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Show CASTLE VALLEY TIMES - SUMMER TIMES . Castle Valley, Utah - Volume 2, Number 6 What’s in a Name? One of the rewards of being an early explorer of this region was that you got to name things—mountains, streams, valleys, etc. If you made maps and wrote descriptions of what you named, your names might stick. John - ,June 15, 1993 considered, and most are rejected. Many rejections are attempts to name geographic features after living people. You must be dead to have a feature named after you. In Utah, suggested new names and name changes go first to the Utah Committee for Geographic Names. This committee is appointed by Wesley Powell named many geographic features in the Utah part of the Colorado Plateau, and most of the names are now recognized as "official." Naming things was easy for Powell; he simply thought up an appropriate name the Governor and operates in the Division of State History. I once served on the Committee and found the activities very interesting. A couple of the names I suggested for features on Great Salt - . . . and the livin' is busy. and Castle Creek should be named on the topographic maps. The current editions of the USGS topographic maps of Castle Valley are “provisional.” New names and name changes that are approved can appear on the final versions of the maps. Local governments choose the names of roads and municipalities, and the names are not subject to review as geographic names. The Town of Castle Valley has the authority to name the streets within the town. —Don Mabey Lake were approved and now appear and used that name on his maps and in his journals. Naming things is not so easy today. Today a name for a geographic feature in the US becomes “official” when the US Board on Geographic Names in the US Geological Survey approves it. The USGS maintains a computerized National Geographic Names Data Base with over two million names that the Federal Government and most states recognize. Recently I obtained from the USGS Earth Science on maps. Because the Utah Committee rejects most proposals that have little merit, the National Board approves most of the recommendations. In evaluating a proposed new name or name change, the most important concern is “local usage.” If documentation can be developed that establishes to the satisfaction of the State Committee and the National Board that the people living in the vicinity of a significant geographic feature agree on a name, that name will Information Center a printout of the names. The data base contains for Castle Valley and the encircling mountains and mesas. The printout lists the names, the type of feature, the coordinates, and some the elevations. Names of features that encircle the likely be accepted. It helps if a local organization such as a history associa- tion or the town supports the proposed name. Having generally accepted geographic names is important so we can communicate. Names valley—clockwise—are: Parriott Mesa, are particularly irnpor— Priest and Nuns, Castle Rock, Adobe Mesa, Grand View, Horse Mountain, La Sal Mountains, Bald Mesa, and Porcupine Rim. Within the valley and on the slope of the La Sal Mountains are: Castle tant in emergencies when a need exists to describe such Valley (valley), Castle Creek, Castle Adobe Frisbees The usual harbinger of summer, e1 Sol, has been a reluctant visitor to our valley this season. But the patter of hammer striking nail leaves little doubt that the sun is north of the equator. About 15 years ago I was living in New Mexico. My neighbor, Sam, called and asked for help with a building project. Sam was going to make his own adobe bricks for his future dream home. Somehow, Sam had calculated that my experience in the building trades would allow me to perform miracles with mud. I confessed from the start that my knowledge of adobe was limited. “Not to worry,” he said. “I’ve read the book.” The book that Sam read must have been written during the Spanish Inquisition, because the method described for mixing the adobe was to stand in a pit of mud and flail away with a hoe. After 30 minutes of this things as the torture I remembered that maybe my Valley (populated place), LDS Castle (church—I assume not enough room to print the full name of the church), Round Mountain, Castleton (site), Cain Hollow, Placer Creek, Spring Branch, location of an dinner was burning on the stove. It was injured hiker or a flash a rather lame excuse, since it was only Harpole Mesa, Pinhook Valley, Pinhook Creek, Porcupine Draw, significant flood. Several features in Castle Valley do not have official Porcupine Ranch, Mason Draw, Cold Spring, and Mason Spring. Most, but not all, of these names are on the most recent USGS topographic maps. names. For Names are continually being added to the data base, and names are being changed. Nationwide each year about 10,000 new names or name changes are example the low hills between Chloe Hedden Parriott Mesa 9:30 am. It took about a week for Sam and me (after my excuses ran out) to make about 300 bricks. They looked pretty, lying in the sun in neat little rows. We were very proud. We decided to celebrate our success by taking a trip to town. Town was about a 45-minute drive, and about the time we arrived, clouds had built up and rain was — More, over |
