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Gc 979.8 B17g 1773785
M. L.
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01103 7931
57TH CONGRESS. ( 1st Session.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. | DOCUMENT 1 No. 469.
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
BULLETIN
OF THE
UNITED STATES
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
Gc
No. 187
979.8
B17g
SERIES F, GEOGRAPHY, 27
GEOGRAPHIC DICTIONARY OF ALASKA .- BAKEP
WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1901
UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
CHARLES D. WALCOTT, DIRECTOR
GEOGRAPHIC DICTIONARY OF ALASKA -
BY
MARCUS BAKER
WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1902
1773785
CONTENTS.
Page.
Letter of transmittal
7
United States Board on Geographic Names
9
Executive order of September 4, 1890
10
Members and officers, September, 1901
10
Adoption of dictionary
11
Introduction
11
Origin of dictionary
12
Plan and scope.
12
Mode of preparation
14
Origin of names
16
Principles employed and reforms attempted
18
Authorities
19
In chronologie order
20
In alphabetic order
59
Conclusion
61
Dictionary .
5
9
)
1
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.
WASHINGTON, D. C .. July 31. 1901.
SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith the manuscript of a Geographic Dictionary of Alaska. This dictionary, prepared by Mr. Marcus Baker, of the United States Board on Geographic Names, has been provisionally approved by the Board, and by its direction is transmitted to you with the request that it be printed as a Bulletin of the United States Geological Survey.
HENRY GANNETT, Chairman of U. S. Board on Geographic Names.
Hon. CHARLES D. WALCOTT.
Director of United States Geological Survey.
7
UNITED STATES BOARD ON GEOGRAPHIC NAMES.
EXECUTIVE ORDER.
As it is desirable that uniform usage in regard to geographic nomen- clature and orthography obtain throughout the executive departments of the Government, and particularly upon the maps and charts issued by the various departments and bureans, I hereby constitute a Board on Geographic Names. and designate the following persons, who have heretofore cooperated for a similar purpose under the authority of the several departments, bureaus, and institutions with which they are connected, as members of said Board:
Prof. Thomas C. Mendenhall, United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, chairman.
Andrew H. Allen, Department of State.
Capt. Henry L. Howison. Light-House Board. Treasury Depart- ment.
Capt. Thomas Turtle. Engineer Corps, War Department.
Lieut. Richardson Clover, Hydrographic Office, Navy Department.
Pierson H. Bristow, Post-Office Department.
Otis T. Mason, Smithsonian Institution.
Herbert G. Ogden, United States Coast and Geodetic Survey.
Henry Gannett. United States Geological Survey.
Marcus Baker, United States Geological Survey.
To this Board shall be referred all unsettled questions concerning geographic names which arise in the departments, and the decisions of the Board are to be accepted by these departments as the standard authority in such matters.
Department officers are instructed to afford such assistance as may be proper to carry on the work of this Board.
The members of this Board shall serve without additional compensa- tion. and its organization shall entail no expense on the Government.
BENJ. HARRISON.
EXECUTIVE MANSION.
September 4, 1890.
9
10
UNITED STATES BOARD ON GEOGRAPHIC NAMES.
MEMBERS AND OFFICERS, DECEMBER, 1901.
HENRY GANNETT, Chairman,
United States Geological Survey.
MARCUS BAKER, Secretary,
United States Geological Survey.
ANDREW H. ALLEN, Department of State.
Capt. H. T. BRIAN,
Government Printing Office.
JOHN HYDE, Department of Agriculture.
A. B. JOHNSON,
Treasury Department.
HARRY KING, General Land Office.
Maj. J. L. LUSK, U. S. Engineers, War Department.
Prof. O. T. MASON,
Smithsonian Institution.
H. G. OGDEN, Coast and Geodetic Survey.
Lieut. Commander W. H. H. SOUTHER- LAND, U. S. N., Navy Department.
A. VON HAAKE, Post-Office Department.
ADOPTION OF DICTIONARY.
At a special meeting of the United States Board on Geographic Names held July 29, 1901, the following resolution was adopted:
Whereas the United States Board on Geographie Names some ten years ago deter- mined to prepare a dictionary of Alaska geographie names and appointed a commit- tee which began the work of collecting the material therefor; and
Whereas such committee, consisting of Messrs. H. G. Ogden and Marcus Baker, entered upon the work and prosecuted it for two or three years, collecting the names from all published and original sources; and
Whereas Mr. Mareus Baker has since collected and discussed the evidence relat- ing to the names and alternatives, in connection with his official duties, and has written the dictionary: Therefore,
Resolved, That the Board approve this dictionary, thus prepared, and provisionally adopt the approved forms contained therein.
