Page:Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States (1905).djvu/46

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PLACE NAMES IN THE UNITED STATES
[Bull. 258.

Bayou Salé; creek emptying into Cote Blanche Bay, Louisiana. A French name meaning "salt bayou" or "salt creek."

Bay St. Louis; city in Hancock County, Mississippi, named for Louis XI of France, and situated on a bay, hence the prefix.

Bay Spring; town in Tishomingo County, Mississippi, named for the home of Robert Lowery in the same county.

Beacon; town in Mahaska County, Iowa, named for Lord Beaconsfield.

Beadle; county in South Dakota, named for W. H. H. Beadle, superintendent of public instruction in 1884.

Bear; creek in Missouri, sometimes called Loose Creek, probably from a careless corruption of the French, l'ourse, "the bear."

Bear; creek in Yellowstone park named from a hairless cub found there by a party of explorers. This name is applied to numerous places in the United States, from the presence of the animal at the time of naming.

Beardstown; city in Cass County, Illinois, named for Thomas Beard, the founder.

Bear Lake; county in Idaho, named from Bear Lake.

Bear Lake; village in Manistee County, Michigan, so named because of a fancied resemblance between the outline of the village limits and a sleeping bear.

Beatrice; village in Humboldt County, California, named for the wife of an early settler.

Beatrice; city in Gage County, Nebraska, named for the daughter of Judge Kinney, one of the earliest settlers in the State, and who assisted in locating the town site.

Beattie; city in Marshall County, Kansas, named for A. Beattie, mayor of St. Joseph, Missouri, in 1870.

Beattyville; town in Lee County, Kentucky, named for Samuel Beatty, one of the first settlers.

Beaufort; county, and town in Carteret County, in North Carolina, named for the Duke of Beaufort, a lord proprietor.

Beaufort; county, and town in same county, in South Carolina, said by some authorities to be named for the Duke of Beaufort, but other authorities claim that the name was given by the French Protestants, who took refuge there from Lord Berkeley, giving the name of the town in Anjou, France.

Beauregard; town in Copiah County, Mississippi, named for Gen. Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, Confederate Army.

Beaver; county in Oklahoma, county, and borough in same county, in Pennsylvania, county in Utah, and twenty post-offices, and numerous creeks, lakes, and other natural features in the United States. It was adopted by the Indians as a personal as well as tribal name, because of the widespread presence of the animal.

Beaver; lake in Indiana, called by the Indians, sagayxganuhnickyug, "lake of beavers."

Beaverdam; city in Dodge County, Wisconsin, creek in Yellowstone Park, Wyoming, and numerous post-offices, so called from an obstacle placed in streams by beavers.

Beaverhead; county in Montana, named from a rock in the county shaped like a beaver's head.

Bechler; creek in Yellowstone Park, named by the United States Geological Survey for Gustavtis R. Bechler, topographer, with the Hayden Survey.

Bechtelsville; brough in Berks County, Pennsylvania, named for the family of which Judge O. P. Bechtel is a prominent member.

Becker; county, and town in Sherburne County, in Minnesota, named for Gen. George L. Becker, who was one of the leading men of the State at the time.

Beckley; village in Raleigh County, West Virginia, named for Gen. Alfred Beckley, an early settler.