Statewide County CA Archives History - Books .....California Nomenclature 1891
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/ca/cafiles.htm
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com November 29, 2005, 11:09 pm

Book Title: Memorial And Biographical History Of Northern California

CALIFORNIA NOMENCLATURE.

  This section is from Themis, an enterprising weekly published by Hon. Win. J.
Davis and A. J. Johnston, of Sacramento.

  The American river was named from the fact that a company of Western American
trappers lived on its banks for several years between 1822 and 1830.

  Angel's Camp and Angel's Creek were named after a Mr. Angel, who was at
Sutter's Fort in February, 1848, and afterward, in July, was one of Captain
Weber's prospectors.

  When the town of Arcata was located on April 21, 1850, it was called Union. In
1860 the name was changed to Arcata—an Indian word.

  The name Arizona was first applied to a mountain near the southern boundary of
the territory. The territory was first called Pimeria. Authorities differ as to
the origin of the present, name. Some say it is a corruption of "Arizuma," first
given to the country by the early Spanish explorers. Some claim that it is a
Mohave Indian word signifying, "Blessed Sun," from "Ara," meaning "blessed," and
"Zuna," "sun;" others, that it is of Pima origin and means "Little Creek;" while
there is authority that its derivation is from two Pima words, "Ari," a maiden
and "Zon," a valley. Other authorities hold that it is a compound of the two
Latin words "Aridus" and "Zona." Aridus, dry, from "areo," to be dry: zona
simply means a girdle or belt. This derivation would produce a word meaning "a
dry or parched belt of country."

  Auburn was originally called "Wood's Dry Diggings." Late in 1849 a public
meeting was held for the purpose of selecting a more suitable name for the town.
The name Auburn was adopted at the suggestion of H. M. House, who had come from
the New York Auburn.

  Bakersfield was named in honor of Senator Thomas Baker, who died in that town
on November 24, 1872; Bantas from Henry Bantas, an early settler. Belmont
signifies "beautiful mountain," and was named from the grand eminences near the
town; Bernal Heights, from Augustin Bernal; and Black's Station from J. J.
Black, who located the town in 1865. Bodie was named in honor of Wm. S. Bodey, a
pioneer who lost his life in November, 1859, near his cabin four miles from the
site of the town, having become exhausted in a heavy snow storm. Brooklyn,
Alameda County, was christened by Thomas Eagar, after the ship Brooklyn, in
which he came in 1846 as a passenger to California.

  Calistoga is a word that was formed by the late Samuel Brannan from the words
"California" and "Saratoga." Camptonville was named after J. Campton. Capay is
from the Indian word "capi," meaning "creek." Carquinez is an Indian word
meaning "serpent." According to a legend of the aborigines, from a hill that now
exists in the city of Vallejo (Capitol Hill), there would come forth a huge
serpent, with eyes of fire; it would straighten itself upon its tail almost
perpendicularly, and look toward the Straits, then cautiously upon Mare Island
(Taxpeyar was its Indian name), and lastly in the direction of Yulupa, or the
Sunset hills towards Sonoma, looking for the Blazing Turkey, which was wont to
arise from the air of the mountains, and if the gaze of these two monsters ever
met it was a sign or omen of some terrible disaster or calamity—such as war or
pestilence. Cherokee, Nevada County, was so called from the fact that the first
prospecting there was done by some Cherokee Indians in 1850. Clayton was named
after its founder, Joel Clayton; and Colfax in honor of Vice-President Schuyler
Colfax. Coloma is an Indian word, meaning "Beautiful Valley." Crockett was named
in honor of Judge J. B. Crockett, who died January 15, 1884; Davisville was
called after Jerome C. Davis, who settled there in 1846, and who died in
Sacramento, October 5, 1881, while holding the office of Second Trustee of the
city; Decoto was named after Ezra Decoto, the owner of the land upon which it is
located; Dixon after Thomas Dixon, who died in that town in June, 1885; and
Donahue after Colonel James M. Donahue. Donner Lake gets its name from the
leader of the Donner party of 1846, the members of which suffered privation and
death on its shores. Downieville was named after William Downie, who located
there in the early mining days; Dunnigan gets its name from A. W. Dunnigan, who
settled there in 1853; Dutch Flat was so named from the fact that its pioneer
settler was a German named Joseph Dohrenbeck.