A few revisions of previous decisions have been made and embodied in this dictionary, which supersedes all previous Alaskan lists.
GEOGRAPHIC DICTIONARY OF ALASKA.
By MARCUS BAKER.
INTRODUCTION.
ORIGIN.
This dietionary is the outgrowth of work undertaken by the Board on Geographic Names about ten years ago. Shortly after the Board was organized there was submitted to it a list of two or three hundred names of geographie features in Alaska. the names of which were variously spelled or which bore two or more different names. The Board studied these names. sought information and advice from experts, and finally decided all the cases. But the studies made in order to ascertain the facts and to establish principles for guidance in the deter- mination of cases made it plain that nothing short of a complete revision of all the geographic names in Alaska could yield satisfactory results. Accordingly the Board, after full discussion, decided to under- take such revision and to prepare a geographie dietionary. For this purpose it appointed a committee to collect and arrange the material. The committee consisted of Messrs. H. G. Ogden, of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, and Marcus Baker, of the Geological Survey. The territory was divided, Mr. Ogden undertaking to catalogue the names in Alexander archipelago and Mr. Baker those in the remainder of the Territory.
In September, 1893, the committee reported that about 4,300 names had then been entered upon cards-about 2,400 in southeastern Alaska, by Mr. Ogden, and 1,900 in central, western and northern Alaska, by Mr. Baker. For some years thereafter comparatively little progress was made in this work. The cataloguing had been carried on as inci- dental to other duties, and with increasing demands the dictionary work came to a standstill. Thus it remained for several years, save for a little time given to it now and then.
Meanwhile the gold discoveries had quiekened public interest in Alaska. Prospectors swarmed into the Territory and there were numerous exploring and surveying expeditions sent out by the War,
11
12
GEOGRAPHIC DICTIONARY OF ALASKA.
[BULL. 187.
Treasury, and Interior departments. From these resulted large addi- tions to geographic knowledge and to the list of names, especially of features in the interior. The United States Geological Survey took an active part in this interior exploration, and thus the Director found urgent need of the dictionary as an aid in preparing and pub- lishing reports on Alaska. Accordingly in June, 1900, he directed the writer to complete it. Since that time the work has progressed with little interruption to completion, and it was adopted by the Board on Geographic Names on July 29, 1901.
PLAN AND SCOPE.
The plan of this dictionary is to show in one alphabetical list all the published names which have been applied to geographic features in Alaska. This includes obsolete as well as current names, and also a few not previously published. It aims to show the origin, history, modes of spelling, and application of each name, and in the cases of Indian, Eskimo, and foreign names, their meaning also. And finally it shows, in bold-faced type, the forms approved by the United States Board on Geographic Names. Rejected, doubtful, and obsolete forms are shown in italics.
So comprehensive a scheme as this could not, from the nature of the case, be completely realized. The attempt to discover and record every name that has been used would require an expenditure of time and energy far beyond the value of the result, and would, moreover, fall short of absolute success. Nevertheless, thoroughness and com- pleteness as well as accuracy have been steadily kept in view. The work is brought down to about 1900. While it is an Alaskan diction- ary, a few names of features near but outside of Alaska are included. Also, elevations are given, when known.
The difficulties in executing this plan are deeper than the names. In many cases the question is not What is the name? but, To what does or should the name apply? In the beginning of exploration there is generally confusion and uncertainty as to the names and their appli- cation, growing out of imperfect geographic knowledge. It is certain that many of the recent names included herein will not survive, and that local usage will have established forms not now known to the writer. Thus a complete revision of this work will be needed before many years. Meanwhile, it is hoped that this dictionary will be found helpful in establishing uniformity in the use of Alaska proper names.
MODE OF PREPARATION.
The work was begun in 1892 by copying on library cards the names found on mother maps and charts, with indications of the maps from which they were taken. This work was placed in the hands of a com- mittee of two, appointed by the Board for the purpose, consisting of
13
MODE OF PREPARATION.
BAKER.]
