A couple White Mtn history questions

[JohnL]

I was looking at an old map put together (I think) in 1890, you know, one of those maps showing all the hotels and restaurants that you can now pick up in North Conway. It was called Leavitt’s Map of the White Mountains.

It had a couple oddities that I noted:
1. Moosilauke was spelled without the “e” on the end. So is the original pronunciation Moos-i-lock?
2. There was a profile of some mountains and they went like this: Willard-Tom-Taylor-Warren-Lafayette. Taylor and Warren? What are they called today?
3. The Gulf between Jefferson and Clay was called the Gulf of Mexico, not Sphinx Col. When was it changed to Sphinx?

Thanks
JohnL

 

[David Metsky]

1. Moosilauke was spelled without the “e” on the end. So is the original pronunciation Moos-i-lock?

Some old maps also show the spelling as "Moose-Hillock" so there definately have been two ways of pronouncing it for some time. The orginal pronunciation in the Abenaki tongue was probably closer to the long e, based on other native names (Asquamchumaukee). Most Dartmouth folks who have a long history on the mountain use the "Moos-i-lock" except in songs like "My Moosilaukee Sweatheart", but that doesn't really shed much light on the original pronunciation.

-dave-

 

[sapblatt]

There was a profile of some mountains and they went like this: Willard-Tom-Taylor-Warren-Lafayette. Taylor and Warren? What are they called today?

I believe Taylor and Warren are two subsidiary hills/peaks that extend N-NE from Tom. I know there used to be a network of trails there that were abandoned. I think this is explained a lot better in Steve Smith's book on the 4ks.
If anyone has any other/better info I would like to hear it!

 

[Davehiker]

#2. Just a guess, but perhaps these are old names for two peaks in the Rosebrook Range: Echo, Stickney, Rosebrook, Oscar, or maybe even Hale or Sugarloaf?

#3. The Gulf of Mexico is an old name for The Great Gulf, not Sphynx Col. I've seen that in print before, but I don't remember where.

 

[Jim lombard]

I think Davehiker is right, I remember seeing an old picture or postcard that showed the "Gulf of Mexico" with Washington beyond. I think the picture was pre WWII. Isn't Sphinx a nickname for Thomas Jefferson?

 

[poison ivy]

The Gulf of Mexico is an old name for The Great Gulf, not Sphynx Col. I've seen that in print before, but I don't remember where.

I'm thinking there is an explanation of the name in Forest & Crag... I know I've read about it and that seems like the most logical place. I'll take a lok in the book when I get home...

- Ivy

 

[MichaelJ]

I believe the name "Gulf of Mexico" is also mentioned in Not Without Peril.

While we're at it, don't forget that Zealand was actually the New Zealand Valley at one point.

 

[jjmcgo]

I looked and looked on Google and can't find why Ellis named his book about Jefferson, American Sphinx.

 

[J&J]

The AMC guidebook states that the Sphinx Trail name is derived from the profile of a rock formation seen from just below the meadow where water is found. It was probably a natural carryover to name the col after the trail.

Leavitt's maps were full of errors and mountains were often drawn in no where near their actual locations. Leavitt probably didn't have the Gulf of Mexico (Great Gulf) in the right location.

 

[Waumbek]

3. The Gulf between Jefferson and Clay was called the Gulf of Mexico, not Sphinx Col. When was it changed to Sphinx?
JohnL

Not until 1992 did the name "Sphinx Col" appear. Here's the history.

1. "Gulf of Mexico" is a very early term. (The area was first observed in 1642.) But by the 1860's-1880's, guide book writers were giving this name as the alternative, i.e., probably the older and less preferred name , for "Great Gulf." (There was also a Mt. Mexico in the Sandwich Range so they may have wished to avoid confusion.)

2. By the turn of the 20th c., the AMC did not mention "Gulf of Mexico," but used "Great Gulf" instead.

3. "The Sphinx Trail" shows up on a 1914 AMC map, and "Sphinx Trail" and "The Sphinix" are first mentioned in the 1916 AMC Guide.

4. "Sphinx Ravine" came into usage in the early 1930s and was replaced by "Sphinx Col" in 1992.

P. S. Other than its allusion to a wide expanse, why the Great Gulf was earlier called the Gulf of Mexico I can't explain but here's my guess (for now). The western Maine town of Mexico, a settlement originally called Holmanstown after a Col. Jonathan Holman, took the name "Mexico" when it organized into a town proper in sympathy with the Mexican fight against the Spaniards, which concluded in 1815. Perhaps "Gulf of Mexico" reflects the same sympathy?

 

[RoySwkr]

Not until 1992 did the name "Sphinx Col" appear. Here's the history.
4. "Sphinx Ravine" came into usage in the early 1930s and was replaced by "Sphinx Col" in 1992.

That is an erroneous statement. Somewhere I have an AMC fundraising flyer from the '70s asking for money for their new Sphinx Col Hut.