  Elk Grove was so called from the circumstance that elk horns were found in a
grove of timber near which in 1850 James Hall established a hotel, on the sign
of which was painted an elk.

  The name Florin was given to that locality about 1864 by the late Judge E. B.
Crocker, owing to the great number of wild flowers which grew there, and when
the town was started in 1875 it received that name. Folsom was called after J.
L. Folsom, who died July 19, 1855. There is some romance about the naming of
Forest City, Sierra County. The first store at the Forks of Oregon Creek was
built by Samuel Hammond and was called the Yomana store, from the bluff above
the town being called by that name—meaning "Sacred Hill." In 1853 a meeting of
the citizens was held to select a name for the town and there was a tie vote for
"Forks of Oregon," and "Yomana." The matter was compromised by agreeing to call
the place after the first woman who should reside there. The first lady
inhabitant was Mary Davis, the wife of a baker, and after her advent the town
was indiscriminately called "Forks of Oregon" and "Marietta." Davis soon sold
out to Captain Mooney, whose wife's name was Forest, She was a lady of education
and wrote several articles which were sent to the Marysville papers. They were
dated at Forest City, and as the editor did not know where that might be, they
were so published. Mrs. Mooney afterwards called together some of the leading
citizens and succeeded in having the place formally named after her.

  During the summer of 1848 travelers stopped at a spring at the site of
Jackson, Amador County, and the number of bottles left about gave it the name of
Bottilleas, It was changed to Jackson in honor of Colonel Jackson who afterwards
settled there.

  Fort Ross is the site of a Russian settlement which was made in 1811, and a
fort was erected there. What the Russians called it is not known, but it was
called by the Spaniards, "Fuerte de los Rusos" (Fort of the Russians). The
Americans shortened it to Fuerte Rusos, and that was afterward curtailed to its
present name. French Corral was named from the circumstance that in 1849 a
Frenchman built a corral for the enclosure of his mules on the site of the
present village. At one time the inhabitants adopted the name of Carrolton, but
for no great length of time. Fulton was laid out in 1871 by Thomas and James
Fulton: hence its name.

The name Galt was suggested for that town when it was laid out, by John
McFarland, to the late Judge E. B. Crocker. McFarland, when quite a young man,
located in the town of Galt, in Upper Canada, and there served his
apprenticeship as a joiner. The Canadian Galt was named after a man of that
name. Gilroy was named in honor of John Gilroy, one of the earliest American
settlers, who died in that town on July 29, 1869. Goat Island was called by the
Spaniards Yerba Buena and was originally occupied as a fishing station by a very
numerous tribe of Indians called Tuchayunes. On the founding of the city of San
Francisco in 1885, the name of the Island (Yerba Bnena) was given to the
municipality. In 1835 Nathaniel Spear brought some goats from the Sandwich
Islands, and presented a pair of them to John Fuller, who was located in the
town. They became so destructive to his flowers and garden truck that he removed
them to the Island, where they were turned loose and rapidly increased in
numbers. Hence the name of Goat Island. It is stated that in 1849 there were
nearly a thousand goats on the island, but they were soon destroyed by the
immigrants. The name Golden Gate first appears in the "Geographical Memoir of
California," and relative map, published by Colonel John C. Fremont in the
spring of 1848. The name was probably suggested by the Golden Horn of
Constantinople. Grayson was located in 1849 by J. Grayson & Co.; and Guerneville
was named after A. L. Guerne.

  Martinez was named after Ignacio Martinez, who settled in the country in 1823.

