Customer Reviews

The Place Names of New Mexico

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My roots are in Arizona and New Mexico and The Place Names of New Mexico is an outstanding reference work for those interested in place name origin and history. It is very enjoyable to read and simply browse through as well as a useful tool for research.

I obtained the book to assist in researching place names along the Santa Fe Railroad (obtained from old employee timetables) and it was here where I found that the author intentionally made a grave error, in my opinion. He omitted the names of railroad sidings, water stops, stations and section houses that "once were more important in the public consciousness" if they never had a post office or gave their name to another feature of the area.

I recognize there are many elements to consider in the history of the area such as post offices, maps, government and military records, etc. There should be no question that railroads also played a HUGE role in development of the west and leaving out some of the railroad names such as Keota, Blanchard, Paquita and McCune,a large void was unnecessarily created. While the void doesn't detract from the work as a whole, it does make it incomplete. Then again, in defense of the author, I didn't walk the mile in his shoes or confront the problems he may have faced. What I am trying to say is that if I wrote the book, I would not have knowingly excluded any railroad names.

On the positive side, this book is up to date and newer place names have been identified and included.

If you are interested in New Mexico history or various elements comprising it, this book is definitely worth having in your library. In spite of my complaint, it answered most of my questions. This book is a five star work and it is well done.

For about for years now, since I first bought this book, this book has traveled with me everywhere I go in New Mexico. It's explained to me the names of towns I've lived in, towns I've passed through, and towns I've heard of for my entire life without ever knowing their meanings. It's introduced me to ghost towns and little towns I would never have known about otherwise. It's made me look at my own town with new eyes. Now I see an old water pump in front of a house, and I think, "That could have been placed here by Carl Webb's neighbors, back when he first built his sanitarium here." Before, I would have seen nothing.
The book does not, and could not really without being an encyclopedia, have everything you could ever want to know in it, but it has enough to make you sound just a little smarter when you're driving past exits and offramps on the interstate.
"The town once had six newspapers; it's just a gas station now...that town's residents hate how the town's name is spelled...that place once took the name of the town next to it...an Indian skirmish happened there...." And so on and so forth.
If you live in New Mexico, you should own this book. It will make you appreciate where you are much, much more--I can almost promise it.

I grew up in New Mexico, and since moving away, I have been very interested in learning more about my home state (probably because I miss it so much). This book is an excellent reference of place names, and taught me a lot about New Mexico. I highly recommend it!

An excellent reference and history book with easy-to-read print. Anyone interested in 'treasure hunting', genealogy, or checking on marriage or death records will find this book a necessity. Town names come and go; some may have only existed for 16 years, or the name had been changed over and over. This is the book for you. The mini-history lessons are interesting and valuable without putting the reader to sleep and the directions to the locations are clear and concise.

This book is 'only' a dictionary of place names in New Mexico. They are listed alphabetically, and I haven't found a place yet that isn't in the book. There is often a blurb about the local history in addition to the origin of the name. Short as the entries are, I find them fascinating. They even point out that Thoreau can be pronounced "Through."

Some people keep certain books in their bathrooms, this book rides around in the back seat of my car. I first saw it in the back seat of a friend's car, and knew immediately I needed a copy for my car. If you drive much in New Mexico, I suggest you get a copy for your back seat, too.

This book has been so helpful in researching my husband's family. But, it would be a fun read for anyone interested in the history of New Mexico.

For a New Mexico lover trapped in Illinois this book is a wonderful little treasure. To be truthful, anything that can take me to New Mexico in my mind is a blessing and this book does that. My one wish is that there would have been more examples on how to pronounce many of the named places. Every trip out there my daughter who resides in Albuquerque has some good laughs as she corrects my pronunciation of Cabezon, Bernalillo, Manzano..........

This is an excellant "place names" by state book. I have many such books from various states. One I bought the same day is one from California which showed me how bad some of these books can be (the CA book, not the NM book). This NM book, tells the background and how each place name came into being with passion and interest and a good amount of research on each location...I will use it often and refer to it often! Highly recommended.

In reading through this rather well researched volume, I noted that the author will often note, at the end of an entry, that the place whose English or Spanish name has just been discussed, also has a name in Navajo (occasionally another language), a name whose meaning is given -- but we are not told the actual word! For example, the author tells us that the name for Albuquerque, in Navajo, means "two bells in place"; but he does not tell us that actual name, Bee'aldííl Dah Sinil.

In the preface, the author offers an explanation for this oddity:

"Regarding Indian place names, with but few exceptions I've presented their meanings but not their sounds; even the best transliterations do no more than approximate the actual sounds of the Indian words, and transliterations encourage the gross corruptions from which Indian names have suffered over the years. Persons who want to hear the sound of the Indian names should consult a native speaker."

This is really just stupid. One could similarly argue for the exclusion of all French words from etymologies in English dictionaries -- after all, French "transliterations" do no more than approximate the actual sounds of the French words. And anyway, if you write it down, someone will just mispronounce it. So, better to just ask a French person?

And this is particlarly silly considering this is from University of New Mexico Press, the same press that publishes the Young & Morgan lexicons of Navajo -- which, incidentally, have thorough coverages of placenames, which is of interest to anyone who, unlike this author, considers Native names the subject of scholarship.

Hopefully reason will prevail, and in some future edition, the Native names will actually be listed instead of merely hinted at.