SPANISH RELICS IN AMERICA 59
a Spanish real, indicates the fact that New Orleans was form- erly occupied by both the Spanish and the French.
The Green Mountains are inseparably associated with Ethan Allen and other distinctively American patriots, and yet the extent of French influence in that section is indicated by the fact that those mountains have given their name to Vermont under a French form.
Pittsburg although of peculiarly English derivation, reminds us of its original name Fort Duquesne and of Braddock's de- feat, while Nova Scotia recalls its ancient French name Arcadia and the tragedy of Evangeline.
The French-Canadian trappers roamed extensively over the great west and French words peculiarly characteristic of this region have become incorporated into our language, such as prairie, butte, coulee, cascade and alkali, which have a distinct local flavor, while the habits of those couriers are suggested by such words as trail, portage and cache.
The original names for many Indian tribes have been super- seded by such French designations as Coeur d'Alene, Nez Perce and Pend d'Oreille, while the French spelling for Spokane and Willamette* is the cause of amusing blunders by many a tenderfoot from the effete East.
- Note. While the impression prevails generally that the word "Willamette"
is a French corruption of an Indian word some times spelled "Wallamet" indeed, it is spelled more than a dozen other ways yet it is possible that that opinion may be incorrect for a number of reasons:
(1) A few years ago I secured for the Oregon Historical Society Volume II of the "Reports of Explorations and Surveys to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, made under the direction of the Secretary of War, in 1853-1856, and printed in Washington, D. C., in 1861, in which appears the 'Reduced Section of a Sketch of the Western Part of North America Between Latitudes 35 and 52 North, 1818.' The origin of this map is described as follows: 'This map of an extent of country including more than twenty degrees of latitude and fifty of longitude, was originally drawn under the inspection of William Rector, Esquire, surveyor of the United States for the territories of Missouri and Illinois, and was by him presented to the General Land Office January 21, 1818. It is prob- ably the most correct map of the country now extant." Signed, Joseph Meigs. On this map the word under discussion is spelled "Willamette," and indicates the river. If the word is derived from French sources the foregoing would indicate that it came from some one in the vicinity of Saint Louis, as there were no Frenchmen in the "Oregon Country" prior to 1818 except a few employees of Astor's Pacific Fur Company, and nothing from any of them was published until Gabriel Franchere issued his "Narrative" in French language in 1819.
(2) In November, 1901, I found a gentleman in Washington, D. C., named "J. B. Willamette." He was a stenographer, and had been for many years, and was at least sixty years old. He pronounced the word as it is generally spoken in Oregon, with accent on the second syllable. He said he belonged to the seventh generation of his family born in the United States, but was of Scotch- Irish origin, according to the family traditions. George H. Himes, Assistant Secretary.
