ARIZONA PLACE NAMES

Have you ever wondered as you hurried across the face of Arizona by car or bus or train, as you sped past small towns and railway sidings and over creeks and washes, how or why the landmarks that you see were named? Mountains and hills, rivers and creeks, and cities and hamlets, each with a name. And what, asked Shakespeare so long ago, is in a name? Why are these the Estrella Mountains? Who was the Mary in Marysville? To a small group of enthusiastic specialists, the study of names is onomatology. To historians, names are a kind of fossil record on the land of the history of an area. Each succeeding generation leaves its own names on the land, and these, in many ways, reflect the times in which each generation lived. But to most of us, names are an interesting curiosity, something to muse over or to read about in relaxed moments when there is little else to do. Arizona place names offer a field day to anyone who might be interested in them for whatever reason. And the place to satisfy this interest is Byrd Granger's book on Arizona place names published early this year by the University of Arizona Press, an expanded and far more elaborate version of the out-of-print Arizona Place Names by Will C. Barnes, the standard reference for the past twenty-five years. How do places get their names? The story is told about three prospectors who made a rich find. They had worked hard in the desert sun, and when they finished staking out their claim it was time to take it easy. They "rested" by deciding to have a race to the top of the mountain containing their gold and silver. One had a weak heart. Half way to the top he toppled over, dead. The man, Logan, got no money for his prospecting efforts, but his partners left his name there on the claim. It is Logan City, part of a once thriving mining camp on the Papago Indian Reservation in Southern Arizona. Near Ajo, in Pima County, a group of miners got some land in 1918 and proceeded to lay out town lots and to demand a post office. They wanted to call their town Woodrow Wilson. The Post Office Department has a policy against naming post offices for living persons, so they steadfastly refused to accept Woodrow Wilson, Wilson, and Woodrow, in that order. At last, in utter disgust, the townspeople reversed the syllables of the name and "Rowood" appeared on Arizona maps. That strong feelings can develop over the matter of a name is nicely illustrated in the case of Eloy in Pinal County. In 1902 the Southern Pacific Railroad Company built a switch here, calling it "Eloi," which means "My God" in Syrian. Following Spanish pronunciation this soon became "Eloy." In 1916 two Californians came to the place, laid out a site for a town, promoted the raising of cotton, and called the town Cotton City. Southern Pacific would have none of the new name, so all mail marked "Cotton City" got carried on through. After several weeks of dispute, litigation, and a lengthy period of getting no mail, the citizens of "Cotton City" became citizens of Elov, this time once and for all. Railroads have played a large role in the Arizona place name scene. Numerous places bear the names of railroad employees and officials. The city of Winslow in Navajo County, for instance, is named for General Edward F. Winslow who was president of the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad, which owned half of the old Atlantic and Pacific. Ocapos, in Maricopa County, is So. Pa. Co. (Southern Pacific Company) spelled backwards. Railroad telegraphers have a habit of shortening place names to make them easier to send. Railroad Pass, Cochise County, became Raso, which means "a flat plain" in Spanish. In Mohave County, Tungsten was renamed Athos "for no particular reason except to save telegraphing. It was short and quickly written." The same thing happened in Yuma County when Christvale, so named because of the fertile farming land at that site, became "Crystoval," and finally, as it is today, Stoval.

Place names often afford a good inventory of a state's plants and animals. Arizona is no exception. Named for birds are Pigeon Canyon, Turkey Creek, Vulture Mountains, Blue Jay Peak, Buzzard Roost Mesa, Hummingbird Spring, Raven Butte, Partridge Wash, Oxbow, and Cygnus (Swan) Peak, the latter because it was snowcovered when first seen by A. W. Whipple and his explor ing party in 1854. There are Peacock Mountains in Mohave County, but these were named for a man, G. H. Peacock, and not for the bird. In Spanish, we have Pajarito (“small bird”) Peak, Palomas (“doves”), and, for the oldest Jesuit mission in Arizona, Guebavi (“turkey”).

There are a few insects: Lady Bug Peak, Butterfly Mountain, Grasshopper and Pinacate Valley, the latter for the small beetle, Eleodes armata, which abounds in this Yuma County region. Fly's Peak in Cochise County was named after C. S. Fly, Tombstone photographer who took pictures of Geronimo in his day. Fish Creek Mountain, Trout Creek, and Salmon Lake are on the roster of fish names; Frog Peaks, Turtle Back Mountain, and Guajolote (salamander) comprise the amphibians; and reptiles are represented by Rattle Snake Basin, Cascabel (“the rattle of a rattlesnake”), and Snaketown.

