Western Colorado Town Names and Their Meanings
I often find myself wondering how do you say that and where did that from? I did some digging and he's a few Western Colorado town names and what they mean.
Sources: Uncover Colorado, Wikipedia and North 7th Street
Palisade
Palisade is named after a geographical feature. I had no idea Palisades = steep, perpendicular cliffs. The Palisades are similar cliffs in New Jersey.
Delta
Delta is simply named after the river delta it sits on. This delta is where the Uncompahgre River runs into the Gunnison River.
Grand Junction
The "Grand" in Grand Junction comes from the old name of the Colorado River, the Grand River. "Junction" is from the intersection of the Colorado and Gunnison Rivers.
Fruita
"Fruita" is the Spanish word for fruit. Fruita This area began squeezing the fruit out, in the name of economics!
Durango
This city was named after an old governor's favorite place -- Durango, Mexico. He liked what he saw, so he named his city after the place.
Clifton
Another town, another geographical feature. Clifton is named after the steep Bookcliffs.
Loma
In Colorado, we've got big hills, small hills and everything in between. "Loma" is Spanish for small hills.
De Beque
I struggle to say this town name every time! It's named after the man who was looking for the optimum Ranch location, Dr. W.A.E. De Beque.
Montrose
This city was originally Ouray Junction. Then it was named after Sammy Hagar's band, Montrose. (Just kidding.) It was actually renamed after Sir Walter Scott's "The Legend of Montrose."
Rifle
Rifle is named after Rifle Creek. Rifle Creek was named after a soldier's rifle that was found on the bed of the creek.