Geography (state, military, years, USA)

[jtur88]

Originally Posted by Rob Allen

You'll get an argument from some Scots about whether Scotland is a country, but I think you're thinking of Switzerland County, Indiana.

That's the one. Besides the lsland territory of Ascension, there is also
St. Helena, also in Louisiana. Hopes of eventual nationhood for Ascension and St. Helena seem almost as remote as the lsiands themselves.

[Rob Allen]

OK, here's an easy one - which US state is named after a province of France?

[Saintmarks]

Originally Posted by Rob Allen

OK, here's an easy one - which US state is named after a province of France?

Had to double check, but it is Maine for Le Mans.

The knee jerk response when thinking of France and a US state is Louisiana, but that is named for a King, not a province.

[Saintmarks]

OK, on the topic of state names, how many states were once named another name or were proposed with different names either as territories or states?

I don't know the complete answer to this myself, the example I am thinking of is Utah being named by the Mormon founders as Deseret. Any other examples?

[jtur88]

Tennessee was originally to have been Franklin.

Rhode Island was originally Rhode Island and Providence Plantation. Almost the whole thing was Providence Plantation, with Rhode Island the original name for Aquidneck Island, where Newport is situated.

Oklahoma was simply "Indian Territory". The name Oklahoma was not adopted until two years after the territory was opened to white settlers in 1890.

[jtur88]

In which states was the current state capitol building already in existence and ready for use on the day the state entered the union? (I believe there are 4 of them)

[Saintmarks]

Originally Posted by jtur88

Tennessee was originally to have been Franklin.

Rhode Island was originally Rhode Island and Providence Plantation. Almost the whole thing was Providence Plantation, with Rhode Island the original name for Aquidneck Island, where Newport is situated.

Oklahoma was simply "Indian Territory". The name Oklahoma was not adopted until two years after the territory was opened to white settlers in 1890.

I can't recall where I read this but more than one western state was under consideration to be named Idaho besides Idaho. Congress had an obsession with this name apparently. Anyone got an info on this?

And I seem to recall reading somewhere where the state of Mississippi had other names under consideration, if I am not mistaken, it was proposed as Washington before the current state of the same name got that designation.

[Rob Allen]

Originally Posted by Saintmarks

I can't recall where I read this but more than one western state was under consideration to be named Idaho besides Idaho. Congress had an obsession with this name apparently. Anyone got an info on this?

I recall that the name "Idaho" was proposed for Colorado, but was rejected when it became known that the name was made up and didn't mean anything in any language. Somehow, when the time came to name the current state of Idaho, that didn't matter anymore.

[jtur88]

Originally Posted by jtur88

In which states was the current state capitol building already in existence and ready for use on the day the state entered the union? (I believe there are 4 of them)

While you're pondering this question, I'll toss in another one that some sports fans might know. What important sports even has taken place in some odd locations including Shelby, Montana, Richburg, Mississippi, Lewiston, Maine, and Las Vegas, New Mexico?

[square peg]

I will guess world heavyweight bouts. Muhammad Ali knocked out Sonny Liston in the first round in Lewiston back in 1965.