H. G. Ogden and Marcus Baker. The work was divided between them. Mr. Ogden took charge of the carding of names for the Alex- ander archipelago, using for this purpose the charts and Coast Pilots published by the Coast Survey and the British Admiralty charts. Names in the remainder of the Territory were carded by the present writer and were collected from various American, English. and Rus- sian maps and books.
In September. 1893, the committee reported that about 4.300 names had been entered upon cards-2.400 for the Alexander archipelago and 1,900 for the rest of Alaska.
The plan and scope of the dietionary were then discussed and the method of publication was considered. Little further progress, how- ever, was made at that time. The work done by members of the Board and its committee is and has always been, with a single excep- tion, ineidental to other work. Other duties being pressing the work flagged and made slow progress. From time to time the writer worked upon it and wrote out the entries from A to F. Then work upon it came to a complete standstill. So it remained till June. 1900, when the Director of the Geological Survey, who needed the results for official purposes, instructed the writer to complete the dictionary, and for the first time work upon it ceased to be incidental.
On taking up the work in June, 1900. the first task was to card the new names which had resulted from exploration and survey since that work ceased seven years before. It is estimated that the number of new names thus catalogued exceeded 2.000. On completing these the work of writing the dictionary entries was begun. At first the dic- tionary order was followed, but it was shortly abandoned for the geographie order. Spreading out the mother maps of any given region, the cards bearing the names found thereon were taken from their trays and the dictionary entries were written upon them in pres- ence of the maps. Many of the early entries were rewritten. When these were finished the cards were restored to their alphabetic order and then the entries were copied on the typewriter for the printer's use, chiefly by Mr. Wilson S. Wiley. This done. Mr. Wiley went over this typewritten copy and copied the rejected and alternative names, which were afterwards arranged and inserted in their proper places as cross references. The typewritten copy was not compared with the original, but as a check the proof was compared with the original entries on the cards. These cards contain thousands of refer- ences to the literature. which references are not printed. The cards. however, are preserved and will doubtless prove of service hereafter.
14
GEOGRAPHIC DICTIONARY OF ALASKA.
[BULL. 187.
ORIGIN OF NAMES.
di
The geographie names of any region may be likened to the co) ; circulating in a great seaport. As these coins are stamped by varic nations, so geographic names are stamped by a conquering, colonizing or exploring people upon the regions they visit, colonize, or conquer. As some coins are by long use worn till their origin is unrecognizable, so some geographic names, well known and most useful, are of so uncertain origin that men disagree and dispute about them. Other coins, and other geographic names, are less worn, and their origin and history can be traced. Alaskan geographic names comprise a comparatively small number either so old or so corrupted as wholly to conceal their origin or meaning. They are derived almost exclu- sively from six sources, which may be briefly characterized as follows:
1. Names bestowed by the Russians .- Prior to about 1750 Russian America, now Alaska, was a blank on our maps. Beginning with Bering's first expedition in 1725, dim and obscure outlines began to appear on this blank space, and as they appeared the Russians who were filling this space applied names to the geographic features which they discovered and explored. First came the fur hunter, then the official explorer, and later they worked side by side. On the part of the Russians the work continued till the purchase of Alaska by the United States in 1867. Thus the period of Russian nomenclature is about one hundred and twenty-five years, dating from Bering's second voyage in 1741 and ending with the cession of the territory to the United States in 1867.
2. Names bestowed by the Spaniards .- There are few names in Alaska of Spanish origin. All of them were bestowed in the interval between 1774 and about 1800. The exploratory work of the Spaniards was all coastwise and extended from the southern boundary of Alaska to and including Prince William sound. One expedition, indeed, went as far west as Unalaska and named a few points along this stretch of coast. Most of these names, owing to tardy and obscure publication, have disappeared from the maps.
3. Names bestowed by the English .- English names in Alaska date from Cook's voyage thither in 1778. From time to time during the seventy-five or eighty years following Cook's voyage, and to a limited extent to the present time, English traders and naval vessels have contributed to a knowledge of Alaskan geography and to its nomen- elature. Noteworthy in the last century, after Cook, are the voyages of Dixon, Meares, and Portlock, British fur traders, but especially are we indebted to the incomparable Vancouver for his masterly explora- tion and survey of the coast from Kodiak eastward and southward to lower California. Vancouver named many features. At the same time the features named were so fully described, mapped, and pub-
15
ORIGIN OF NAMES.
