i82 PLACE NAMES IN THE UNITED STATES. Lbtjll. 258. 
Las Aguilas; town in San Benito County, California. A Spanish name meaning 
"the eagles." 
Las Aguites; town in San Benito County, California. A Spanish phrase meaning 
"the mists." 
Lasalle; county, and city in same county, in Illinois; village in Niagara County, New 
York, and county in Texas, named for Rene Robert Cavalier, Sieur de La Salle. 
Las Animas; county, and town in Bent County, in Colorado. A contraction of the 
name originally given the river by the Spaniards, el rio de las animas perditas, 
"the river of the lost souls," because, traditionally, a Spanish regiment on its 
way to Florida was lost in the river. 
Las Cruces; town in Santa Barbara County, California. A Spanish phrase meaning 
"the crosses," a term frequently applied to cemeteries. 
Las Gallinas; town in Marin County, California. A Spanish name meaning "the 
hens." 
Lassecks; peak in Humboldt County, California, named for an Indian chief. 
Lassen; county and peak in California, named for Peter Lassen, an early explorer. 
Last Chance; mining town in Placer County, California, so named by miners who 
had been unfortunate in finding "pay gravel." 
Las Vegas; city in San Miguel County, New T Mexico. A Spanish name meaning 
"the plains," or "the meadows," and given this city on account of its situation 
in the midst of a fertile meadow. 
Latah.; county in Idaho, said by one authority to be an Indian word meaning 
"succession." 
Latrobe; borough in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, named for Benjamin H. 
Latrobe, jr., a distinguished engineer and architect. 
Latta; town in Marion County, South Carolina, named for a prominent family. 
Lattimore; town in Cleveland County, North Carolina, named for a prominent 
resident. 
Latty; village in Paulding County, Ohio, named for the first settler, Judge A. S. 
Latty. 
Lauderdale; county in Alabama, county, and town in same county, in Mississippi, 
and county in Tennessee, named for Col. James Lauderdale. 
Laughery; river and town in Ohio County, Indiana, so named from the massacre 
of Captain Laughery's company by the Indians. 
Laughing Fish Pond; point in Schoolcraft County, Michigan, so named from the 
Indian name, stikameg bapid, meaning "laughing white fish." 
Laura; village in Knott County, Nebraska, named for the wife of the first settler, 
whose name was Estep or Estop. 
Laurel; county in Kentucky, and town in Jones County, Mississippi, so named on 
account of the dense laurel thickets growing within their limits. 
Laurens; county in Georgia, named for -Col. John Laurens, of South Carolina, the 
Bayard of the American Revolution. 
Laurens; county, and town in same county, in South Carolina, named for Col. Henry 
Laurens and his son, John. 
Lausanne; township in Carbon County, Pennsylvania, named from the town in 
Switzerland. 
Lava; station in San Bernardino County, California, named from the volcanic 
deposits that cover the Mohave desert in the vicinity. 
Lavaca; river, county, and bay in Texas. A corruption of the name les vaches, 
given the river by the Spanish explorer, La Salle, on account of the number of 
buffalo found there, les vaches meaning "the cows." 
Lavallette; city in Ocean County, New Jersey, named for a resident family. 
Lawrence; counties in Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, 
Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee, and many other places, named for 
