Indian Place Names in Alabama

APPENDIX

APPENDIX 1. Names A ABESHAI Obsolete name of a Sumter County stream, probably Kinterbish Creek; said to be from Choctaw abachaya, meaning 'watercourse . ' - Foscue, 17. ALABAMA "Originally it probably belonged to a single town. The interpretation Professor Read gives is valid, but inasmuch as all of the Southeastern Indians were 'thicket clearers,' I have thought that reference might be had to medicines, the town having been noted for its medicine men or its proximity to quantities of medicine plants. In that case we must suppose alba to be understood in an esoteric sense just as the Creek word for 'leaf' [yaupon] came to be applied to the flex vomitoria"-Swanton, 212. Swanton implies a translation such as 'herb gatherers.' ALCACHUSKA [relkg'tjAskg] Obsolete name of Blue Eye Creek, an affluent of the Coosa River in Talladega County. 1823 Tanner map: Alcacuskie; 1833 La Tourette Creek Territory map: Alkachuska. "The second element in the name is Creek katchki, 'broken.' The first element may represent Creek alkaswa, 'kettles'"- Read, letter to 1. B. McM., 30 November 1940. APALACHEE "Gatschet was told that the Creeks pronounced this word Apala'chee, with a breathing before the ch, and hence argued that it must mean 'people of the other side.' This interpretation has been followed by most writers ever since, but the name is probably from the now extinct Apalachee language which was closer to Choctaw than to Creek and I cannot help thinking that Choctaw apelachi, 'helpers,' 'allies,' is more appropriate. The question must be left undecided"-Swanton, 213. Porter's Gap in Talla85 86 ApPENDIX dega County (Upper Creek territory) was formerly known as Apalachee Gap.-Blackford, 56. ATANCHILUKA "A creek tributary to Sucarnochee River, in Sec. 14 T. 19 N., R. 3 W., St. Stephens Meridian. From a, 'there,' tash, 'corn,' and chilluka, 'shelled' - the creek where com was shelled"Read , AS 13:79. 1935 Sumter County Soil Map. B BIG SHOALS CREEK Obsolete alternate name of Choccolocco Creek (see p. 18), translation of Creek choccolocco. 1838 La Tourette Map; 1878 U.S. Land Office Map of Alabama. BLACK WARRIOR RIVER Commonly called The Warrior, although the U.S. Board on Geographic Names ruled in its decision list of 30 June 1941 that Black Warrior is the official name. It is a translation of tuskaloosa, g.v., p. 71.1878 U.S. Land Office Map of Alabama: Tuscaloosa or Black Warrior R. See also Rich, 110-12. BOGUE [borg] CREEK A tributary of the Buttahatchee River in Lamar County. For Choctaw bok, 'creek.' The name is thus pleonastic. 1908 Lamar County Soil Map; 1967 Lamar County Highway Map. BOUGE TUGALOO Obsolete name of a Sumter County stream, probably the Sucarnochee River, meaning 'creek of the forest people,' from Choctaw bok and iti okla.-Foscue, 23. BROKEN ARROW Read lists Broken Arrow Creek in Russell County, but does not include three other occurrences of the name which are not transferred from Russell County: Broken Arrow Creek in St. Clair County and Broken Arrow Shoals in the Coosa River (1838 La Tourette Map and 1947 USGS Ragland Quadrangle) and Broken Arrow Creek in northwest Tallapoosa County, rising in Clay County (1891 USGS Ashland Sheet and 1909 Tallapoosa County Soil Map). See p. 9 for the origin of Broken Arrow. ApPENDIX 87 BUZZARD'S ROOST A bluff on the west bank of the Tombigbee River in Sumter County, attested from 1770, translation of Choctaw sheki a nusi or nosi.-Foscue, 25. See CHICKANOSE, p. 88. C CHACTAHATCHE Early name of the Tombigbee River, possibly a blend of Chatol, "the name of a Muskhogean tribe living near Mobile" (Read, p. 19) and Choctaw hacha, 'river.' -Rich, 152. Cf. CHOCTAWHATCHEE, p. 19. CHATTOOGA "The southern parts of the old Cherokee country were once occupied by tribes of the Creek Confederation and some place names have been taken over from Creek into Cherokee. I suspect that this may be one of them, the first part having reference to 'rocks.' Chato-algi would be 'full of rocks,' and the plural ending sometimes drops the l"-Swanton, 213. CHEAHA The summit of Cheaha Mountain and most of Cheaha State Park are in southwestern Cleburne County; see 1969 USGS Cheaha Mountain Quadrangle. A local "Cheawhaw Town of Indians" is mentioned in Talladega County Deed Records, A:39 (1833). "Contrary to a common opinion, 'the province of Chiaha' visited by De Soto was in Tennessee"-Swanton, 213. CHELAFAULA [tfilg'f...