SPANISH AND FRENCH RELICS IN AMERICA
By J. Neilson Barry, Spokane.
Should you ask me, whence these strange words?
Such as mustang and mosquito,
Such as alkali and stampede,
Such as tule, trail and sorghum,
Words like prairie and bonanza,
Like coulee, ranch and two-bits,
Alligator and tamale;
Words which sound peculiar
To some region or condition,
Yet familiar in our language?
I should answer, I should tell you
From the Frenchman and the Spaniard,
From the first whites in this country,
From those races which have been here
And have left these words as relics
Of their former occupation.
PART I.
Odd Reminders of Spanish Settlement.
The methods of the ancient Greeks and Romans in building their houses around an open court was adopted by the Spaniards and by them introduced into America, and today this custom is still found in Oregon where sometimes the livery stable, or corral, consists of a large central enclosure surrounded by sheds opening into it, which is one of the surviving memorials of the time when the southern boundary of Oregon was the northern boundary of Spanish territory.
Both the southeastern and the southwestern portions of the United States were once occupied by the Spaniards, and the flag of Spain once waved over St. Louis, Mo., and although the tide of Anglo Saxon civilization has flowed over their ancient dominions it is but natural that there should be found here and there much that reminds one of those earliest white settlers, and it is interesting to notice how certain Spanish words have become incorporated into our language,