  Half Moon Bay is so named on account of its configuration. Halo Chemuc was
formerly quite an Indian town on the west bank of the Sacramento River, a few
miles above its mouth. The name in Indian meant "nothing to eat." Havilah was
named from the place mentioned in the Old Testament where the first allusion is
made to a land of gold,—Genesis 11: 11, 12: "The name of the first is Pison;
that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; and
the gold in that land is good; there is bdellium and the onyx stone." Haywards
was named after William Hayward, who settled there in 1851; Healdsburg, after
Harmon G. Heald; Hicksville, after William Hicks; Hollister, after an early
Scotch settler of that name.

  The valley of Ione was named before the town was started, by Thomas Brown, a
great reader, after "Ione," one of the heroines of Bulwer's "Last Days of
Pompeii." The town was first called Bedbug, then Freeze-out, and finally the
people christened it Ione.

  Knight's Landing was called after William Knight, who settled therein 1843;
and Knight's Ferry after the same gentleman from the fact that he established a
trading post there in 1848.

  Langville was named after J. A. Lang. The locality of Little York was settled
in early days largely by miners from New York and other Middle States. Afterward
numbers came from Missouri and the West. An election was held to determine the
name of the district and the Eastern men outvoted those from the West, and
adopted the name of Little York over St. Louis, the choice of the minority.
Livermore was named after Robert Livermore, who settled in the valley before the
American conquest and who died on February 14, 1858. Lockeford was named after
its founder, Dr. D. J. Locke.

  In 1841 Theodore Cordua settled in the forks of the Yuba and Feather rivers,
where the city of Marysville now stands, under a lease from Captain Sutter.
Cordua afterward sold out his interest under the lease, and it became the
property of Charles Covilland, John Sampson, J. M. Ramirez and Theodore Sicard.
In January, 1850, the town was laid out by these four parties under the name of
C. Covillaud & Co. There were a variety of opinions as to what should be the
name of the place. Some wanted it called Yubaville, and some deeds were made out
in that name. Others desired to call it Yuba City, some Norwich, and some
Sicardora —that being the favorite of Colonel Perry. While the discussion of the
name was pending, a public meeting was called to take into consideration the
general interests of the new city. At that meeting Captain Edward Power, from
St. Louis, proposed to name it after Mrs. Covillaud, who was then the only white
woman living on the town plat; her name being Mary, it was then and there
determined that the city should be named Marysville. Mrs. Covillaud died in that
city on September 17, 1867. While Cordna was in possession the place was called
New Mecklenburg.

  The McLeod or McCloud River received its name from an old Scotch trapper, who
in 1827 or 1828, led the first party of Hudson Bay Company trappers that
penetrated California. His name was Alexander Roderick McLeod. Years later a
well-known citizen named Ross McCloud, a surveyor, lived on the stream and the
similarity of the pronunciation of the names led to the common error of
supposing that his name was the one that the river bore. Meridian was so called
because the postoffice is only a quarter of a mile west of the Mount Diablo
meridian, United States survey. Michigan Bar was so called from the fact that
the first settlers were two men from Michigan, who discovered gold there in
1849. The Mokelumne River derives its name from a powerful tribe of Indians, the
Mo-kel-kos, who inhabited its lower banks and the adjacent country. The
Spaniards spelled the word differently.

  Moore's Flat was named from H. M. Moore, who settled there and built a store
in 1851. Mormon Island was so named from the fact that gold washing was
commenced there soon after the discovery by Marshall, by a party of Mormons.
Natoma is of Indian derivation, and signifies "clear water." Needles is so
called on account of the spire or needle-like shape of certain rocks which were
called "the Needles" in that vicinity. Newark was named by its founders after
the New Jersey city, of which they were natives. New York of the Pacific was a
wonderful city—on paper—in 1849. At one time it aspired to become the capital of
the State. It was located by Colonel J. D. Stevenson, and was named in honor of
his regiment, which was called the New York regiment. Nicolaus was named after
Nicolaus Allgeier, who arrived in this country in 1840, and who settled there in
1843.

