Backcountry Notes

Europeans named the southern mountains after the Apalchen or Apalachen tribe of natives (see map detail at left). How did the name progress from "Apalchen" to "Appalachia?" It almost didn't; a competing name, "Allegheny," took the forefront in the late 18th century.  ("Allegheny" is a native American term meaning, roughly, "fine river.") However, by the late 19th century, the geologists and geographers had adopted the name "Appalachian Mountains" to describe the full range, with the name "Allegheny" being used for two sub-provinces, the Allegheny Mountains and the Allegheny Plateau.

The steps from "Apalchen" to "Appalachia" can be traced by referring to Click on image for larger view antique maps which provide names for the mountains of the East. Cartographers picked up place names from a variety of sources, including official names ("Virginia"), the accounts of explorers and adventurers, and other maps. Shown at left is detail from a map titled "Virginiae partis australis et Floridae partis orientalis interjacentiumq[ue] regionum nova descriptio," published between 1644 and 1658.  The name used on this map is "Apalatcy Montes."

Click on image for larger versionThe map detail at right is from "New description of Carolina by the order of the Lords Proprietors," also called the "First Lords Proprietors Map," published circa 1671.  Note that the map orientation is unusual - -  north is to the right. The name used by this cartographer is "The Apalathean Mountains." Somewhat of a romantic variant of Apalchen, it seems, with a Greco-Roman flavor.

Cartographer Nicolas Sanson used the name "Apalachi" on the map "America septentrionalis," published sometime between 1657and 1679.  This name probably referred to the Indian tribe which lived in that general area. 

Cartography was a competitive business and mapmakers often advertised their products as "New" versions.  One Click on image for larger viewfamous map published in 1682 is Joel Gascoyne's "A New Map of the Country of Carolina" (commonly known as the Second Lords Proprietors Map); the Library of Congress copy can be seen here. Gascoyne's map spawned numerous similar versions. Shown at right is"A New Map of Carolina," published in 1685. These maps use the name "Apalatian Mountaines." Another "New Map of Carolina," published by Robert Morden in 1687, picked up the name "Apalathean" from the first Lords Proprietors' map. 

Click on image for larger viewOn the left is the map "Carolina," drawn by well-known "geographer" Herman Moll and published in "Atlas minor" (London 1729, Map No. 51).  The name adopted for this map is "Appalatian," using the doubled letter "p".  This brings the name very close to the modern "Appalachia." I have no idea why Moll used the double "p."

Click on image for larger viewShown at right is Baldwin, "A Map of Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Maryland with part of New Jersey etc.," published in "London Magazine" Volume XXIV in 1755. The name given on this map is "Apalachean," using the single "p" but substituting "che" for "ti." Again, I do not know the reason - - if there was one - - for the change in spelling.  All of these varieties probably had a pronunciation close to "Appalachian."

Click image for larger viewBy the second half of the 18th century, maps were being made using variants of "Allegheny" in place of the old variants of "Appalachian" Mountains.  Gavin's "A Map Virginia and Maryland" (left), published in 1767, used the name "Allagany."

Below: Pinkerton's "United States of America, Southern Part," published in London in 1809, used the description "Apalachian or Allegany Mountains."  By the end of the 19th Century, the name "Appalachian Mountains" had come into general use.

Click on image for larger view