Who named each canyon and why?

[accadacca]

Maybe this has been discussed before? Perhaps in bits and pieces. I know that several bogley members have directly named or help name many canyons. I am curious and would find it very interesting to find out who named each canyon and why it was given the name. Perhaps also what year it was named.

Post what you know.

This was stefan's response to my question in another thread when I asked about the Alcatraz name.

[Scott Card]

Waitin' for Shane, Tom, Stefan, and Ram to pipe up.....

[Sombeech]

I sense some debate may begin... "I named it this" - "NO, I named it this 5 years before you found it"

But seriously, I would like to know how each canyon got the "popular" name too.

[Iceaxe]

Actually there is not a lot of debate about names.... but where the names came from is usually pretty interesting.

Lots of info already in this forum if you pick the right search words.

Leprechaun
http://www.bogley.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10261

[Iceaxe]

Sandthrax: Where Did The Canyon Get It's Name

It helps to read this story first: http://climb-utah.com/Powell/sandthrax1.htm

It's important to know the events of our first attempted descent occurred one month after the 9/11 terrorist hijackings and the big congress mail room anthrax scare. The entire country was putting on a brave face but in reality everyone was hunkered down just waiting for the next attack.

When we were trapped in Sandthrax I had one of those cheap disposable point and shoot cameras in my pack. After the ordeal I took the camera into a local grocery store with a one hour photo service to get the film developed.

After dropping off the camera at the one hour photo service I proceed to do some grocery shopping while the film is being develop. When the female film technician pops open the back of the camera sand spills out everywhere. The film technician freaks out and reports she has just been poisoned with anthrax. The cops who happen to have a sub station next to this particular grocery store and who have been watching way too much TV spring into action.......

Next thing I know I'm face down in the isle of the grocery store with two cops standing on top of me with their guns drawn.

After I told my partner Hank Moon the story and he stopped rolling on the floor laughing he suggested we name the canyon Sandthrax, in honor of my grocery shopping episode.

[Iceaxe]

Baptist Draw Historical Information:

The Swasey family named a large portion of the canyons and features in the San Rafael Swell. Baptist Draw is believed to have received its name when Joe Swasey and a friend stopped for water at Baptist Tanks. The tanks are depressions or potholes in the sandstone that capture and hold water. The cowboys decided to baptize a dog, which had been following them by tossing him into the tanks.

[trackrunner]

[Iceaxe]

Music Canyon
http://climb-utah.com/SRS/music1.htm

Music Canyon received its name on the first known descent. The story goes that a woman accompanying the group had a beautiful voice and when they reached a dark cavern referred to as "The Music Chamber" she began to sing and the acoustics were remarkable.

[Iceaxe]

Escape from Alcatraz
By: Scott Patterson

http://climb-utah.com/Roost/alcatraz1.htm

The story above is where Alcatraz in the Roost got it's name.

[shaggy125]

I think Stefan has taken an interest in canyon names and knows where quite a few of them came from. I've been part of a couple explorations recently. I scoped out a canyon and went down it to find out that Ryan Cornea had finished it with Mike Kelsey earlier. I called it Trachyotomy because it drops into Trachyte creek and took delicate moves to get down like the delicate procedure MD's do. Turns out that Ryan and his crew had named the area the "Land of Oz" and had a whole theme of names for the canyons like "Yellow Brick Road," and this canyon was the "Witches Cauldron," another fine name for the canyon. Ryan can probably give you more background on his names for the canyons in that area.

A few weeks later I planned on doing Maidenwater with Carpey and Brian from Logan when Dave P (Wyoming Dave over on the yahoo group) comes up to me with a huge grin on his face all excited, showing me this new canyon he had found on Google Earth and had scouted that day. He was planning on doing it the next day and asked if I wanted in... Sorry Carpey and Brian, I just couldn't say no, I'd never seen Dave so excited in my life! The canyon was GREAT fun, lots of potholes, lots of problem solving, really good. It drops into Woodruff canyon so Dave thought the name Woody would be good. Hope to get in on some more new stuff this year (actually if Kelsey's new book comes out this year we will all be busy checking out his new routes ).

Links to beta:

Witches Cauldron: http://www.outdoorzen.org/site/beta/north-wash/witchscauldron.html

Woody: http://canyoneeringusa.com/utah/north/woody.php

[Iceaxe]

[Iceaxe]

History of Bluejohn
http://climb-utah.com/Roost/bluejohn1.htm

Bluejohn Canyon appears to have been named after a minor Robbers Roost outlaw by the name of John Griffith. Griffith had one blue eye and one brown eye and thus was saddled with the nickname "Blue John". It is recognized that he kept stolen horses in the area, perhaps watering them at nearby springs. In the fall of 1899 Griffith is reported to have put in at Hite with a small boat with the intention of reaching Lee's Ferry. He was never heard from again.

[Iceaxe]

Mind Bender - What's In A Name:

How did Mind Bender get it's name? The following excerpt is from Steve Allen's excellent guidebook 'Canyoneering 2: Technical Loop Hikes in Southern Utah'.

"By the time we reached the crux section of the canyon, we had been enveloped by a blizzard; the snow that whipped through the canyon stung our eyes and froze our hands. The crux was truly a mind bender; the narrow slot gave way to an abrupt drop over the 155-foot-high mouth of a huge cave. We spent an hour rigging our ropes. With no secure anchor points, we ended up burying a sling under a pile of rocks at the bottom of a large pothole and attaching the rope to it."

"I went first, carefully sliding out of the slot and into a vertical void, the floor of the canyon invisible in the swirl of snow. Would the rope be long enough? The question was answered when I was halfway down: the rope was long enough but my trajectory would have taken me through the limbs of an oak tree and into a large pool. Not good! With some gentle swinging I managed to hit a dry landing zone. Ginger took her time lowering packs over the fifteen-story drop. From below I saw that the brunt of the storm had descended on her. The rock was now plastered with rime ice and, perilously perched on the edge of the abyss, every move on her part had to be carefully executed. A mistake could have meant the ultimate splat. At long last I saw Ginger's legs emerge from the slot; she slowly spun down the rope, afraid a sudden jerk would dislodge it from its precarious anchor. There were no further obstacles below. The Mind Bender Fork was a done deal."

[Iceaxe]

Not Mindbender - Robbers Roost

How does a canyon get such a dumb name as "Not Mindbender"? It's because a group of friends looking for the actual Mind Bender stumbled upon this little beauty first and did a descent. What the group had actually found was Mind Benders big brother.

[Iceaxe]

Zero Gravity
http://climb-utah.com/SRS/zero.htm

When we first did the canyon I dropped through the bombay at the exit a little to early and got stuck. I was trapped at my chest but my feet were hanging down into space about 10' above the ground. I was suspended in air and looked like Wily E. Coyote running in space..... after everyone finished laughing they helped me get unstuck.