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1001 Colorado Place Names

Maxine Benson

Illustrated by Robin Richards

230 pages, 75 line drawings,1 map, 5 x 8-1/2
Paper ISBN 978-0-7006-0633-7, $11.95

Book Cover ImageWhen it came to labeling cities, towns, counties, crossroads, mining camps, rivers, forests, peaks, and passes, Colorado place namers looked to an array of sources for ideas. Many simply memorialized themselves and their families--Florence, Howard, Lulu City, Dacono (Daisy, Cora, and Nora combined)--or more well-known honorees--Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Kit Carson, Montezuma, Ouray. Some paid homage to explorers, war heroes, politicians, railroad executives, plants, animals, or landforms. Still others went for the more unusual or creative--Boreas Pass bears the name of the Greek god of the North Wind; Egnar is range backwards; Kim was inspired by the Rudyard Kipling novel; Artesia was renamed Dinosaur in 1965 to capitalize on tourist traffic headed to nearby Dinosaur National Monument; Almont was named for a horse, Gulnare a cow.

In 1001 Colorado Place Names, Maxine Benson scrutinizes the most popular, interesting , and unique place names in the state. She discusses how the chosen names originated and what changes they have undergone. Included are Colorado's 63 counties, 716 past and present settlements, and 56 "fourteeners" (peaks more than 14,000 feet in elevation) along with other places known for their historical, geographical, geological, or onomastic significance. Benson also provides pronunciation of unusual names, county locations, post office dates, population figures, and anecdotes galore. The result is a mosaic of information of Colorado history, ethnicity, families, events, politics, settlement patterns, and local lore.

Combining previous place-name research and new findings, Benson takes us on a colorful, entertaining, and educational journey through cities and towns, across the plains, and over the mountains.

"Benson knows the highest state intimately. Her witty, wise, scholarly explanations of how places got their names will brighten your trails."--Thomas J. Noel, author of The City and the Saloon: Denver, 1858-1916

"This fact-packed volume of Colorado place names is an invaluable supplement to the study of Colorado's past. Tourists and travelers will want to keep it on the seat beside them as they drive through the state."--Liston E. Leyendecker, author of Palace Car Prince: A Biography of George Mortimer Pullman

"A captivating look at Colorado's place names written by one of the state's premier historians. This book will settle arguments and start lively discussions--and be fun to read all the while."--Duane A. Smith, author of Rocky Mountain West: Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana, 1859-1915

MAXINE BENSON, former state historian at the Colorado Historical Society, has written extensively on her native state. She is author of Mountain Naturalist and coauthor of A Colorado History.