Author: Warren Upham

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2015-06-25

Total Pages: 753

ISBN-13: 9781330389430

Excerpt from Minnesota Geographic Names, Vol. 17: Their Origin and Historic Significance During sixteen years, from 1879 to 1894, of service for the geological surveys of Minnesota, the United States, and Canada, in travel over large areas of this state, the Dakotas, and Manitoba, my attention was often attracted to the origins of their names of places, partly received directly from the Indian languages, and in many other instances translated from the aboriginal names. Frequently our geographic names note remarkable topographic features, or are derived from the fauna and flora. Perhaps a greater number commemorate pioneer white explorers, early fur traders, and agricultural settlers. Later work for the Minnesota Historical Society, since 1895, has permitted and even required more detailed consideration and record in this field. Many memorials of our territorial and state history arc preserved in geographic names, and each nationality contributing to the settlement has its share in this nomenclature. As the first immigrants of the state along the Atlantic and Gulf coast brought many place names from England, France, Holland, and Spain, so in Minnesota many geographic names have come from beyond the sea. Here the influence of a large proportion of immigration from Germany is shown by such names as New Ulm, New Trier, Hamburg, Cologne, and New Munich. Old Bohemia is brought to mind by the city of New Prague. Sweden, Norway, and Denmark are well represented by Stockholm, Malmo, Bergen, Trondhjem, Denmark, and many other township and village names. In the early eastern and southern states, Plymouth, Boston, Portsmouth, Bangor, New York, Charleston, St. Augustine, and New Orleans, recalled tender memories of the Old World. Likewise, these German and Bohemian and Scandinavian names have a great meaning to the immigrants from those countries who have made their new homes here. To illustrate how this subject is like a garden of flowers, or like an epic poem, reference may be made to the names of the eighty-six Minnesota counties. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.