TOPOGRAPHICAL NAMES. 427 



CHAPTER XTV. 

 TOPOGRAPHICAL NAMES. 



356. New Names. The topographical names of Call- 

 forma differ much from those of other States in the Union, 

 where there is a disagreeable repetition of familiar names. 

 Our people have not attempted to immortalize Franklin, Jef- 

 ferson, Madison, Adams, Henry, Randolph, Clay, Cass, Ben- 

 ton, Webster, Taylor, Fillmore, Polk, Pierce, or Buchanan, by 

 affixing their tiresome patronymics to counties or towns. All 

 our prominent places are designated by titles comparatively 

 new to the English language. 



The topographical names of the State are derived from three 

 languages Spanish, English, and Indian. The names along 

 the southern coast and about the Bay of San Francisco dis- 

 tricts which were populated by the Spaniards long before the 

 Americans came to the country are chiefly Spanish. The 

 larger rivers in the Sacramento basin were known to the 

 Spaniards, and were named by them previous to 1846. The 

 mining districts of the Sierra Nevada and the Klamath basin, 

 and the coast north of 40, were first .explored and settled by 

 the Americans, and therefore the names are of English origin. 

 The Indian names are numerous. 



357. Sacred Spanish Names. The Spanish names may 

 be divided into the sacred and profane. The first Spanish set- 

 tlers were Catholic missionaries, in whose almanac every day 



