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Place Names of the High Sierra (1926)
by Francis P. Farquhar

[ A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, Y, & Z. ]


I

ILLILOUETTE CREEK, FALL[Yosemite]
Tuluowehäck. The cañon of the South Fork of the Merced, called the Illilouette in the California Geological Report, that being the spelling given by Messrs. King and Gardner,—a good illustration of how difficult it is to catch the exact pronounciation of these names. Mr. Hutchings spells it Tooluluwack.” (Whitney: Yosemite Guide Book, 1870, p. 17.)

“This cañon is called by Professor J. D. Whitney the ‘Illilouette,’ a supposed Indian name; but I have never questioned a single Indian that knew anything whatever of such a word; while every one, without an exception, knows this cañon either by Too-lool-a-we-ack or Too-lool-we-ack; the meaning of which, as nearly as their ideas can be comprehended and interpreted, is the place beyond which was the great rendezvous of the Yo Semite Indians for hunting deer.” (Hutchings: In the Heart of the Sierras, 1886, p. 440.)

“Tu-tu'lu-wi-sak, Tu-tul'wi-ak, the southern wall of South Cañon.” (Powers: Tribes of California, in Contributions to North American Ethnology, III, 1877, p. 364.)

“The strictly literal translation of this name [Too-lool-lo-we-ack] would be inadmissible. . . . The name ‘Illeuette’ [or ‘Illiluette’] is not Indian, and is, therefore, meaningless and absurd.” (Bunnell: Discovery of the Yosemite, 1880, pp. 202-203.)

[Editor’s note: Bunnell, in true discreet Victorian form, translated the meaning of Too-lool-lo-we-ack to Greek, which translated to English means “urinating.”—dea. ]

INDIAN CAÑON[Yosemite]
“This ravine became known to us as ‘Indian Cañon,’ though called by the Indians ‘Le-Hamite,’ ‘the arrow-wood.’ It was also known to them by the name of ‘Scho-tal-lo-wi,’ meaning the way to ‘Fall Creek.’” (Bunnell: Discovery of the Yosemite, 1880, p. 169.)

“The shafts of their arrows are made of reeds, and from different species of wood, but the choicest are made of what is called Indian arrow-wood (Le-Hamite). This wood is found only in dark ravines and deep rocky cañons in the mountains, as it seems to require dampness and shade. Its scarcity makes the Young shoots of a proper growth a very valuable article of barter between the mountain tribes and those of the valleys and plains. A locality in the Yosemite Valley once famous for its supply of this arrow-wood, was the ravine called by the Yosemites ‘Le-Hamite’ (as we might say ‘the oaks,’ or ‘the Pines’), but which is now designated as ‘Indian Cañon.’” (Bunnell: Discovery of the Yosemite, 1880, p. 131.)

INFANT BUTTES[Mount Goddard]
Named by Theodore S. Solomons. (T. S. Solomons.)

INYO COUNTY
“Chief George (who became a leader in the Indian war) told them that the name of the mountain range to the eastward was ‘Inyo,’ meaning, as near as could be ascertained, ‘the dwelling place of a great spirit.’ This is the origin of the county’s name, and the occasion [1860] was the first time it had come to the whites’ attention.” (Chalfant: The Story of Inyo, 1922, p. 83.)

Inyo County, created March 22, 1866; increased by including part of Mono County, 1870; increased to the southeast, 1872. (Coy: California County Boundaries, 1923, pp. 114-115.)

INYO NATIONAL FOREST
Established by proclamation of President Roosevelt, May 25, 1907, under authority of act of Congress of March 3, 1891; reorganized July 2, 1908, by executive order, adding a part of Sierra National Forest and transferring part of Inyo National Forest to Mono National Forest; modified February 23, 1911, by executive order of President Taft, corrected March 1, 1913, by proclamation of President Taft. (Official proclamations.)

IRELAND LAKE, CREEK[Mount Lyell]
Named by Lieutenant Benson for Merritte Weber Ireland, Medical Corps, U. S. Army, who was on duty in Yosemite National Park in 1897. (H. C. Benson.)

Born in Indiana, 1867; M.D., Detroit College of Medicine, 1890; assistant surgeon, U. S. Army, 1891; major, Medical Corps, 1903; lieutenant-colonel, 1911; colonel, 1917; major-general (surgeon-general, A.E.F.), August, 1918 surgeon-general, U. S. Army, since October, 1918.

IRVINE, MOUNT (13,790)[Mount Whitney]
Name proposed by Norman Clyde, who made first ascent, June, 1925; in memory of Andrew Irvine, of the British Alpine Club, who was lost on Mount Everest, June, 1924, with George H. Leigh Mallory. (See Mount Mallory.)

ISBERG PASS, PEAK[Mount Lyell]
Named by Lieutenant McClure for a soldier of Norwegian birth who was with him in 1895 while exploring for a route from the Merced to the Minaret region. Isberg, prospecting for sheep-herders’ trails, discovered the pass. The peak was subsequently named from the pass. (N. F. McClure.)

ITALY, LAKE[Mount Goddard]
Named by U.S.G.S. about 1907, because of its shape, which was first apparent when drawn on the map. (R. B. Marshall.)

IZAAK WALTON, MOUNT (11,900)[Mount Goddard]
Izaak Walton (1593-1683), to whom all fishermen and lovers of good literature are indebted for The Compleat Angler, first published in 1653.

Name proposed in 1919 by Francis P. Farquhar for the peak that stands at the head of Fish Creek Cañon. (S.C.B., 1920, XI:1, p. 46; see illustration in Appalachia, November, 1920, XV:1, plate XIV.)


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