WHITE people do not usually take kindly to the jaw-breaking Indian names, hence a “Boston” name has generally been given them. But the white men who lived around Skokomish were mostly loggers, who among themselves went by the name of Tom, Jack, Jim, and the like, and seldom put Mr. to any body’s name. As the Indians mingled with them they received similar names, and as there soon came to be several of the same name, they were distinguished by some prefix, usually derived from some characteristic—their size, or the place from which they came. So we had Squaxon Bill, Chehalis Jack, Dr. Bob, Big John, Little Billy, and the like. These were bad enough, but when their children came to take these as their surnames, they sometimes became comical, for we had Sally Bob, Dick Charley, and Sam Pete. Therefore, we soon found that it was best to give every school-child a decent name, and Bill’s son George became George Williams, |