William Bright

The most comprehensive authority on placenames of American Indian originAmerican Indian words define the North American landscape. This volume combines historical research and linguistic fieldwork with Native speakers from across the United States to present the first comprehensive, up-to-date scholarly dictionary of American placenames derived from Native languages.Accomplished linguist William Bright assembled a team of twelve editorial consultants - experts in Native American languages - and many other contributors to prepare this lexicon of eleven thousand placenames along with their etymologies. Bright's introduction explains his methodology and the contents of each entry. New data from leading scholars makes this volume an invaluable reference for students of American Indian culture, folklore, and local history.

In 1860 William Brewer, a young Yale-educated teacher of the natural sciences and a recent widower, eagerly accepted an offer from Josiah Whitney to assist in the first geological survey of the state of California. Brewer was not a geologist, but his training in agriculture and botany made him an invaluable member of the team. He traveled more than fourteen thousand miles in the four years he spent in California and spent much of his leisure time writing lively, detailed letters to his brother back East. These warmly affectionate letters, presented here in their entirety, describe the new state in all its spectacular beauty and paint a vivid picture of California in the mid-nineteenth century. This fourth edition includes a new foreword by William Bright (1500 California Place Names) and a set of maps tracing Brewer's route.