  North San Juan acquired its name from this circumstance: In 1853, a miner,
named Kentz, who had accompanied General Scott when his expedition landed at
Vera Cruz, was engaged in mining near the present site of the town. One evening
he was impressed with the fancied resemblance of a bluff hill near by to the
castle of San Juan de Ulloa, which guards the entrance to the port of Vera Cruz.
He expressed his opinion, and the bluff was dubbed San Juan. Afterward that name
was applied to the town. In 1857, when an application was made for a postoffice
to be established there, the authorities at Washington required a new name for
the place, as an office had already been established at another town of that
title in Monterey County. The citizens thereupon added the prefix "North" to the
name. Nortonville was named after Noah Norton, the locator of the Black Diamond
Coal Mine. Oakland was so called from the fact that immense live oaks formerly
grew on its site.

  The region of Owen's Lake was visited in 1845 by a detachment of Fremont's
expedition under the noted mountaineer, Captain Joe Walker. This party was
accompanied by Prof. Richard Owens, who was the first white man to see the lake,
and after him the lake, river and valley were named. Pacheco was named after Don
Salvio Pacheco, who settled there in 1834, and who died in 1876. Petaluma is an
Indian word, said by some to mean "Duck Ponds," and by others, "Little Hills."
Piedmont is the French for "foothills." Pigeon Point was so named from the fact
that on May 6, 1853, the clipper ship "Carrier Pigeon" from Boston was totally
wrecked there, and a large number of passengers drowned. Pit River received its
name from a custom of the Indians along its banks of digging pits in which to
capture bear, deer, and even intruding warriors of strange tribes. The pits were
covered with brush and dirt to conceal them.

  Placerville was originally called Hangtown, and was so named from this
circumstance: In January, 1849, three men were in a saloon tent engaged in a
game of poker. When the game broke up the proprietor was asleep, and the men
robbed him at the point of the pistol. The next day, they were arrested, tried,
and sentenced to be flogged. After the punishment had been inflicted they were
ordered to leave the camp. In a few days two of the men, when drunk around the
camp, intimated that the parties who had been engaged in the trial were spotted,
and would not live to flog another man. A meeting was called and the two men
were arrested, tried, and hung to a tree. Pleasanton was at first called Alisal
(cottonwood), but was afterward named by John W. Kotlinger in honor of General
Pleasanton, a cavalry officer in the Union army.

  Red Bluff was established by M. L. Covert, and was at first called
Covertsburg. Redding was originally called Reading, after Major P. B. Reading,
the pioneer of Shasta County. The change to the present spelling was done in
compliment to the late B. B. Redding. Red Dog Hill was so named because of its
supposed resemblance to a hill of that name in the lead district of Illinois.
Redwood City was so called from its proximity to the vast forests of redwood
timber that formerly covered the slopes of the mountains. Rough and Ready was
established in the fall of 1849, by the "Rough and Ready" company of immigrants,
who had just arrived from Wisconsin under the command of Captain Townsend.
Routier was named after Hon. Joseph Routier. Scott River and Mountain were named
from John W. Scott, who mined on Scott Bar in July, 1850. Sebastopol, Sonoma
County, was at first called Pine Grove. During the Crimean war, and at the time
when Sebastopol was besieged, two men engaged in a fight in the town, and one
retreated into the store and the proprietor refused to admit the victorious
party. From this circumstance the store was called Sebastopol, and the town was
subsequently so named.

  Shingle Springs was named from the fact that at the upper end of the town are
several springs of water. At an early day, near the springs, a machine was
erected and operated for the manufacture of shingles. Hence the name.

  Somerville was named from Francis Somers, an early resident. The mountain of
St. Helena was named in honor of the Empress of Russia, by the Russian
naturalist, Wosnessemsky, who ascended it in 1841.

