Folk Etymologies of Place Names:

Folk etymologies are sometimes funny, frequently confused, and most often interesting. A few common or twice-told etymologies about place names include names supposedly taken from the side of a box of food, names created from randomly opening a book such as the Bible, names formed by accidentally spelling a word backwards, or names occurring due to post office error. Whatever the reason, it's quite common for the folk imagination, especially when they have no idea about the real etymology, to concoct an interesting story about a place name. Needless to say, I don't vouch for the truth of any of the following etymologies.

• Siskiyou: I've been told it's a Chinook word for "bobtailed horse." Alexander Mcleod supposedly lost a noted bob-tailed race horse in the vicinity. If you don't like that one, how about that "six cailloux" explanation?
• Yreka: From the Shasta Indian name for Mt Shasta: Wy-e-kah. Our if you believe Mark Twain, it comes from a new miner who was looking at the inside of an open glass door that said "Bakery"--the letter "b" was obscured, so from his perspective the door said "yreka." Take your pick.
• Happy Camp: also know as Murderer's Bar, the term "happy camp" was used to describe quite a few locations by early miners.
• Greenhorn: After the first miners abandoned the area as unprofitable, a new miner arrived. The "greenhorn" was jokingly told he might find gold there. He did.
• Grenada: First known as "Strarve-out" due to the poor land, it was renamed, humorously, after Granada County in Mississippi--a place noted for it great soil.