----------------------------Original message---------------------------- 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 [log in to unmask]