And I don't think that it is an official name (the AMC guide is full of unofficial names), but the BGN database is down so I can't check.

 

[Waumbek]

That is an erroneous statement. Somewhere I have an AMC fundraising flyer from the '70s asking for money for their new Sphinx Col Hut.

I was referring to names in the AMC guidebook, which would be the AMC's name of record, not the names they might have used in a fundraising flyer. I will double check the books, however, and report back. As to BGN names, that's another matter. There is likely to be variation.

 

[RoySwkr]

I was referring to names in the AMC guidebook, which would be the AMC's name of record, not the names they might have used in a fundraising flyer.

I'm not sure the Pinkham-based Huts operation agrees that names applied by the Joy St-based Publications department are any more official, but I'll be interested in what you find. While I have always called it Sphinx Col, the guidebooks I checked called it Clay-Jefferson col and neither I nor any guidebook I looked in called it Sphinx Ravine.

 

[Waumbek]

The 1934, 1936, 1940, 1946, 1952, 1955, 1960, 1963, 1966, 1969, 1972, 1976, and 1979 AMC White Mountain Guides list "Sphinx Ravine" in the index. With one possible exception (the 1955 guide, which has a mispaginated reference and I didn't bother searching it for the correct page), these "Sphinx Ravine" index entries refer the reader to the same sentence in the text proper: "The Great Gulf and its tributary gulfs, Madison Gulf, Jefferson Ravine and that of the Sphinx, were hollowed out by the action of glaciers . . . ." The antecedent of "that" is "ravine." On a quick search, none of these volumes uses the phrase "Sphinx Col" elsewhere, but you might want to check and see if you're interested.

The 1983 AMC White Mountain Guide varies the boilerplate. It still gives "Sphinix Ravine" in the index but switches to "Clay-Jefferson col" in the referenced text. No "Sphinx Col" that I can find on a thumb-through.

The 1987 guide gives "Sphinx Col" in the index and, for the first time that I can find, in the text (pp. 78, 88, 103).

All that said, I think the nomenclature puzzle comes down to the difference between a "col" (pass in the mountains) and a "ravine" (long gorge), as I think they are commonly understood. Sphinx Col and Sphinx Ravine are quite possibly two different places, albeit connected.

It's not indexed as such, but in the earlier AMC guide descriptions of the Great Gulf Trail, there is reference to this trail crossing a "brook which descends from the Clay-Jefferson Col" (e.g., 1940, p. 195). By the 1998 guide (and possibly earlier), the description changes to a "brook that descends from the Sphinx Col."

Official guide book nomenclature may have adopted popular usage. Only the AMC Nomenclature Committee would know for sure. Language usage is always tinged by politics, so I'll sign off here, and this is no doubt more than JohnL wanted to hear about the old map he saw.

 

[HighHorse]

Most Dartmouth folks who have a long history on the mountain use the "Moos-i-lock" except in songs like "My Moosilaukee Sweatheart"...

but of course, the only time i pronounce the "eee" is for rhyming purposes in camp songs as well.

i actually enjoy the variation in phonetic interpretation on this one, although i must admit that i think the "lock"ers are wrong (for the reason dave mentioned).

 

[RoySwkr]

3. The Gulf between Jefferson and Clay was called the Gulf of Mexico, not Sphinx Col. When was it changed to Sphinx?

As Waumbek indicates, there is a difference between a gulf/ravine and a col, for instance Castle Ravine and Edmands Col.

I'm sure that this is much more than JohnL wanted to hear so I'll sign off here.

Yes, but I find it interesting and you have an unlisted e-mail so I can't
continue off-line

The 1934, 1936, 1940, 1946, 1952, 1955, 1960, 1963, 1966, 1969, 1972, 1976, and 1979 AMC White Mountain Guides list "Sphinx Ravine" in the index. {but not in the text - rs}

Wow, I'm quite impressed with your guidebook collection.

I have a slightly different take on your results. Note that indexes are
often done not by the actual authors but by a compositor at the
publishing house, so this term was probably coined as a reference by
someone who may never have been to the White Mountains. Gene Daniell took over the guidebook indexing personally in 1987 and the term immediately
vanished.

these "Sphinx Ravine" index entries refer the reader to
the same sentence in the text proper: "The Great Gulf and its
tributary gulfs, Madison Gulf, Jefferson Ravine and that of the
Sphinx, were hollowed out by the action of glaciers . . . ." The
antecedent of "that" is "ravine."

Any English teachers out there? I would say that the correct antecedent
is "gulf", so the compositor should have used "Sphinx Gulf" In any
case "Sphinx Ravine" never appears in the guidebook text itself, so I
would say that this name was never in common usage.

The 1987 guide gives "Sphinx Col" in the index and, for the first time that I can find, in the text (pp. 78, 88, 103).

This is the edition that Gene really put a lot of effort into and a lot
of changes occurred. Unlike Guy Waterman for example, Gene is not really
into naming things so this must be a term that he had previously heard
elsewhere.