18 
REPORT OF BOARD ON GEOGRAPHIC NAMES. 
now introduce New Amsterdam for New York, Lake Frontenac for 
Lake Ontario, Cat Lake for Lake Erie, Ouisconsin for Wisconsin, 
Ojibway for Chippewa, Konza for Kansas, or Ke-kan-ma-suk-sepe for 
Kalamazoo. Whatever diverse usage may be found in print, what¬ 
ever departures from or corruptions of old forms are involved in such 
names, any attempt to restore first forms would not contribute to 
establishing uniform usage. These old names are of interest to the 
antiquarian and scholar, but a stumbling block in the path of the man 
of affairs who wants to know the name now and how it should be 
spelled. As a rule, names are dealt with individually. If it appears 
that present practice is fairly consistent or established as to any name, 
that form is, in general, adopted. 
All the foregoing are things which the Board does not do. What 
it actually does is to consider, one by one, names brought to its atten¬ 
tion as disputed. This dispute or discrepant use ma} 7 exist in print or 
in speech, or in both. The Board, collecting all the facts deemed perti¬ 
nent in each case, sifts them, weighs them, and decides what the name 
is and how the Executive Departments are to spell it. Under authority 
of the Executive order of January 23, 1906, the Board will control the 
place names of the country as far as Government usage is concerned. 
It will discard such as are objectionable, replacing them with appro¬ 
priate names. It will publish and promulgate principles for the 
guidance of explorers and surveyors in the selection of suitable names. 
Jt will examine and decide upon names proposed for newly-discovered 
and unnamed features, and accept or reject those proposed. Its deci¬ 
sions are the 44 standard authority ” for these Departments. If they 
are followed by the newspapers, the schools, the publishers, dictionary 
makers, and private map makers, a long step has been taken toward 
securing the uniformity so much to be desired. 
There are three counties in the United States bearing the Indian 
nam'e Pottawatomie, one each in Kansas and Oklahoma written Potta¬ 
watomie, and one in Iowa spelled Pottawattamie. The Board deems 
it desirable that the spelling of these names should be uniform, but it 
finds here 44 no unsettled question concerning geographic names” to 
be considered. 
Similarly, five counties, a large city, a river, a mountain range, and 
various minor features bear the name Allegany. The word is spelled 
in three ways, each well established and thus not coming within the 
scope of the Board’s functions. New York and Maryland each has 
an Allegany county; North Carolina and Virginia an Alleghany county, 
and Pennsylvania an Allegheny county. As to these respective counties 
the Board finds no diversity of usage and accepts the forms it finds. 
In the case of the river and mountains it finds diverse usage, and for 
these has adopted the form Allegheny. 
