Letters

No Return

As a retired medical editor, linguist, and Algonquianist, I read articles and books and just have to comment at times (if you have noticed over the years). Please see Missouri Conservationist, November 2007 [Page 6], for Jim Low’s contribution at bottom about Tywappity Community Lake, where he writes that the “meaning of the name ... is shrouded in mystery.” Yes, so many place names are, but this one might have one indeed. In William Bright’s Native American Placenames of the United States, Norman, Okla., 2004, Univ. of Oklahoma Press, page 526, there is the following entry:

TYEWHOPPETY (Ky., Todd Co.) ... Perhaps from a Shawnee (Algonquian) word meaning ‘place of no return’ (Rennick 1984). Possibly related names are Tywappity (Mo., Mississippi Co.) and Zewapeta (Mo., Scott Co.).

I checked my copy of the thin Shawnee Dictionary, 1995, but cannot confirm or negate the meaning offered above. Nevertheless I do hope that you put this into the next issue for those avidly interested.

I am also glad to have read Bridge to the Future (Page 22), also by Jim Low. You publish so many good articles and ideas over the years, but this one was very informative and of vital interest to many. Thanks.

Carl Masthay, Creve Coeur

Fun & Safety

I just wanted to take a moment to express my thanks and gratitude for the instructors of the Hunter Safety Course at the Dewey Short Visitor Center [a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers facility at Table Rock Lake]. I enrolled in the course in order to take my 9-year-old grandson hunting during the upcoming youth season. I want him to grow up and know the joys the outdoors can provide and that there is more to life than a “Game Boy” or an “X Box,” or whatever they call them.

I’m dating myself, but I am proud to say I carried more than one petition to get the Design for Conservation tax on the ballot for Missourians years ago. I saw the benefits of it then, and I still see the benefits of it today. We have a Department to be very proud of and a lot of dedicated individuals. Please express my thanks to these fellows who take time from their home lives in order to help someone else. It was good to see the number of young folks interested in hunting and conservation.

Dave Rust, Kirbyville

Faithful friends

A couple of years ago, someone sent a letter to the editor saying how long he had been a subscriber to the Conservationist and asking if anyone had been a subscriber longer than he. He started, as I recall, sometime in the ’60s or ’70s.

I have had an uninterrupted subscription since 1954 ... 53 years. I was 14 years old at the time. I just renewed for another three.

Jerry Risinger, Liberty

Our subscription comes in my father’s name because he was the person who introduced me to all of the wonders of the state of Missouri.

Nearly every weekend, our family would go “for a stomp in the woods.” We learned about the flowers, trees and wildlife that inhabited the area around Crackerneck Road in Independence. I can still remember swinging on grapevines and walking under tree branches where green snakes would be lying. What wonderful memories of my dad and our trips into the forest. Dad died in 1984 and we get your magazine as a reminder of what he taught us.

Roger Pool, Independence

Submissions reflect readers’ opinions and may be edited for length and clarity.