Mammals appear in place names too numerous to mention. Camelback Mountain is in Maricopa County; Dromedary Peak in Pinal. The antelope, coyote, badger, bear, deer, mountain sheep, wildcat, jackrabbit, beaver, raccoon, and skunk have all been used in Arizona place names. Animals strange to the country are seen in Monkey Springs, Kangaroo Headland, Danta (“tapir”) Headland, and Elephant Butte, although both the tapir and elephant were native to Arizona in prehistoric times.

Cattle are recalled in Ganado, which means “cattle” in Spanish, in Apache County. Near Bisbee are the Mule Mountains, and in Mohave County we find Burro Creek. The horse, a most important creature in Arizona history, is properly immortalized in Red Horse Wash, Wild Horse Canyon, White Horse Pass, Stray Horse, Olo Mesa (“horse” in the Havasupai Indian language), Percheron, and Mustang Mountains.

Plants are almost as numerous as animals in place names. Among the better known are Nogales (“walnut trees”) on the Arizona-Sonora border; Oak Creek Canyon in Coconino County; and Pinetop, Navajo County. The Palo Verde Mountains derive their name from the state tree.

In broad outline, the history of Arizona may be seen as the succession of Indians, Spaniards, Mexicans, Anglo “mountain men” and explorers, miners, cattlemen, and farmers. In each part of the state where Indians live, place names in their respective languages dot the landscape.

Half of Arizona's fourteen counties are named after Indian tribes: Mohave, Yuma, Pima, Maricopa, Navajo, Apache, and Yavapai. The Havasupai word for “little water” is found in Coconino County; Cochise County was named for the famous Apache chieftain; and Pinal means “deer” in Apache. “Gila” is doubtless an Indian word, although its origins are obscure. Aztecs, Toltecs, Comanches, Delawares, Mohawks, and Zuñis are found in Arizona place names despite the fact that none of these tribes is found in the state.

Spanish place names are found everywhere: Ajo (“garlic”), Agua Caliente (“hot water”), Calabasas (“pumpkin”), Adonde (“where”), and the early day forerunner of nowheresville, Nadaburg, nada being Spanish for “nothing.” Names of saints in Spanish are a reminder of the Spanish-Catholic origins of historic Arizona, San Bernardino, San Simon, San Xavier, Santa Teresa, and Santan (Santa Ana), to name but a few.

The first explorers to come to Arizona as vanguards of the western expansion of the United States, the trappers, prospectors, and guides, are commemorated in Bill Williams Mountain, Aubrey Peak (for Francois Xavier Aubrey, “Skimmer of the Plains”), Leroux Spring (Antoine Leroux), and Weaver Pass (Pauline Weaver, who carved his name on the walls of Casa Grande ruins in 1833).

The miners, of course, named their mines and the mountains around them to suit themselves, and towns frequently grew up near them bearing the same names. Maps of Yuma County show the “S.H. Mountains.” Concerning them, Barnes rather cryptically notes: “... vulgar origin. At a distance the peak resembles the edifice in the rear of most country dwellings. Early miners so called it for this resemblance.” Courtland, the Growler Moun-tains, Deart Peak, Douglas, Cramm Mountain, and Pecks Lake are all named for mining men, and the state's further interest in minerals is seen in Copper Creek, Chloride, Peridot, Iron Mountain, Magma, Canyon del Oro ("gold" in Spanish), Goldfield, and Mineral Hill.

The your 1960 marks both the seventy-fifth anniversary of the University of Arizona and the beginning of a new ora for the University of Arizona Press. While the Press has existed for serma years, and titles have been brought out under its imprint, it has not heretofore had a full-time staff dedicated to the affairs of publishing.

Under the directorship of Dr. Robert Plant Armstrong, it is intended that the University of Arizona Press will take its place among the leading academie presses of the nation. Dedicated to the publication of scholarly works, as well as to titles of ta more general interest, it sets as its purpose the goul of making contributions both to the development und enrichment of intellectual fe and to general public interest.

Dr. Armstrong, who is a doctor of philosophy in anthropology, has worked with both Houghton Mifflin Company and Harper and Brothers. His most recent position was that of college editor with Affred A. Knopf, Inc.

Yuma County

tains, Deart Peak, Douglas, Cramm Mountain, and Pecks Lake are all named for mining men, and the state's further interest in minerals is seen in Copper Creek, Chloride, Peridot, Iron Mountain, Magma, Canyon del Oro ("gold" in Spanish), Goldfield, and Mineral Hill.

