19 
Legler—Wisconsin Place-Names . 
the different conclusions readied in many instances by author¬ 
ities of equal standing. Even the meaning of the name Wiscon¬ 
sin, which is an Englished version of the French rendering of 
an Indian word, is in doubt. 
But scant information concerning the etymology of Indian 
place-names is to be gleaned from the printed narratives of 
early day travelers. The records left by these keen pioneers 
of forest commerce tell us much of the customs of the aborigi¬ 
nes, of their manners, their implements, their social relations, 
their religions. * * 5 Such attention as was paid to their language 
was limited to the compilation of vocabularies that would serve 
the most practical purposes. Of these there are many, almost 
every tribal dialect employed in Wisconsin being represented. 
Some of the vocabularies are remarkably full and well attain to 
the dignity of dictionaries. 6 A study of these, however, gives 
few clues to the derivation of place-names. Fancied resem¬ 
blances are more apt to mislead than to guide the searcher who 
wishes to trace the geographical nomenclature derived from 
Indian sources. 
The names of this state, of the great river that borders it 
on one side and the great fresh-water sea, that adjoins it on 
the opposite side, of the largest stream that flows- within and 
almost bisects it, of the largest lake wholly within its territory, 
of the principal range, and the chief of its bustling city com¬ 
munities, are all of undoubted Indian origin. It is interest* 
ing to compare the synonyms that appear on the early maps. 
In the collection of Parkman maps in the Massachusetts His¬ 
torical Society is an undated manuscript map, which he says 
shows “the earliest representation of the upper Mississippi, 
based perhaps on the reports of the Indians/’ supposedly the 
work of the Jesuits. The following names appear thereon: 
Baye des Puans. 
Lac des Illinois. 
Lac Tracy ou Superieur. I 
Riviere Colbert. 
s The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, 73 vols„ edited by 
Reuben Gold Thwaites, are a veritable encyclopedia covering every 
phase of Indian life. 
6 Some of the rpost creditable work remains in manuscript in the 
Wisconsin Historical Society and in the Bureau of Ethnology. 
