Recently I posted an article that described all of the places in the United States where the county seat, the county, and the state all began with the same letter. I considered seven instances where each of the three levels of government had completely different names to be particularly “outstanding.” For example, one was Gibson, the seat of Glascock County in the state of Georgia: G-G-G.
Basement Geographer, a long-time friend of 12MC, applied the same concept to his own nation, Canada. He placed his handiwork in a comment and highlighted two Canadian instances that produced outstanding results. This article builds on Basement Geographer’s efforts while recognizing his triumphant return to geo-geek blogging. The community of odd geography bloggers is rather small. Discoveries offered in one place often inspire articles in another, and so on. It’s an appreciative and respectful give-and-take.
One might be tempted to compare the outstanding results for the United States with Canada, 7 versus 2. That would be unfortunate. Per capita, Canada offers 1 outstanding example for every 17 million residents, and fares much better than its southern neighbor. In the United States it’s 1 for every 45 million. I could probably find the number of people who live in each of the “outstanding” spots and produce a more legitimate comparison. However, that would entail effort and I’m not particularly motivated.
BBB: Burns Lake, Bulkley-Nechako Regional District, British Columbia
“… is located in the heart of northern British Columbia, about 222 km west of Prince George on Highway 16. Our village has a diverse population of 3,614 residents and serves a surrounding area of approximately 10,000 residents of the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako. With two of the six local First Nations communities located within municipal boundaries, Burns Lake has a strong sense of culture and incredible local talents to showcase.”
I kept uncovering additional B’s as I undertook my investigation of Burns Lake further. For instance, Bob (Bob with a B!) Gerow was “one of the main founders of Burns Lake.” Also its most notable historic site was the Bucket of Blood. Seriously.
Burns Lake’s Visitor Guide referenced the Bucket of Blood as the town’s first residence, a log building that also served as a fur trading post and a gambling den. The later purpose reputedly generated the colorful name, a place where fights would break out in the heat of high-stakes betting on games of chance. Then I discovered, “It was built by Lyster Mulvany, better known as Barney.” Barney! Another B. This had to be an omen.
Let’s recap.
- British Columbia
- Bulkley-Nechako
- Burns Lake
- Bob Gerow
- Barney Mulvany
- Bucket
- Blood
That’s a whole lot of B’s! Burns Lake might qualify as the most outstanding of the outstanding examples.
MMM: Minnedosa, Minto Rural Municipality, Manitoba
Minnedosa, Minto, Manitoba was a wonderful example of triple letter repetition in its layers of government. It’s not really fair to compare it to Burns Lake although it has a nice alliteration to it. Also I know I’m not the first person to note its similarity in name to Minnesota. My mind was so hard-wired to see Minnesota instead of Minnedosa that I had a hard time typing it correctly.
The town said it was “a Sioux word that translates as flowing water.” Minnesota, the U.S. state, also translates from Sioux — “cloudy water.” So apparently Minne means water. Interesting. I’ll have to see if all of the other place names using that prefix also derive from the Sioux language. [UPDATE: They do].
Minnedosa looks like one of those places I’d love to visit, with valleys carved by retreating glaciers and potholes filled by lakes on the open prairie. The town describes itself as Manitoba’s Valley Paradise, and it seems appropriate. One of its civic highlights is a flag walk atop the dam that forms Minnedosa Lake, a sight captured well on Google Street View.
Thanks Basement Geographer, and welcome back!
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