The place in the foto below, George Washington wanted to call it Paradise. Any guesses what we call it? Answer below.
For now, here’s a tour of some of the smaller watersheds I drove through in the past few days, from south to north. I like “watershed” as a word for a new year, a new time, because it suggests divisions that matter, potential change. On such terrain, details matter. Go a few inches one way or another , and the water there flows to the Atlantic or to the Gulf of Mexico. Similarly, a few seconds one way or another gets classified as one year or another. Most of us remember the hoopla around “y2k,” a watershed moment which–in that case–wasn’t as much as expected.
The Savannah River, below, carries a Taino name.
Answer to the Cape Fear River–ex-Charles River–question of yesterday: it’s a corruption of Cape Fair, kind of like Hell Gate deriving from the Dutch hellegat “beautiful passage.” More on that later.
The Tar River, fed by the Beaufort County ditches where I were spawned, takes its named from the product of its pine trees, a smell I still love.
Chowan River . . . named for former inhabitants.
And the Dismal Swamp, Washington’s paradise, with the canal running through it, prejudices first time visitors by its very name, like Johnny Cash’s song about a boy named Sue.
The Chesapeake–sorry foto here looking here from the bridge/tunnel toward Cape Henry–carries the name of earlier inhabitants, or might be an Algonquian word for “big river.” Cape Henry was not named for Mr Hudson, but rather a Prince of Wales. Hmm . . . prints of whales? The Chesapeake watershed includes a large portion of New York state southwest of the Catskills.
All of which brings me to an article from the Gotham Gazette on ideas for re-naming our sixth boro river that isn’t a river. Have an ideas yourself on re-naming the East River? Enjoy Erik Baard’s thoughts. “Gotham” might not be a flattering name itself.
From yesterday: Assateague (ex-Northhampton) might come from a native word meaning “on the other side.”
All fotos by Will Van Dorp.
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January 6, 2009 at 6:36 pm
Jed
Dismal Swamp
Not so dismal
‘Even though the average depth of the lake is only six feet, its unusually pure water is essential to the swamp’s survival. The amber-colored water is preserved by tannic acids from the bark of the juniper, gum and cypress trees, prohibiting growth of bacteria. Before the days of refrigeration, water from the Swamp was a highly prized commodity on sailing ships. It was put in kegs and would stay fresh a long time. People spoke of the magical qualities of the Swamp’s tea-colored water and how, if it were regularly drunk, it prevented illness and promoted long life.’
From: http://www.albemarle-nc.com/gates/greatdismal/
I think that’s just plain neat
January 6, 2009 at 9:31 pm
bowsprite
ah! then I raise a glass of swamp elixir to you both! beautiful photos Tugster! welcome back from your poetic, watery odyssey.
January 6, 2009 at 10:01 pm
Mage Bailey
None of this is Dismal at all. My problem is that I was stuck back there in the fogs with the battle ship then there was another long pause reliving my stay in Yorktown on the river. I’ll catch up soon. Welcome home.
January 7, 2009 at 4:14 pm
Kennebec Captain
I read your remarks about watersheds with interest. I often hear people refer to places with reference to the highways. That worries me. Back in the day the river drivers used to refer to themselves by river they worked. Those Penobscot men though they were better then everyone else.
The photo of the C.G. cutter. I couldn’t tell but if it was the Confidence 619 it was my ship back in 1976 in Kodiak Alaska.