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Steve Rogers is correct that Nebraska, like Ohio, took its name from a
river.  In fact, about half of the states created out of the public
domain bear the names of their principal rivers.  This provided a nice,
neat, non-political way of naming new territories and the practice was
widely employed . . . until settlement reached the mountain west, where
major rivers did not so much dominate land and life.  Then Congress,
which decided the names for new territories, became somewhat more
playful.
Wyoming derives its name from the Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania.  Idaho
is probably a coined word but was presented as being an "Indian" term
meaning "Gem of the Mountains."  Both these names had their supporters
in Congress and were actually put forward several times before being
selected for use.  Which is how a *DELAWARE* Indian name came to be
given to a land no Delaware is likely to have ever approached within at
least a thousand miles.
 
Jim Gouger
Department of Geography
Mary Washington College
Fredericksburg, Virginia
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