river of the south” (i.e., south of Monterey); there is also a Little Sur River.
BISHOP [Inyo Co.]. Named for the cattleman Samuel A. Bishop, who lived here in the 1860s.
BLACKHAWK [Contra Costa Co.]. Named after an American Indian chief who led native tribes of the Midwest against the whites in the early nineteenth century.
BLACK LASSIC PEAK [Trinity Co.], A black promontory named after nearby Mount Lassic, which was named in turn for Lassik, leader of an Athabaskan Indian tribe.
BLANCO (BLANG koh). The Spanish for “white” (fem. blanca); it occurs in many place names, such as Blanco Mountain [Mono Co.]; Pico (PEE koh) Blanco [Monterey Co.], meaning “white peak”; and Piedra (pee AY druh) Blanca [Ventura Co.], “white rock.”
BLUFF. The name is used in California as a generic term for a cliff or bank, as in Red Bluff [Tehama Co.], The stream called Bluff Creek [Humboldt, Del Norte Cos.] was so named in 1851.
BLYTHE [River side Co.], For Thomas H. Blythe, who in 1875 laid the plans for irrigation of the area.
BODEGA (boh DAYguh) [Sonoma Co.]. The bay was first sighted by Europeans in 1775, when the Spanish sea captain Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra arrived here in his ship Sonora; the bay was later named for him.
BODIE (BOH dee) [Mono Co.]. The town was named for Waterman S. Body, who discovered ore deposits here in 1859; it is now a ghost town and historic landmark.
BOHEMOTASH (boh HEE muh tash) MOUNTAIN [Shasta Co.]. From Wintu bohema thoos, “big camp.”
BOLINAS (boh LEE nuhs) [Marin Co.]. First recorded in 1834 as Baulenes, the name of a Coast Miwok Indian band who lived in the area. However, Bolinas Creek [Alameda Co.] is named for Antonio Bolena, of Portugal, who owned land here in the 1870s.
BOLLIBOKKA (bah lee BAH kuh) MOUNTAIN [Shasta Co.]. From Wintu buli, “mountain,” and phaqa, “manzanita.”
BOLLY. See Bally
BOLSA (BOHL suh). The Spanish word for “pocket” is used in a geographical sense—for example, for a place semienclosed by water. It occurs in many combinations, such as Bolsa Chica (CHEE kuh) [Orange Co.], meaning “small pocket”; and Bolsa Knolls [Monterey Co.].
BONITA (boh NEE tuh) [San Diego Co.]. In 1884 Henry E. Cooper named his estate Bonita Ranch, and the name was later applied to the post office. Spanish bonita, “pretty” (feminine), is a diminutive of buena, “good.”
BONITA, POINT [Marin Co.]. The original Spanish was Punta Bonete, “bonnet point,” because of its shape; but after 1855 this was misinterpreted as containing Spanish bonita, “pretty.”
BONITA LAKE [Inyo Co.]. A name given by the California Department of Fish and Game, inspired by the scientific name for the golden trout, Salmo aguabonita, in which the species name is Spanish for “pretty water.”
BONNY DOON (bah nee DOON) [Santa Cruz Co.]. The name apparently comes from a song by Robert Burns, referring to the Doon River in Scotland.
BOONVILLE [Mendocino Co.]. Named in the 1860s for the storekeeper W. W. Boone. The place has become famous for Boontling, a “secret language” invented by the inhabitants. An example of Boonding is Kimmies japin’ broadies to the airtight, “Men are driving cows to the sawmill.”
BORREGO. This Spanish word for “sheep” (fem. borrega) occurs in many place names; in mountain and desert areas, it may refer to the bighorn sheep. Borrego (buh RAY goh) Desert [San Diego Co.] was so named as early as 1883; the area is now part of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. An alternative spelling occurs in Borego Mountain [San Diego Co.].
BOUQUET (boh KAY, boh KET) CANYON [Los Angeles Co.]. A misinterpretation of Spanish El Buque, “the ship,” the nickname of a French sailor who settled there.
BRANCIFORTE (bran suh FOR tee) CREEK [Santa Cruz Co.]. The Pueblo de Branciforte was established in 1797, at the site of the present town of Santa Cruz, and named in honor of the viceroy of New Spain, Miguel de la Grúa Talamanco, Marquis of Branciforte. The name is now often pronounced bran chuh FOR tee, as if it were of Italian origin.
BRAWLEY [Imperial Co.]. Originally named Braly in 1902, for the landowner J. H. Braly. However Braly, fearing that the project would fail, asked that his name not be used; so the present spelling was substituted.
BREA (BRAY uh) [Orange Co.]. This Spanish word for “tar, asphaltum,” which oozes naturally from the ground at many places in southern California, also occurs in several other place names, such as the redundantly named La Brea Tar Pits [Los Angeles Co.].
BRENTWOOD [Contra Costa Co.]. Named in 1878 after Brentwood in Essex, England, the ancestral home of the landowner John Marsh. The name is also applied to the Brentwood district in Los Angeles.
BREYFOGLE (BRAY foh guhl) CANYON and BUTTES [Death Valley N.P.]. For Charles C. Breyfogle, a famous prospector of the area. The term breyfogling came to be used to refer to searching for lost mines.
BRIDALVEIL FALL and CREEK [Yosemite N.P.]. Apparently named by a journalist in 1856.
BRIDGEPORT [Mono Co.]. Settled around 1860, and probably named for a Bridgeport in the eastern United States.
BRISBANE [San Mateo Co.]. Named in 1908 for the journalist Arthur Brisbane.
BUCHON (buh SHAHN) POINT [San Luis Obispo Co.], From Spanish buchón, “goiter”; so named in 1769 when the Portolá expedition encountered an Indian village whose chief had a goiter.
BUELLTON [Santa Barbara Co.]. Named in 1916 for Rufus T. Buell, an early settler.
BUENA (BWAY nuh) PARK [Orange Co.]. Founded in 1887 and given its hybrid name (Spanish buena, “good”).
BUENAVENTURA. Represents Spanish buena ventura, “good fortune”—and, as a single word, Bonaventura, the name of an Italian saint called Bonaventure in English. During the early twentieth century, many Anglo explorers applied this name to a mythical river thought to flow through central California. The saint’s name in Spanish, San Buenaventura, was the original name of the city of Ventura.
BUENA VISTA [Monterey Co.]. The Spanish phrase meaning “good view” has been applied here and in many other places, such as Buena Vista Lake [Kern Co.].
BULLY. See Bally
BULLY CHOOP (bul ee CHOOP) MOUNTAIN [Shasta, Trinity
