The Paiute, himself extremely primitive, contributed not a little to our culture in the way of an early knowledge of geography and routes of travel, place names and a heritage of traditions. Most of the pioneers explored these new regions and traveled new routes largely or partly with the aid of Indian guides or advice. Without such assistance, the explorers many times wandered from the proper route, lost valuable time, and encountered dangers and hardships that could have been avoided. Escalante tells us in 1776 that with proper Indian guidance he could have covered in three days the Arizona Strip which in his wanderings required ten. Geographical knowledge thus acquired wove itself into our culture through personal contact, writings and maps that have since been passed on from generation to generation. Many Indian geographical names, anglicized or unchanged, have been perpetuated in our nomenclature; for example, Toquerville, named for Indian chief Toquer, Kaibab (big flat mountain or mountain lying down), Kanarra (also named for an Indian chief), Shunesburg (an abandoned village named for an old Indian who lived there), