THE ORIGIN OF AMERICAN STATE NAMES 



125 





Photograph by Putnam & Valentine 



ALONG THE COLUMBIA RIVER, OREGON, ONE OF THE MOST MAJESTIC HIGHWAYS IN 



THE WORLD 



Known both as the Beaver and the Sunset State, the origin of the name Oregon is 

 traced to several sources, some authorities maintaining that it is derived from the name of a 

 species of wild sage which grows here in profusion, while others attribute it to a Jesuit 

 priest, who gave the name "Oregones" (Big-eared Men) to the Indians living "where rolls 

 the Oregon." 



The first State to bear an Indian name 

 was Massachusetts, which was named 

 for the bay — indeed, until 1780 the State 

 bore its colonial name of -'Massachusetts 

 Bay" and has been nicknamed "Old Bay 

 State.'' The word means "At or Near 

 the Great Hills" and probably has refer- 

 ence to the heights of land around Bos- 

 ton, seen from the bay when approaching 

 that city. 



CONNECTICUT WAS ORIGINALLY 

 OUONOKTACUT 



The transition from Quonoktacut to 

 Connecticut is an example of how Indian 

 names suffered corruption at the hands 

 of the white man. The word means 

 "River Whose Water Is Driven in 

 Waves by Tides or Winds," a typically 

 long and descriptive title and taken from 



the principal river of the State, which 

 was probably so named from the aspect 

 near its mouth. "On Long River" and 

 "Long River Without End" are other 

 meanings which have been ascribed to 

 this word. 



In 1 54 1 Hernando de Soto, the Span- 

 ish discoverer of the Mississippi, gave 

 battle to a tribe of Indians at a place 

 called Alibamo, on the Yazoo River, in 

 Mississippi. This place was the fortress 

 of a brave tribe called the Alibamons or 

 Alabamas, who, after this battle mi- 

 grated eastward to the shores of a river 

 to which they gave their name and which 

 in turn gave the State of Alabama its 

 name. Some authorities give this word 

 the meaning of "Here We Rest" : but this 

 cannot be substantiated, the more so be- 



