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Subject: Re: MAPS-L: where geog. features get their names
Date: Wed, 07 Dec 2005
From: James R. Carter <[log in to unmask]>
To: Maps, Air Photo & Geospatial Systems Forum <[log in to unmask]>
As a former employee of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names I feel compelled
to comment on this topic. It is the policy of the Board to use the name
the local people use and not assign names. So, in most cases the names
that we see on maps are the names the local people use. Today, many of the
names are based on maps because few local people know the names by local
tradition. Years ago I remember going to Delaware to check on some names
for the Gazetteer of Delaware. In the local Soil Conservation Office we
found only one person who knew the geographic names in the area. Everyone
else had to look at the map to find out what the name was. Sad, but few of
us live that close to the land anymore.
Where did the name Big Butt come from? Most of us assume it came from an
interpretation of the outline of the mountains, or ridge line. Where do we
get names like the Tetons? The same thing.
When I was with the USGS on the Board staff, I remember someone proposing
the name Paul Bunyons Potty for large overhang with a hole in it in the
Arches National Park area of Utah. The Board did not buy this name and I
assume this feature is still unnamed today. Someone had seen that rock
outcrop as a potty for a giant. Ah, the imagination.
Most of us have looked at clouds and ridge lines and have seen patterns
that remind us of more familiar features. These familiar features are
often body parts or majestic things like castles. Clouds evolve quickly so
we do not name them. But, ridge lines and mountains are permanent and thus
they get named as reference points.
So, where did the name Big Butt come from? It is unlikely the feature was
formally given that name one day but more likely the name came into use as
a common appellation. However, you might be able to find out when it first
appeared on a map. And, it is likely other names have been used for the
same feature.
Good luck in finding an answer. Such questions are worthy of our attention
because they tell us about our history and who we are. I suspect that
somewhere in history a few persons objected to a name like Big Butt on the
local map. What might this do to children's minds?
The Board on Geographic Names has removed names that are racially,
ethnically and pornographically offensive, although they were part of our
history. Big Butt must not have offended that many.
As I note this, I recall the British movie The Man Who Went Up the Hill and
Came Down the Mountain (or something similar). In that movie the British
Names Board had specific criteria as to what could be called a
mountain. So, the local folks added five feet of dirt to a hill and turned
it into a mountain. Thankfully, we do not have such criteria in the
U.S. If the local people call some feature Bill Hill, Big Mountain, or Big
Butt, that is the name we use.
Jim Carter
At 12/6/2005, you wrote:
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>MAPS-L ** MAPS-L ** MAPS-L ** MAPS-L ** MAPS-L
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>
>
>Subject: where geog. features get their names
>Date: Tue, 06 Dec 2005
>From: Michael Fry <[log in to unmask]>
>Organization: University of Maryland Libraries
>To: Maps and Air Photo Systems Forum <[log in to unmask]>
>
>
>Anybody know of a definitive resource that would tell me not *what*
>something is called, but *why*?
>My patron wants to know why Big Butt, a summit in western North Carolina
>(Buncombe County), is so
>named, but the gazetteers we've looked at (i.e., Columbia, Omni and the
>GNIS) say only *what* the
>standard name is, not why it is. The US Board on Geographic Names has a
>"Decisions on geographic
>names in the United States" publication, but most of the entries seem to
>lack this kind of info (and
>we're missing the relevant edition, anyway).
>
>I've since directed her to local resources, including libraries,
>historical societies, Forest
>Service offices, guide and tourist books, etc., but don't know if anything
>will pan out. I've also
>called the BGN's domestic names committee--they're checking their library.
>
>Is this sort of info lost to history, or does somebody document such
>things on a systematic basis?
>
>Thanks very much for any advice you can provide.
>
>mf
>--
>Michael Fry
>Government Documents & Maps
>University of Maryland Libraries
>
>
>--
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Dr. James R. "Jim" Carter, Emeritus Professor
Geography/Geology Department
Illinois State University, Normal, IL 61790-4400 USA
-- http://www.ilstu.edu/~jrcarter --
tel: (309) 438-2833 fax: (309) 438-5310
[log in to unmask]
and, President Elect, Normal Rotary Club
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