan de Fuca story is a myth.However, E'uca's Pillar and the Strait of Juan de Fuca remain as names and may be accepted as frontispieces in a discussion of Washington's historical geography. After those earliest experiences no other names were given to the physical features of Washington until the Spaniards re- turned to the northern shores in 1774.Tn that year Captain Juan Perez discovered a snowy mountain and called it "El Cero de la Santa Rosalia." The next year two other Spanish captains, Bruno Heceta and Bodega y Qudra planted some geographic names. The former, on August 17, 1775, found indications, of a great river and called its mouth "Bahia de la Asuncion," the north cape he called "San Roque" and the south cape "Cabo Frondoso." His colleague, encountering a tragedy with Indians, called the island sheltering him "Isla de Dolores." One of England's greatest explorers, Captain James Cook, was the next one to confer a geographic name on a portion of Washington. On Sunday, March 22, 1778, he was flattered that a streak of smooth water would furnish shelter from an approach- ing storm. On drawing nearer, he found a dangerous reef and (v) vi Origin of Washington Geographic Names turned to face the storm on the open sea.From that experience he called the place Cape Flattery. Another Englishman, Captain John Meares, in 1788 played havoc with some of the early Spanish names. In June he examined the entrance to the great strait and wrote that he named it "after its original discoverer, John de Fuca," showing his belief in that old Michael Lok letter.On July 4, 1788, Captain Meares saw the snowy mountain.Not knowing or not caring that it had been named "El Cero de la Santa Rosalia," he called it Mount Olympus, which name has since remainedThe Spaniards had changed the name of "Bahia de Ia Asuncion" to "Ensenada de Hèceta," and there had arisen a tradition that the Spaniards had actually found a river at that place.Captain Meares went to find that river "Saint Roc."Being baffled in the search, he revealed his feelings by calling the "Ensenada de Heceta," Deception Bay and the "San Roque" he called Cape Disappointment. Four years later a climax was reached in the geographical history, when, in 1792, Captain Robert Gray, under the American flag, discovered and named the Columbia River and Grays Harbor; and Captain George Vancouver, under the British flag, discovered and named Puget Sound and many of the surrounding geographical features.Both these explorers respected the names given by th Spaniards so far as they were known, and the names given by Captains Cook and Meares.Since that culminating year of ex- ploration, the geographic names have increased rapidly. The present compilation contains 2813 entries.Of these 771 are cross-references.These latter are important since they furnish a guide for obsolete names encountered in the older documents. An analysis of the sources of the 2042 names gives the following: For individual persons, 824; for physical features, 399; for Indians and Indian names, 386; for other towns, states or countries, 191: for crops, trees, animals or birds, 115; freak names, 68; Spanish names, 33; for American ships, 17; for British ships, 6; Biblical names, 6.Those counted as freak names include such items as Hellgate, Hogum, Hungry Harbor and railroad stations named for brands of breakfast food or such mythical objects as Pandora's Box.The early explorers used the names of individual persons for geographic terms and that tendency increased with the arrival Of pioneers and later settlers.The process has not ended. New names of that kind are brought into use from dy tQ day.It is gratifying to note that the next two greatest sources of: the names are from physical features, such as Mound Prairie, and from Introduction vii Indians or Indian names.It was an agreeable surprise, on com- pleting the computation, to find that 386 of the names had orig- inated with Indians. An equally interesting analysis has to do with the actual map-makers, those who charted the names.By far the greatest record in that line was made by the Wilkes Expedition of 1841 to whose work 261 names are credited. A total of 195 names are credited to British captains, the greater records being Richards, 1857-1863, 93 names; Vancouver, 1792, 49 names; Kellett, 1847, 36 names The United States Coast and Geodetic Survey is credited with 73 names, the greater number having been charted in the fifties before "geodetic" was added to the title of the survey. The railroad officials are responsible for the mapping of many names.Ninety-three of these are identified but it is surmised that many others now credited to settlers originated really with the railroad men.The Pacific Railroad Survey, 1853, mapped 34 names new to the charts.The counties all received their names from the Legislatures (Oregon and Washington) and a few towns were named by the same authority.The Surveyors General of Washington Territory charted 20 original names, the Post Office Department, 18; Lewis and Clark Expedition, 16; Indian Treaties, 7; the Astorians, 8. It is not necessary to compile a separate table of bibliography as accurate citations are given through the work. The volume is intended as a book of reference and it was deemed wise for each item to carry its own citation to give immediate aid to every searcher who might need the source for further work.However, some of the references need explanation.The Wilkes Expedition, 1841, frequently cited,is the Government publication known as the United States Exploring Expedition, 1 838-1 842.Of this, the Narrative, in five volumes, was also publicly issued and is easily accessible.The monographs were limited to 100 copies, of which each State received one.Mr. J. F. Jameson of the Department of Historical Research, Carnegie Institution of Washington, secured from the Library of Congress photostat reproductions of the portions of the monograph on Hydrography and the accompanying Atlas which related to the Northwest Coast.The rich results have fully compensated the trouble and expense of those repro- ductions.The official title of the work herein cited as Pacific Railroad Reports is Reports of Explorations and Surveys to Ascer- jam the Most Practicable and Economical Route for a Railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, 1853-1854. These viii Origin of Wa.shington. Geographic Names thirteen large books issued by the Government comprise a perfect storehouse of valuable information.Mention should also be made of British Columbia Coast Names, 1592-1906, by Captain John T. Waibran, published by the Canadian Government at Ottawa in 1909; The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States, by Henry Gannett, published by the United States Government in 1903(second edition); "Aboriginal Geographic Names in the State of Washington," by Rev. Myron Eells, in the American Anthropologist for January, 1892.Directly and indirectly these works were of help in this compilation.In 1917, the State Gov- ernment of Washington published A Geographic Dictionary of Washington by Henry Landes, State Geologist. None of the items give origins, but the book was helpful as to definite locations and more recent spellings of the names. Mount Rainier, A Record of Exploration, by Edmond S. Meany, published in 1916, contains, pages 302-325, "Place Names and Elevations in Mount Rainier National Park."Those names, except as to important rivers, are not included in this present compilation.Another bibliographical tote may be beneficial to subsequent searchers. The early Spanish charts were difficult of access.They were evidently known to Captain Henry Kellett, of the British Admiralty, who in 1847 restored permanently a number of Spanish names to islands, capes and bays.During the arbitration by Emperor William I.,of Germany, of the San Juan dispute, the American representative, George Bancroft, collected the old Spanish charts and they were published in United States Public Documents, Serial Number 1557. Among the offers of cooperation two should be mentioned.