Medicine Hat

Finding out the origins of the name Moose Jaw yesterday I started to wonder about the other prairie city with a funny name, Medicine Hat, Alberta so I looked it up. The name Medicine Hat is an English translation of the Blackfoot word “Saamis.” A saamis is the headdress worn by medicine men, and thereforeContinue reading “Medicine Hat”

Moose Jaw

I’ve driven through Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, several times, and I have even stopped for gas a few times. I always thought that the name Moose Jaw came from the jaw of a moose found there or something along those lines. Boy was I wrong. The name Moose Jaw comes from the Cree moscâstani-sîpiy for “warmContinue reading “Moose Jaw”

Valour

During the first world war three men from who grew up on the same block of Pine Street in Winnipeg, Manitoba, were awarded the Victoria Cross. In their honour Pine Street was renamed Valour Road, (the Victoria Cross is inscribed “for valour”). I saw the heritage minute on TV growing up, and when I movedContinue reading “Valour”

Bucksnort

Bucksnort, TN, is a small, unincorporated town in Tennessee. It is close to Spot, TN, (actually, we should probably say that Spot is close to Bucksnort, since Bucksnort is larger and better known). So, why is Bucksnort called Bucksnort? According to a legend on the back of a T-shirt that’s apparently sold at the gasContinue reading “Bucksnort”