Alphabetical America, Part Five Quiz

Located in Oregon's Willamette Valley, Salem went through a few name changes before it was became a town (and later city), beginning with the name 'Chemeketa,' (after the Kalupuya name meaning "meeting or resting place"), and then 'The Institute' for a school established by Methodist missionaries in the early 1840s. In 1851, the community surrounding the learning establishment also took on a new name - Salem - as did the school itself the next year, becoming the Wallamet University (later changed to the current 'Willamette').

Different theories surround the origin of the name, from the Hebrew word 'shalom' (meaning 'peace'), or a shortened form of 'Jerusalem,' or possibly for Salem, Massachusetts (where one of the town trustees hailed from). As the name was settled, the capital of the Oregon Territory was moved from Oregon City to Salem. The town was incorporated as a city in 1857, and when Oregon achieved statehood in 1859, Salem continued in the role of the capital.

The origins of Sacramento date back to the arrival of Spanish explorers in the 18th century. The entire region was claimed as 'Alta California,' even though no Europeans would actually settle on the site of Sacramento until Swiss pioneer John Sutter arrived and established 'Fort Sutter' at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers, naming his colony 'Nueva Helvetica' (New Switzerland) in 1839. The river was originally dubbed 'Rio de los Sacramentos' in 1808 by Spanish explorer Gabriel Moraga.

It was just a few years later that the United States conquered California, taking possession from the Spanish through the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. Nueva Helvetica saw new development under American oversight, and in 1850 the city of Sacramento was incorporated. It became a launching point and support center for the gold rush in the 1850s, flourishing and growing and taking on the role of the state capital in 1854. Things continued to go well right up until most of the city was destroyed in the 'The Great Flood' of 1862.

Being on a flood plain allows for great agriculture, so the site was not abandoned, but rather, new and restorative construction in the city took the possibility of periodic flooding into account, raising the original elevation of the city by 11 feet. And over the next century, continual improvements were made to manage the Sacramento River through dams and flood control projects.

Sacramento experienced a boom in the late 19th century with the completion of the Pacific Railroad (the first transcontinental railroad) in 1869, which connected through Sacramento before reaching its terminus in San Francisco Bay.

The first non-native settlers in the Salt Lake Valley (or anywhere in Utah) were a group of Mormon pioneers, seeking a place to establish their own religious community. While others had visited the region on surveys, this was the first group who came to stay, arriving in July of 1847 and founding Great Salt Lake City to the east of the Great Salt Lake (the largest saltwater lake in the western hemisphere).

This first group of 148 souls would be followed by thousands more in subsequent years, and just two years later, the leadership proposed the "State of Deseret" to the government of the United States as a new member state to the union. Despite nearly two years of this self-declared state with its provisional government, it was never recognized by the U.S., and in 1850 the Utah Territory was officially organized. "The City of the Great Salt Lake" was incorporated in 1851, and took on the mantle of the territorial capital in 1856 (which was originally held by Fillmore).

With its location on the eastern edge of the mountains, Salt Lake City thrived as a stopping point for those seeking their fortunes in the gold rush, and once the transcontinental railroad was completed just north of the city (at Promontory Summit) in 1869, it truly began to grow with this connection to the greater world.

When Utah was brought into the Union on January 4th, 1896, Salt Lake City was confirmed as the state capital. Just over a century later, after many economic highs and lows, Salt Lake City became the host city to the 2002 Winter Olympics, gaining new international renown.

The full name of the city of Santa Fe is actually 'La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asís,' which translates as 'The Royal Town of the Holy Faith of Saint Francis of Assisi.' This stems from its origins as a kingdom within the Spanish Empire and New Spain, called 'Santa Fe de Nuevo México.'

The original capital of Santa Fe de Nuevo México, when it was established in 1598, was San Juan de los Caballeros, but Santa Fe (the city) took over the role in 1610. Santa Fe would continue as the capital city through all of the subsequent iterations of existence:
- After the Mexican War of Independence (1810-21), the First Mexican Republic was formed in 1823, and Santa Fe remained the capital of the Mexican territory of Santa Fe de Nuevo México;
- With the collapse of the First Mexican Republic and the secession of the Republic of Texas in 1836, Santa Fe de Nuevo México remained a part of a Mexican government in turmoil, largely under Santa Anna's rule;
- During the Mexican-American War, the region was occupied by the United States from 1846 to 1848, and was officially ceded to the U.S. with the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo;
- From 1848 until statehood in 1912, Santa Fe was the capital of the Territory of New Mexico; and
- With its continuing role as state capital since 1912, and from its original designation as a capital in 1610, Santa Fe is the oldest capital city within the United States of America.

The territory that includes present-day Kansas was part of the United States' Louisiana Purchase in 1803, when a large swath of land was acquired from France for the sum of $15 million. It remained 'unorganized territory' until the region was included in the Missouri Territory, formed in 1812. Nearly a decade later, the U.S. Government set the region aside as Indian Territory in 1921, closing it to non-native settlers. Despite many treaties and agreements in the decades that followed, the press of 'white' settlers saw much of the land being overtaken, until the Kansas-Nebraska Act saw the establishment of the Kansas Territory in 1854, officially opening the region to settlement, with lands ceded by multiple native tribes (who largely relocated to Oklahoma).

The site of Topeka began in the 1840s with the establishment of a ferry service over the Kansas River as part of the Oregon Trail. The Topeka Town Association formed in 1854, and by 1860 Topeka was a commercial hub for the region. Just a year later, Kansas was admitted into the Union as the 34th state, with Topeka named the state capital. The name 'Topeka' was originally a Kansa-Osage word applied to the Kansas River, and means "a good place to grow potatoes."

