“The valley was called by the Indians A-wa-ni, from the name of their principal village.”
This name, corrupted from Monache, the name of the Indians of this region, through its resemblance to the Spanish word mono (monkey), has been the cause of considerable confusion, and of a number of extravagant theories, such as the supposed existence of monkeys in that country, or the resemblance of the natives to those animals, but the similarity between the two words is regarded by ethnologists as purely accidental. The meaning is obscure, but it is said that the name was applied to some Shoshonean tribes of southeastern California by their neighbors on the west.
INYO
Inyo, a word of unknown meaning, was the name of a tribe of Indians in the Sierra. Inyo County is on the eastern border of the state, adjacent to Nevada. Its largest stream is the Owens River, which flows into Owens Lake, another body of saline water having no outlet. This county has the unenviable distinction of containing within its borders the terrible “Death Valley,” where the bones of so many unfortunates have been left to whiten under the desert sun, and which still claims a victim now and then. This desolate valley is forty miles long, lying far below the level of the sea, is destitute of all vegetation, totally without water, subject to terrific heat, and in all respects well deserves its funereal name. Inyo is unique in containing the highest and lowest points in the United States, Mount Whitney and Death Valley, within sight of each other. In other parts of the county the mountain scenery is of remarkable grandeur, and the gold mines in which it is unusually rich are still worked with profit.
AMARGOSA RIVER
Amargosa (bitter), is the very appropriate name of a river of Nevada and southeastern California which flows into Death Valley, sometimes known also as the Amargosa Desert. The mountains lying northeast of the river’s upper course are sometimes called the Amargosa Mountains. Fremont gives a characteristic picture of this dreary country in the following paragraph: “We traveled through a barren district, where a heavy gale was blowing about the loose sand, and, after a ride of eight miles, reached a large creek of salt and bitter water, running in a westerly direction, to meet the stream bed we had left. It is called by the Spaniards Amargosa, the bitter water of the desert.”
SUPPLEMENTARY LIST
Alta (high), is a village in Placer County, sixty-eight miles northeast of Sacramento, two miles from the great American Canyon. The altitude of this place is 3607 feet above sea level. The name is modern and was only given to the place after the building of the Central Pacific Railroad.