How Oakland got its name

Names on the Land

From George Stewart's book:

Across the bay from San Francisco was a stretch of flat land scattered with magnificent California live oaks. In Mexican times it had been known as Encinal del Temescal, ‘oak-grove of the sweat-house.’ The Americans who planned a town there may not have known Spanish, but they could see the trees. In simple description they called it Oakland.

Rob's comment:

Interesting to note that the review by Colm Toibin of Tommy Orange's book in the hard copy of The New York Times Book Review had "Way Off the Reservation" as the hed, while the online version was changed to Yes, Tommy Orange’s New Novel Really Is That Good.

We have a right to suspect that the change was made because an editor realized that a consideration of the historical context of the phrase "off the reservation" made it problematic and perhaps demeaning to Native Americans.