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Show j. ' i '-j." 'gerg! LAND OF niQ-NOSED MEreTV Arlion Bo Mamed Ileeaute ol FatUV recullarltr. Who would for n moment suppose, saya tho St. Louis Hcpubllc, that the wonl "Arizona," which wo associate with balmy breezes, music, moonlight nights nnd nmnzons, could mean nothing noth-ing moro or less than "a great big noGcl" Tho Kottthwcstern portion of what Is now tho L'nltcd States was originally inhabited by n tribo of natives noted far nml wide for their prominent, bcak-lil.o 110301, nnd, although al-though nature had been extremely lavish In her gifts when sho conferred iinf-al nppendnges upon theso queer aborigines, they sought to cnlargo thoso orgnns by piercing the vertical septum or gristle between tho nostrils nnd wcnrlng cnonnous ornaments therein. One division of thisblg-noscd tribo would wenr n ring hammered from nntlvo gold or silver; another nn ornamented shell, whllo a third wero content with n sharp stick driven through tho cartilage In such n manner man-ner ns to penult of tho ends projecting several Inches to tho side of each nostril. nos-tril. To tho early Spanish Invaders these queer but hnrmless creatures wero known ns "tho lllg Noses." In tho Snnnlsh lnmruaifn "nnW I nnrl. My authority says in that lnnguago you can also express n diminutive or an augumentntlvo by n termination to the nnmo word. Thus, nnrlzlto would mean "a llttlo nose," nnd narlzon "a great big nose." Tho fcmlnlno of narlzon would bo nnrlzonn. Tho "n" having been eliminated by 11 sago and time, wo havo tho nnmo ns it stands to-dny Arizona. In much tho same manner tho stnto of Oregon receives Its nntuo from a tribo ot Indians noted for their enormous ears. They pierced tho nurlclo und onlargcd the lobe much In tho same manner that tho Nnrlzons enlarged their noses. In tho Spanish, "enr" la orcjn. Now attach at-tach on, tho nugmentntlvo to tho word orcja, leaving otf tho final n from tho word meaning car. nnd wo have Orejon. Time, which, lllto care, will kill a cnt, lms changed tho "J" to "g" nnd given us tho word "Oregon." |