In spite of its saintly name, Saint Paul got its beginnings as a bootlegging operation. With a military outpost (Fort Snelling) nearby at the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers, Pierre "Pig's Eye" Parrant set up his operation just outside of the fort's land boundary in 1838. The area grew into a town, and in 1841 it was dubbed 'Saint Paul' by Father Lucien Galtier, even though most of the residents still called it 'Pig's Eye Landing.'

When the Minnesota Territory was formed in 1849, Saint Paul was named as the capital, and just a few years later was also incorporated as a city (1854). And in 1858, when Minnesota joined the Union, Saint Paul continued on in the role of state capital. And with Saint Paul's location on the northern bank of the Mississippi and easy boat landing, it became a transportation hub as "The Last City of the East," and the first step to the American Northwest.

Nearby Minneapolis (just to the east of Saint Paul) grew as a mill town on the upper arm of the Mississippi River before joining with the Minnesota River and Saint Paul's 'Pig's Eye Landing.' As such, the two cities grew together and became know as the 'Twin Cities.' Today, they are essentially combined in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul Metropolitan Area.

Right around the same time that Illinois was busy achieving statehood (1818), the first trappers and fur traders arrived in the region along the Sangamon River where Springfield currently sits. No one would even build a structure there until 1820, when a man named John Kelly built his cabin (there is a marker there today, located on Jefferson St.). But an influx of settlers from North Carolina, Virginia and Kentucky quickly developed a townsite, which was dubbed 'Calhoun' after South Carolinian Senator John C. Calhoun.

When Calhoun fell out of favour a decade later, the town was renamed Springfield (in 1832). According to local history, the name was provided by the wife of the original resident (John Kelly), and referred to 'Kelly's Field' and the 'Spring Creek' that ran through it. It was near this time that Springfield's most famous son, Abraham Lincoln, first arrived (recorded as being in 1831), although he would not come to live in Springfield until 1837. It was largely through Lincoln's efforts and influence that Springfield received the mantle of state capital in 1839. Lincoln would stay in Springfield, working as a lawyer and politician until leaving for Washington, DC in 1861 to become the 16th US President.

And as the Civil War began, Springfield became a center for military training, as well as for financial and industrial support of the Union efforts. The very first casualty of the war hailed from Springfield: Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth.

The birth of Tallahassee as the capital of Florida came as a direct result of the ceding of Spanish Florida to the United States in 1821. With the two largest cities at the time being St. Augustine (on Florida's northeast coast) and Pensacola (at Florida's easternmost point), it was decided by the territorial governor that a site central to the two locations would better serve as the location for a new seat of government.

Tallahassee was founded right where, just a few years earlier (in 1818), General Andrew Jackson burned the native village of Anhaica to the ground during the First Seminole War. The choice of the state legislature to build the capital city here was not well received, and soldiers were brought in to secure the area, ultimately relocating the hostile Seminoles to a reserve near Tampa Bay. Tallahassee became the official capital of the Florida Territory and was officially incorporated in as a city in 1825. When Florida joined the Union in 1845 as the 27th state, Tallahassee continued on as the capital.

Interestingly, during the Civil War, Tallahassee was the only Confederate state capital (east of the Mississippi) that was neither captured by the Union, nor burned.

Richmond has a long history that extends back to the founding of Jamestown on Jamestown Island (the first permanent English settlement in America) on the north bank of the James River, originally called the Powhatan River by the local native tribe. With the proliferation of 'James' names, you might be right in guessing that the English monarch at the time was James I.

Since the founding of Jamestown, many efforts followed to explore further upstream and to establish a presence at a series of falls that were a barrier to easy inland navigation. After multiple efforts, it was finally William Byrd I who, after being granted land in the region in 1673, established the James River Fort in 1676. And after his son (William Byrd II) inherited the estate in 1704, he would eventually donate the land that would become the city of Richmond, founded in 1737.

Richmond would grow over the next few decades, until the beginnings of the American Revolution saw a major change. In an effort to centralize the colony's government, and to protect it from British attack, Virginia's capital was moved from Williamsburg to Richmond in 1780. Unfortunately, that did not prevent the city from being burned a year later by British troops under the command of Benedict Arnold.

The city recovered and saw a new era of growth as industry and trade flourished. Eighty years passed before Virginia would choose to secede from the United States and join the Confederate States of America, with Richmond soon pegged as the capital of the newly-declared country. With its economic strength, strategic location and political importance, Richmond became the focal point of the Union's war efforts, and on April 3rd, 1865, the city was surrendered to occupying Union soldiers, less than a week before Robert E. Lee's surrender signaled the end of the war.

Within a decade, Richmond was back on its proverbial feet, once again becoming a center of industry and economic growth.

Quakers arrived in the 1679 and established the first (European) settlement on the site of Trenton, but it wouldn't become known (first) as Trent-towne until William Trent purchased the land in 1719. And even though a courthouse and jail were established the following year, Trenton would grow slowly, mostly by absorbing small townships as the region built up.

When the Revolutionary War started, Trenton became the site of General Washington's first victory, as he made his famous crossing of the Delaware on December 26th of 1776 and defeated the Hessians garrisoned there. The Second Battle of Trenton would occur just a week later on January 2nd, and a second Washington victory would force Cornwallis to withdraw to most of the way back to New York.

Following the war, Trenton had briefly held the role of the fledgling nation's capital in 1784 when the Congress of the Confederation met there for a time, but it was not to be. New Jersey became the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution on December 18th, 1787, and Trenton was officially named the capital in 1790, and incorporated as a city in 1792.