Next Workshop....In tandem with the Salish conference

[Jeffrey Kopp]

On Sun, 31 Jan 1999 09:34:28 -0800, you wrote:

>>Salmon Arm!  I love it!  Just as visually incongruous a name as
>>"Medicine Hand."
>
>I think you mean "Medicine Hat" (named after an "Indian doctor's" chapeau,
>IIRC).  

Oh, that place.  Well, it's still a colorful name.  Though I must put
aside my colorful years-old mental image of a waving hand.

>I'll have to get a write-up on the Douglas Lake for you (NB in local
>parlance, "the Douglas Lake" refers to the ranch, not the lake).  One of
>the oldest working ranches in Canada, it is now the largest (since the
>breakup long ago of the Gang Ranch), a living vessel of "cowboy culture",
>and was owned for years by C.N. "Chunky" Woodward, scion of the Woodward's
>Department Stores fortune (a Western Canada institution).

So, does the Jargon endure there for some practical reason (such diverse
languages) or just habit, or is it consciously perpetuated out of custom
or nostalgia?  Or put on as an act for the tourists?

P.S.  I wondered if Pe Ell might simply be the spelling out of the
initials P.L., but a quick 'net search only brought back the same legend
(one reference) of "Pierre."

Regards,

Jeff