Memoirs of Waukesha County. From the earliest historical times to the present with chapters on various subjects, including each of the different towns, and a genealogical and biographical record of representative families in the county, prepared from data obtained from original sources of information.

              MEMOIRS  OF  WAUKESHA  COUNTY 63
history is carried on by oral traditions. It is probable, also, that names so retained were modified by the new occupants, so that words originally Chippewa, or belonging to some of the other tribes, who were among the earlier occupants of the country, received Pottawat¬ tomie inflexions. A greater source of confusion was the carelessness of the early settlers, who usually clipped out or off several syllables of the cumbrous Indian words, thus altering their meaning, or utterly destroying it, and leaving the philologist who later endeavored to find the originals, in a maze of contending indications. A chief difficulty arose from'the fact that there was no written language, and the Indian words suffered contortion as the French or the English endeavored to make the sounds conform to the rules of spelling which governed the two languages as is seen in the case of the name of the state first spelled "Ouisconsin," but having a pronunciation very similar to that which is now used. .
The name of the tribe which occupied the territory which is under consideration is a notable example of this hap-hazard way of dealing with Indian words. In the early maps, manuscripts, and other docu¬ ments, the name of the tribe is spelled in the following ways: Poutea- tamis, Pouteouatamis, Poues, Poutewatamis, Poutoatomis, Poutouata¬ mis, Poux, Pottawattomies, Potawatamies, Potouatmis, Pottawatamies, Pouteowattamis, Potewatamies, Pootowomee. This clearly explains some of the difficulties of Indian nomenclature.