The Rocky Mountains And The Southwest: Using Feature Names To Study Two Iconic Subregions In The American West

Abstract

Geographic regions can be defined in many ways, including via physiography, historical development patterns, language, and culture. After broadly surveying different methods of regionalization and their influences on studies of the American West, this article uses a vernacular‐mapping approach to: first, propose distinctive toponyms that are relatively unique to cultures situated in the American Rocky Mountains and Southwest areas; second, map the spatial distributions of these toponyms across the western American landscape; and, third, compare the resulting distributions to the geographies of western businesses that incorporate regional terms into their corporate names. Notably, while the Rocky Mountains and the Southwest are iconic American regions that have captured the imagination for centuries, their cultural geographies are relatively underexplored in the literature. This article makes a modest contribution to this research gap by using geographic information systems () to map high concentrations of culturally distinctive feature names. The results reveal that the boundaries of vernacular Southwest and Rocky Mountain regions correspond relatively well with boundaries delineated with physiographic characteristics

Key words:

• American West
• place names
• Rocky Mountains
• Southwest
• vernacular regions

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Chris Holtkamp

Chris Holtkamp, Graduate Assistant, Texas State Geography, 600 University Dr., San Marcos, TX 78666; [[email protected]].

Russell Weaver

Russell C. Weaver, PhD Assistant Professor, Texas State Geography, 600 University Dr., San Marcos, TX 78666; [[email protected]].

David R. Butler

David R. Butler, PhD, Texas State University System Regents' Professor of Geography, University Distinguished Professor of Geography, Honorary Professor of International Studies, 601 University Dr, San Marcos, TX 78666; [[email protected]].