The Troubling Reason So Many American Places Are Named After The Devil

The Puritans tended to see evil everywhere, but especially when it came to Native Americans. "When the Lord first brought me to these poor Indians on the Vinyard, they were mighty zealous and earnest in the Worship of False gods and Devils," Thomas Mahyew Jr., a Puritan missionary, wrote about the Wampanoag of Martha's Vineyard (via "Cultural Bias in the New England Puritans' Perception of Indians"). This perception was shared by early settlers from Spain, France, and the Netherlands, which might help account for devil-related names across such a wide distribution. But this strange naming tradition didn't end with the colonists.

As the United States expanded across the continent, the practice of giving places evil-sounding names continued, especially out West. "There are an awful lot of Devil's Elbows around. Backbones made sense, but so many other features, such as Devil's Nose — I didn't expect so many," said Jonathan Hull, who designed an interactive map of all the devil-related place names in the U.S. (via Fast Company). While the barren and inhospitable landscape of the region may have played a part in this trend, the continued demonization of Native cultures may have also been involved.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7qL7Up56eZpOkunB9kmxnbW9lZMGzu9Sbo6Kml2K%2Fpq3SqKVmmZ2av6qvwKdkqaSRmLK0ec2apJ6cXZaztbHRZpuerpmhfA%3D%3D