BAKER.]
hed that most of these names remain unchanged on our maps to-day. : e more important additions by Englishmen after Vancouver were ose by Captain Beechey, R. N., in 1826-27: by Sir Edward Beleher, N., in 1836-1842, and. more especially, by the so-called Franklin earch expeditions during the period 1848-1854. The work of Cook in 1778, of Beechey and Franklin in 1826-27, and of Dease and Simp- son in 1837 gave to the world the main outlines of the Arctic coast of Alaska and the names of nearly all its large or important features.
4. Names bestowed by Frenchmen .- The explorations by the French on the Alaskan coast are small and are confined almost wholly to south- eastern Alaska. The ill-fated expedition of La Perouse, in 1786. is almost the only one which has left its impress on the nomenclature of the country, and that wholly in the southeastern part.
5. Names bestowed by Americans .- American whaleships first entered the Arctic ocean through Bering strait in 1848 and began a contribu- tion to Alaskan geographie names. This naming of geographie fea- tures has been continued by private citizens and by government officers of the United States to the present time. The earliest large contribution was made by the North Pacific Exploring Expedition of 1855, whose Alaskan names are found chiefly in the Aleutian islands a ! in Bering sea. Beginning with the cession of the Territory to the United States in 1867, numerous official expeditions have explored, surveyed, mapped, and named many features. The largest contribu- tions, till recently, have come from the numerous surveying expedi- tions of the Coast Survey. At the same time, the Revenue Marine Service, the naval vessels, the military garrisons and reconnaissances, the Census Office, the Bureau of Education, the missionaries. the traders, miners, and prospeetors, have each taken a part in spreading names over Alaska. In very recent years the Geological Survey has given many names, especially in the interior of the country.
6. Native names. Last in order but first in importance are native names. The various native tribes, occupying Alaska for an indefinite period before the advent of the whites, had applied names to various features. For certain great features each tribe would have its own name. Thus even before the advent of the whites there was duplica- tion of names. The great river of Alaska which we call the Yukon was called by the Eskimo Kweek-puk (kweek river and puk big). and from them the Russians obtained their name which through various transliterations into roman characters has appeared as Kwitehpak. Kwikhpak. etc. Some of the Indian tribes of the interior called it Yukon (the river), it being too great and well known to need a name, while the Tanana tribes call it, according to Lieutenant Allen, Niga To. It doubtless bears and has borne other names.
Explorers and geographers visiting new lands and people are always prone to ascertain and use the native names of places, mountains,
16
GEOGRAPHIC DICTIONARY OF ALASKA.
[BULL. 187.
rivers, lakes, etc. But this is attended with difficulty, as everyone who has tried, knows. Dealing with tribes whose language is strange and often wholly unknown, the strange sounds are often imperfectly understood and the application of the name is uncertain. Hence, as a rule, no native name is preserved, but rather some faint imitation or corruption of it. Potomac, Kalamazoo, Massachusetts, and Missis- sippi are accepted as Indian words, but it is very doubtful whether any Indian past or present would recognize these as words of his native tongue.
A large part of the Alaskan native names which, up to a few years back, had appeared on our maps were gathered by the Russians, and these names, when independently gathered and published, differ from one another more or less, as we should expect them to do. Again, these names in Russian characters have been transliterated into Roman characters by persons unskilled in Russian, and this has served to produce yet wider divergence and some extraordinary and unpro- nounceable forms.
The native names as a whole fall into two great groups : (a) The Eskimo, covering the Arctic coast, the eastern shore of Bering sea, extending some distance up the various rivers, the Aleutian islands, and Alaska peninsula as far east as Kodiak ; and (b) the Indian tribes of the interior and of southeastern Alaska.
PRINCIPLES EMPLOYED AND REFORMS ATTEMPTED.
The general principles followed are those adopted by the Board on Geographic Names and published in its reports, viz:
(a) The avoidance, so far as seems practicable, of the possessive form of names.
(b) The dropping of the final h in burgh.
(c) The spelling of the word center as here given.
(d) The discontinuance of the use of hyphens in connecting parts of names.
(e) The simplification of names consisting of more than one word by their combi- nation into one word.
(f) The avoidance of the use of diacritic characters.
(g) The dropping of the words city and town as parts of names.
