[meteorite-list] Canyon Diablo & nomenclature...was (Is Amgala Official?/NewBulletin)

[MexicoDoug at aol.com]

_markf at ssl.gb.com_ (mailto:markf at ssl.gb.com)  escribe:

>> Canyon Diablo, what was the reasoning for that  name
>Tom,  Canyon Diablo = Valley of the devil
 
Tom, Mark, Jeff, List: Canyon Diablo vs. Meteor Crater is an  interesting 
case in nomenclature.  It is sort of a chicken or egg first  story because how 
could you name a meteorite after the crater it produced is you  want to name it 
AFTER a topographical feature.  If a meteorite wiped out a  city, could you 
could it Chicago Crater instead of just Chicago?  Well  maybe the chicken and 
egg rules can be bent for finds (like Canyon Diablo) vs.  falls...someone must 
have debated this a some time in the MetSoc:)
 
Mark, "Valley of the Devil" may be where they grow your favorite wine, but  
Canyon Diablo's name would seem to have a different story (A canyon isn't quite 
 a valley)...here's the story I pieced together from several interesting 
websites  (I would say the translation is more true as "Sin City")
 
The canyon had earlier been given its name by Lt. Whipple during an 1853  
army 35th parallel land survey after the Northamericans took the land from  
Mexico.  Due to the extensive detour to cross it, he first cristened the  canyon 
"Devil's Canyon".
 
The railroad had an equally difficult time building a bridge to cross the  
canyon in 1880, and it became the de facto railroad terminal.  Originally  named 
for the devil of a canyon to cross, the new town borrowed the railroad's  
designation and earned its name and raised it one by translating the word Devil  
into the Spanish word "Diablo" the latin-blooded naughtier counterpart of the  
meat and potatos Devil.  Surpassing Flagstaff in size and somewhat like a  
modern day Las Vegas, Canyon Diablo was more dangerous than than the Earps and  
Holidays could ever hope to control.  Many competing houses of  prostitution, 
gambling and drinking and other parlors and dance halls offering  similar 
opportunity lined the (only) street proudly named Hell Street, and  business was 
brisk around the clock in the town that never slept.  There  was no law in the 
town.
 
The blissful misery of the town got a cold shower and practically vanished  
when the bridge over the canyon was completed in 1890, when there were other  
reasons to pass through and have the Army keep it safe...and Arizona was on the 
 way to becoming a State (which happened in 1912).
 
Saudos, Doug