IDAHO: Name

Ever since the Russian invasion of Finland began, citizens of Moscow, Idaho (pop. 5,500) have been restive about their town’s name. When the Indians used to go to this fertile valley at the foot of the Thatuna Hills to gather camas roots, they called the place Tat-Kin-Mah, which means the land of the spotted deer. First white settlers called it Paradise, and Paradise Valley it remained until 1876, when President Grant named the post office Moscow. Because there was a good deal of U. S. sympathy for Russia in the Crimean War, there were a good many Moscows, Odessas, Petersburgs established throughout the country: a Delaware seaport changed its name to Odessa in the hope of bolstering its trade (and promptly became a ghost town). Last week in Moscow, Idaho, seat of the State University, proposals for a new name included: 1) Borah, 2) Tat-Kin-Mah, 3) Paradise, 4) Cow. Meantime Mayor Henry Hansen sent off $176.46 for Finnish Relief, wrote that Moscow citizens wanted Finns to know that not all Muscovites were against them.