Originally posted by DianaT
| Quote: | Originally posted by David K
The locals or 'old timers' often do not know, as many of these names came from long before them... often by the Spanish explorers. Other times, the
spelling means little, as the old timers may be illiterate or possibly don't care. Life is too short for some to get too concerned when it doesn't
change if the fish will bite the hook the next day!
Rancho Santa Ynez may be a good example... The owners (Josefina and Fred) said YNEZ is correct. Technically, it should be INES and most maps have it
that way. Then you add the gringo factor and you get all combinations: Inez, Innes, Innez, Ynes, etc. It all 'sounds' the same, and we all know where
we are talking about... eventually. So, life goes on.
Puertecitos is just odd for most, as it would seem 'little ports' should be Puerto-citos, but there is a Spanish language reason it has an e instead
of an o when made plural.
The same problem comes when you ask 'locals' about history of a mission in their village... Unless they read original mission texts as done by
researchers, they only know what they were told. If you go to Santa Gertrudis and read one of the information signs there you get a pretty wild bit of
false history.... that is over 20 years off and names the wrong Padre as the founder. Mexican maps and books also repeat mis-information, sadly.
So, my interest is correct place spelling is a matter of historic accuracy and even I bend to popular trends... like calling both bays 'Gonzaga' when
it was the smaller harbor between Papa Fernandez' and Alfonsina's that was the original Bahia San Luis Gonzaga. The bigger bay from Alfornsina's to
Punta Final is actually 'Ensenada de San Francisquito'... That is just such a mouth-full, I can't fault anyone for calling it 'Gonzaga Bay', as
well... I do it too! LOL
[Edited on 2-23-2013 by David K] |
You couldn't be any more demeaning toward the local populations than in your first paragraph. Perhaps if you knew more of them and lived among them,
you might become educated about who they are. 
And just how many "original" "primary" sources have you read about the history of Mexico in the
original Spanish or how many primary sources crated by the original peoples of Mexico have you studied? Oh, that it right, you have only read the
work of others and their interpretations. Yes, several are quite well known and good researchers, but ALL researchers bring a bias to their
interpretations. So are you absolutely such the Mexican history books got it wrong or was it another researcher's bias.
You wrote a nice little tour guide based on the work of others. Nothing wrong with that as long as you are realistic about your information -- the
interpretations, opinions, and bias of others. Most tour guides are written that way. I wish you luck with your tour guide and hope you sell a lot of
them.
[Edited on 2-24-2013 by DianaT] |
(Ken, seeing you here reminding
me of that one... one of your favorite places, yes?)
