"Where did all these names come from?" Well, when you consider the names of our states, half of all the names of our nation's states are Indian in origin. Here are some examples:

ALABAMA
Creek Indian word meaning "Here we rest."

ARIZONA
Indian word meaning "Place of small springs."

ARKANSAS
Quapaw Indian Tribe

CONNECTICUT
Indian word meaning beside or on the long river.

DAKOTA
Indian name for "allies."

IDAHO
Shoshone Indian word E-Dah-Ho, meaning
"Behold! the sun coming down the mountain."

ILLINOIS
Indian word Illini meaning "A Great Man."

IOWA
Indian name meaning "Sleepy waters."

KANSAS
Kaw Indian tribe meaning "Wind People."

KENTUCKY
Indian name Kentake meaning "Prairie."

MASSACHUSETTS
Indian word meaning "Great Hills."

MICHIGAN
Indian name for "Great Lake"

MINNESOTA
Indian name meaning "Cloud-tinted waters."

MISSISSIPPI
Indian word meaning "Great River."

MISSOURI
Missouri tribe meaning "Town of the large canoes."

NEBRASKA
Otoe Indian name meaning "Fat water."

OHIO
Indian name for "Beautiful river."
(A songwriter followed suit by writing the song: "Beautiful Ohio")
For more details about our State Song, visit this link:
http://www.netstate.com/states/symb/song/oh_beautiful_oh.htm

OKLAHOMA
Choctaw Indian word meaning "Red people."

TEXAS
Indian word Tejas meaning "Friends or Allies."

WISCONSIN
Indian name meaning "Meeting of the rivers."

(Source: Vol. 156 Farmers Almanac, 1973)

THE WORDWRIGHT

Posted by Bill Venrick at 4:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In our world of millisecond technology it may surprise some that there are some facts that have been around longer than the internet, the computer, the television, radio or the telephone – in all likelihood even before the days of early Egyptians! BIRDS – and all about them; well maybe not ALL about them, but certainly some of following facts I found on the website of JOHN CLAYTON. Mr. Clayton publishes a bi-monthly magazine by the title DOES GOD EXIST? In his Nov-Dec 2005 issue the following BIRD FACTS appears (John gives further credit and reference to DICK E. BIRD NEWS, Jan/Feb 2005) WONDER how these birds "figured all these things out"?

Enjoy these interesting facts! The Wordwright

BIRD FACTS

There are a number of facts about birds that are not known by most people, and yet speak eloquently of the planning and wisdom that is designed into the bird kingdom so that they can survive. Here are a few interesting ones:

Herons will place a feather or some other floating object on the water to attract the fish they eat.

Burrowing owls collect mammal dung and pave their nests and the surrounding area with it to attract dung beetles, one of their favorite foods.

Bird feathers are kept waterproof by oil which birds secrete from a gland under their tail.

Bird feathers are made of keratin, the same stuff that makes our nails and our hair.

In the winter, ptarmigan (the state bird of Alaska) grow special feathers on the tops and bottoms of their feet which act like snowshoes, allowing the bird to walk across the surface of soft snow.

Whooper, trumpeter and mute swans weigh as much as 35 pounds.

Vultures have been proven to fly at 37,000 feet.

Peregrine falcons have been clocked at 217 MPH in a dive.

Jays will sit on ant hills allowing the ants to douse them with formic acid, a natural pesticide which rids the birds of parasites.

Urban crows have been seen placing nuts in the middle of a road, waiting until cars have cracked them, then waiting until the light changed to retrieve their prize.

South America has 2,500 species of birds, as opposed to the 950 found in North America.

--Reference: Dick E. Bird News, Jan/Feb 2005.

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Posted by Bill Venrick at 8:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)