Stephen Gilberg (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
deckardcanine) wrote2025-05-03 09:07 pm
deckardcanine) wrote2025-05-03 09:07 pm
I Dunno
Most state names in the USA have meanings we can trace,
But “Idaho” was probably a gag; it’s out of place.
Some folks suggest the Plains Apache ídaahę́, or “foe,”
Referring to Comanches, but on that, my vote is no.
More likely, George M. Willing, then a delegate called “Doc,”
Made up the name and then devised its meaning (what a crock).
He claimed that it was “gemstone of the mountains” in Shoshoni.
He later would confess that he was being quite the phony.
Perhaps it wasn’t his idea, but records haven’t shown
Its use before an 1860 meeting that we’ve known.
Supposedly, he coined it when he’d met a little girl
Named Ida, but at any rate, he gave the name a whirl
And made it his suggestion for a territory name.
It won the vote at first, but Congress quickly felt some shame
And switched to “Colorado.” Nonetheless, the first name stuck
To one town there, and that was not the end of Willing’s luck.
In Washington, a county took the name a few months later.
In 1863, at last, the silly word’s creator
Would get his wish with yet another territory’s label.
The borders changed by statehood, but the name of it was stable.
Did people still believe the lie or simply like the sound?
Regardless, it’s a pain to change, and thus it sticks around.
But “Idaho” was probably a gag; it’s out of place.
Some folks suggest the Plains Apache ídaahę́, or “foe,”
Referring to Comanches, but on that, my vote is no.
More likely, George M. Willing, then a delegate called “Doc,”
Made up the name and then devised its meaning (what a crock).
He claimed that it was “gemstone of the mountains” in Shoshoni.
He later would confess that he was being quite the phony.
Perhaps it wasn’t his idea, but records haven’t shown
Its use before an 1860 meeting that we’ve known.
Supposedly, he coined it when he’d met a little girl
Named Ida, but at any rate, he gave the name a whirl
And made it his suggestion for a territory name.
It won the vote at first, but Congress quickly felt some shame
And switched to “Colorado.” Nonetheless, the first name stuck
To one town there, and that was not the end of Willing’s luck.
In Washington, a county took the name a few months later.
In 1863, at last, the silly word’s creator
Would get his wish with yet another territory’s label.
The borders changed by statehood, but the name of it was stable.
Did people still believe the lie or simply like the sound?
Regardless, it’s a pain to change, and thus it sticks around.