  When the settlement of Stockton was started it was called and known everywhere
as Weber's Settlement, or as French Camp—the latter name being the better known.
Captain C. M. Weber and his partner were undecided as to the name of the new
town. New Albany was the choice of the partner, because of his birth in Albany,
New York. Weber preferred either Tuleburg or Castoria. Tuleburg was regarded as
appropriate because the tules grew thick and high in the vicinity. Castoria is a
Spanish name, meaning beaver settlement. At that time beaver abounded in large
numbers. Afterward Weber was taken prisoner by the Mexicans, and after his
liberation met Commodore Robert F. Stockton, who promised to send out a
government steamer for the use of the pioneers. At Weber's suggestion the name
of the town was changed to Stockton, and it was first legally known by that name
in a petition to the Court of Sessions, dated July 23, 1850. Suisun is an Indian
word meaning "big expanse." Sunol was named after Antonio M. Sunol, an early
resident who died March 18, 1885. Suscol was the name of an Indian chief.
Sweetland was named after H. P. Sweetland, who settled there in 1850. Sutter
Creek was named from the fact that in 1848 Captain Sutter came through that
country with a retinue of Indians on an excursion to the mountains and camped on
the spot where Sutter Creek now stands, which event gave the town its name.

  The derivation of the word "Tahoe" has, perhaps, been more elaborately
discussed than that of any other word of geographical designation in the State.
The beautiful lake, lying on the boundary line between this State and Nevada,
has borne that name since aboriginal days. On February 10, 1870, an act of the
Legislature was approved declaring the name of the lake to be "Bigler," in honor
of the ex-Governor. In the debates in the Legislature the matter of the name of
the lake became almost a partizan issue. The Democrats favored the name Bigler,
and the Republicams Tahoe. The Democrats claimed that the name Tahoe had been
borne by a disreputable and vicious Indian chief who had murdered an American
family named Rothrock on the Truckee River in early days. The Republicans
contended that it was an Indian word, meaning "big water." A correspondent in
the Sacramento Union of February 3, 1880, claimed that the word was a corruption
of "Tejon," or badger, and that the lake had been so called by the half
converted Indians who had fled to the mountains to escape servitude to the
Spaniards, the region about the lake being prolific with badgers. The
correspondent was no doubt in error. Tehachapi is an Indian word of unknown
signification. Temescal is an Indian word, meaning "sweat-house." Tomales Bay
was named after a tribe of Indians of that name who lived in that vicinity.

  William Baldridge, a very early pioneer, writes the following account of the
derivation of the word "Truckee:"

  In 1845, James M. Harbin and a few others were on their way to California, via
overland route, and on arriving at the sink of the Humboldt, they met with an
Indian and employed him to pilot them across the desert. While en route Harbin
noticed a resemblance in him to a Frenchman he had formerly known, and therefore
bestowed the name of the Frenchman (Truckee) on the Indian, and on arriving at
the river (Truckee) they were greatly elated at their good fortune, and named it
Truckee's River. "Truckee" and two of his brothers came to California with the
emigrants in 1846, and served in Fremont's battalion until the end of the war.

  The Reno Gazette, in 1880, published the following account of the same incident:

  In 1844 a party of men left Council Bluffs, Iowa, to go to Oregon. They came
across the plains, and when they reached the hunting grounds of the Shoshonnes
they procured an Indian guide named Truckee. This Indian accompanied them as far
as Sutter's fort. In traversing this region the Indian told them of a rapid
river that flowed from one great lake to another. The party did not reach this
river as soon as they expected, and they began to look upon Truckee's river as a
river of the mind, a flowing fiction. Truckee's river was, for a time, a
frequent jest upon their lips, and when at last they reached the stream he
described they had already named it.

