12 
REPORT OF BOARD ON GEOGRAPHIC NAMES. 
DEPARTMENT AND BUREAU. 
Name. 
Term of service. 
Post-Office Department. 
Bristow, P. H. 
Sept. 4,1890, to Feb. 7,1893. 
Fenton, G. G. 
Feb. 9,1893, to May 24,1895. 
Haake, A. von. 
Apr. 15,1897, to date. 
Smithsonian Institution. 
Mason, O. T. 
Sept. 4,1890, to date. 
Sept. 4,1890, to Nov. 23,1905. 
State, Department of. 
Allen, A. H. 
Denby, C. 
Dec. 13,1905, to date. 
Treasury, Department of. 
Mills, J.S. 
Dec. 4,1905, to date. 
War, Department of. 
Turtle, T . 
Sept. 4,1890, to Sept. 19,1894. 
Knight, J. G. D. 
Dec. 12,1894, to Apr. 2,1895. 
Goethals, G. W. 
Apr. 2,1895, to Mar. 21,1899. 
Lusk, J. L. 
Mar. 21,1899, to Mar. 14,1903. 
Judson, W. V . 
Aug. 3,1903, to Mar. 11,1904. 
Patrick, M. M. 
Mar. 14,1903, to Aug. 3,1903. 
Kutz, C. W. 
Mar. 11,1904, to Nov. 29,1905. 
Beach, Maj. W. D. 
1 
Nov. 29,1905, to date. 
Mr. T. C. Mendenhall was chairman from the creation of the Board 
in 1890 until his departure from Washington in June, 1894, since 
which time Mr. Gannett has tilled this position, except for the period 
from October 1, 1902, to October 14, 1903, when Major Lusk acted 
as chairman. Mr. Clover served as secretary from the beginning 
until October 6, 1891, and Mr. Baker from that date until his death, 
December 12, 1903. Mr. A. H. Allen acted as secretary from Janu¬ 
ary 6, 1904, to April 6, 1904, when Mr. C. S. Sloane was elected 
secretary. 
The Board has decided 5,133 cases. It has also, after an examina¬ 
tion of the disputed cases, approved a certain form of spelling for the 
names of the counties of the United States, numbering 2,876. 
Shortly after the organization of the Board it was called upon to 
decide several hundred cases of disputed names in Alaska, where the 
nomenclature derived from native, Russian, Spanish, and English 
sources was, as it still to some extent is, in great confusion. The 
cases submitted were decided. It was seen, however, that nothing 
short of a complete revision of all the names would satisfactorily 
remove the existing confusion. This was made, and issued in 1901 as 
Bulletin 187 of the Geological Survey, entitled “ Geographic Diction¬ 
ary of Alaska,” which is now being revised. 
ORIGIN OF AND CHANGES IN GEOGRAPHIC NAMES. 
YV ith the exception of the names of political subdivisions, geographic 
names in this country have not, as a rule, been bestowed by any formal 
authority. The names of natural features—rivers, lakes, mountains, 
capes, etc.—and of unchartered bodies of population have received 
their names originally from explorers, surveyors, and early settlers, 
and these names have been perpetuated by common consent. The 
names of states, counties, and municipalities of all classes, on the 
