The stories behind names given to the mountains, valleys, and streams in Utah are often a curiosity for the geographically inquisitive among us. These names surround and guide us as we navigate through our geographically complex state. The origins and background for many geographic names are often lost to history. For others, their roots or source may be readily apparent. In certain cases, these names reflect the values, customs, and languages of a bygone era and are artifacts in themselves.1
In Utah, it takes little imagination to understand the origin of most geographic names. Most were handed down from the expansionism of white settlement. Relatively few geographic names originally used by the Indigenous peoples who reside in our state made it into our modern geographic lexicon, instead being erased by newcomers. Anglicized versions of Indigenous names are sprinkled across our state and are only occasionally acknowledged as having an...