(h) The uniform rendering of the Russian termination OBb by of, not off, or, nor ou.
In addition to following the foregoing principles, certain reforms have been herein attempted with reference to some native names. One of the most noteworthy is the omission of the generic parts of such names. The Eskimo termination miut, or mut, or mute, meaning people, is found with wearisome frequency in those parts of Alaska occupied by the Eskimo. Unless local usage or euphony required its retention this termination has been omitted. For example, an Eskimo village on an island in the Kuskokwim has been written Kikkhtaga- mute, Kik-Khtagamute, and Kikikhtagamiut, meaning Big island people. Kikhtak (whence by corruption Kodiak) means a big island.
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PRINCIPLES EMPLOYED AND REFORMS ATTEMPTED.
In this case the Board has adopted Kiktak. The form Ikogmut, however, the name of an old and well-known mission on the lower Yukon, is retained because it is old and well known; otherwise it would be - Ikok. How far this attempted reform can be profitably carried is a matter of judgment and discretion. While all agree as to the principle, differences arise in its application. Even with the shortening of some long Eskimo names by such cutting off of their generic termination the remainder is so long and unpronounceable that it is certain it will not, and ought not, to survive as a geographic name.
In the interior are many rivers bearing native names ending in kakat (also written chargut and changut), meaning river, such as Melozikakat, Batzakakat, etc .- i. e., Melozi river, Batzi river, etc. In the interest of brevity and simplicity this termination kukat has been omitted. The same rule would reduce Mississippi river to Misis river, which is obviously impracticable, since both the word and its spelling are well established. Such does not, however, appear to be the case with many of the Alaskan names. Among some Indian tribes the final syllable na, and among others hini, means river. These also have been dropped in a few cases. There are a number of cases like Tanana, Chitina, etc., where usage seems too firmly rooted to warrant the omission, but wherever in the judgment of the Board it was practicable the elision has been made.
Wherever and whenever it appeared practicable to use a simple spelling this was done. When a native name had been reported by different persons, with different spellings, as is the almost invariable rule, the Board has not felt bound merely to select from among these, but has from time to time adopted a form of its own derived from study and comparison of these and the rules adopted for writing native names.
When features have been named after persons the spelling used by those persons has been followed, always excepting corruptions and changes too well established to make this practicable. Thus Thomson, not Thompson; Ruhamah, not Ruhama, etc. In the case of Russian proper names the application of this rule is impossible because the names are to be expressed in Roman and not in Russian letters. Thus we have Romanzof, a well-established name derived from Count Rumiantsof. Most Russian proper names when transliterated into Roman characters have peculiarities of form due to the views held and knowledge possessed by the transliterator. The Board has not fol- lowed a fixed system of rules in these cases. Practically the translit- eration of ali such names had been made, and in divers ways. before the Board began its work. It therefore dealt with cases as it found them and selected such form as, all things considered, gave promise of being generally acceptable.
Bull. 187-01-2
i
BAKER.}
i
18
GEOGRAPHIC DICTIONARY OF ALASKA.
[BULL. 187.
The Board has given little attention or weight to either purity or priority. The guiding principle has been to discover, record, and follow the names by which features are now known, irrespective of when or how they got those names. Many names, especially of the great features, once bore names they do not now bear. To return to these first names is neither possible nor desirable. Bering sea and Bering strait will continue to be so called despite their other names earlier given.
Again, simplification of the spelling of names, whenever practicable, has been kept steadily in mind. Early in the Board's work it dropped, from native names, silent letters whenever, in its judgment such omission would generally commend itself as an improvement. Thus Atka. not Atkha; Sitka, not Sitkha; Kitkuk, not Khitkouk. Certain Russian proper names begin with the Russian X (equivalent to a very hard K); this letter has been transliterated by Kh. Thus Khrom- chenko, Khwostof, etc. The Board has not felt warranted in dropping the silent / in all these cases.
The sound of oo in food often occurs in Aleut and Eskimo names and has been variously rendered by oo, ou, and u. Thus, Oonalaska, Oun- alaska, and Unalaska. For this sound the letter ¿ has been generally though not universally used. Thus, Unga, Umak, Ugalgan, etc., but not Chilkut nor Iskut. Chilkoot is a popular and well-established spelling and pronunciation of an Indian word which is unpronounce- able by most white men and which might be written T'sl-kūt.
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