Close on the heels of the miners were the cattlemen of Arizona: Decker Wash, Gleeson, A 1 (A One) Mountain, Clostermeyer Lake, Connel Gulch, Fain Mountain, and Cline are some of the place names associated with cattlemen, sheep, and ranch names.

Prominent among both mining men and ranchers, but especially among the latter, were the Mormons who came to Arizona in the second half of the 19th century. Actually the Mormons were among Arizona's Anglo pioneers since many of them passed through in 1846 as members of the famous "Mormon Battalion" enroute to California during the Mexican War. Some of these soldier pioneers returned to Arizona where they gave their names to the land. More obvious Mormon place names are Mormon Lake, Nephi, Lehi, St. David, and Joseph City. Orderville Canyon in Coconino County derives its name from the United Order. This was not a church movement, although church authorities approved. It was a cooperative experiment designed to help Northern Arizona Mormons, but it eventually failed.

Snowflake, in Navajo County, contrary to the obvious, was named for two Mormon Church bishops, Erastus Snow and William Flake. And just south of Kanab, Utah, on the Arizona side of the line, is the settlement of Fredonia. This fascinating name has an interesting origin. It seems that Mormons living in Kanab sent their "extra" wives to Fredonia to hide them from U. S. Marshalls and arrest, federal laws having been passed

Greenice County

against polygamy. The name is actually a combination of "Free," and "Dona," which is Spanish for "woman." Thus we have "Free Woman," Fredonia, Arizona.

It often happens that newcomers to an area bring some of their home with them in the form of the home's name. Californians might be surprised to learn that Arizona has its Sacramento Valley and its Stockton Creek. Buckeye, Arizona, was named by its Ohio-raised settlers, and Somerton, Arizona, is named for Somerton, Indiana. Texas Hill, Brooklyn, Buenos Aires, Dublin, Cork, Miami, Helvetia, Sardinia Peak, Peoria, Belgravia, Jerusalem Peak, and Manila are all Arizona place names that sound strangely "foreign" to native Arizonans.

The thriving town of Show Low in Navajo County, as the name suggests, stems from a game of cards. Corydon E. Cooley, who had been a scout in General Crook's campaigns against the Apaches, and Marion Clark settled together on what is now known as Showlow Creek in 1875. They decided there was room for but one mining location and agreed to settle ownership with a single game of Seven Up. According to Barnes, "When the last hand was dealt Cooley needed but one point to win. Clark ran his cards over and said: 'If you can show low you win.' Cooley threw down his hand and said, 'Show Low it is.' Has been called Show Low ever since."

Flagstaff, one of Arizona's larger cities, was named for a small pine tree which was stripped and a flag raised on it. This was done by a group of settlers from Boston on July 4, 1876. The name Flagstaff became attached to a spring at the site, and when the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad established a camp there in 1882, the name was given to the town.

The famous Bright Angel Creek in the Grand Canyon was named by Major J. W. Powell on his exploring trip through the canyon. He gave it this name not so much because the creek reminded him of a bright angel, but rather to offset the effects of the name he had attached to a creek above it, the Dirty Devil. And the Methodist Mountains in Gila County have little to do with that Protestant denomination. In 1890, Will Vineyard robbed a bee tree along a creek and the bees made him earn his honey. Said Will, "The way they went after me would have made a Methodist preacher swear." Hence, Methodist Creek, and nearby, the Methodist Mountains.

Probably Arizona's most literate names can be found on our state capital, Phoenix, and its neighboring city, Tempe. Bryan P. D. Duppa, known as Darrell Duppa, was born in Great Britain. As a matter of fact, he was of Halsingbourne House, County of Kent, England. He became a colonel in the English army, fought a duel with a brother officer, resigned, and made his way to Arizona, arriving in the Salt River Valley in 1863. Speaking what his Arizona contemporaries must have regarded as very fancy English, literate in a half dozen languages including Greek and Latin, it was Duppa who suggested the names for both Phoenix and Tempe. He pointed out that one town was being laid out upon the ruins of a former (Hohokam) civilization, and that "A new city would spring Phoenix-like upon the ruins of a former civilization. And Tempe, explained Duppa, reminded him of "lovely vale in Thessaly, celebrated by the Classical poets."

Duppa was killed by Apaches in 1872 when he was only 38 years old. It is perhaps fitting that his own name is still with us in Duppa Butte in Coconino County. "He lives who dies to win a lasting name."

From Abbie Waterman Peak to Zuñi Point, Arizona place names are a fascinating lot. Heroes and heroines, villains, Indians, soldiers, a miner's sense of humor --- they are all there. And to know something about them perhaps will shorten the hours and lighten the way on long trips across the face of the land.