  Ukiah derives its name from the Eukio or Yukio tribe of Indians, who dwelt in
the valley when it was first visited by the whites. Vallejo was founded by
General M. G. Vallejo, from whom it received its name. It was for a short time
the capital of the State. Visalia was named after Nat Vise, a bear hunter, who
lived there in early days. Walloupa was named after an Indian chief. It is a
corruption of Guadalupe, the name which he had received from the missionaries.
Washoe is the Indian name for the valley lying along the eastern base of the
Sierra Nevadas. The word signifies "beautiful." Watsonville was named after J.
H. Watson, who founded it in 1853; Weaverville was named after a miner named
Weaver, who at an early period obtained a large quantity of gold from Weaver
Creek. Winters was laid out in 1875, and was named in honor of Theodore Winters,
who owned an interest in the town site; and Woodbridge was named after its
founder, J. H. Woods. Yeomet is an Indian name, signifying rocky falls, and was
given to the forks of the Cosumnes River, in Amador County. Yosemite is a
corruption of " Oo-soom-ite," an Indian word meaning, in the language of the
tribe that inhabited the valley, "large grizzly bear." Yountville was named
after George C. Yount, who died October 5, 1865. The town of Yreka was
originally called Shasta Butte City, but as this was too much like Shasta City,
the Indian name for Mount Shasta, I-e-ka, (meaning white) was substituted, and
the orthography was changed to Wyreka, In the course of time the "W" was
dropped, and the present spelling adopted.

  Appended are a few of those names bestowed on localities by the miners in
early days. It is not necessary to trace their derivation, as they are
sufficiently suggestive:

  American Hollow, Barefoot Diggings, Bloomer Hill, Blue Belly Ravine, Bob
Ridley Flat, Bogus Thunder, Brandy Gulch, Coyote Hill, Centipede Hollow, Chicken
Thief Flat, Christian Flat, Chucklehead Diggings, Coon Hollow, Dead Man's Bar,
Dead Mule Canon, Deadwood, Devil's Basin, Devil's Elbow, Gas Hill, Grit up and
Git, Gopher Flat, Gospel Gulch, Gouge Eye, Graveyard Canon, Greaser's Camp,
Greenhorn Canon, Gridiron Bar, Wild Goose Flat, Whisky Bar, Grizzly Flat, Ground
Hog Glory, Happy Valley, Hell's Delight. Hempback Slide, Hen Roost Camp, Hog's
Diggings, Horsetown, Humbug Canon, Hungry Camp, Jackass Gulch, Jim Crow Canon,
Last Chance, Lazy Man's Canon, Liberty Hill, Loafer Hill, Loafers' Retreat, Long
Town, Lousy Ravine, Love Letter Camp, Mad Canon, Miller's Defeat, Mount Zion,
Murderer's Bar, Nary Red, Nigger Hill, Nutcake Camp, One Eye, Paint-Pot Hill,
Pancake Ravine, Paradise, Pepperbox Flat, Piety Hill, Pike Hill, Plughead Gulch,
Poker Flat, Poodletown, Poor Man's Creek, Port Wine, Poverty Hill, Puppytown,
Push Coach Hill, Quack Hill, Ragtown, Rat-Trap Slide, Rattlesnake Bar,
Seven-by-Nine Valley, Seven-up Ravine, Seventy-six, Shanghai Hill, Shinbone
Peak, Shirt-tail Canon, Skinflint, Skunk Gulch, Slap-Jack Bar, Sluice Fork, Snow
Point, Sugar-Loaf Hill, Swell-Head Diggings, Wild-Cat Bar, Yankee Doodle.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from

Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California.

Illustrated, Containing a History of this Important Section of the Pacific Coast
from the Earliest Period of its Occupancy to the Present Time, together with
Glimpses of its Prospective Future; Full-Page Steel Portraits of its most
Eminent Men, and Biographical Mention of many of its Pioneers and also of
Prominent Citizens of To-day.

"A people that takes no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors will
never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with pride by remote
descendents." – Macauley.

CHICAGO
THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
1891.

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/statewide/history/1891/memorial/californ59gms.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/cafiles/

File size: 25.8 Kb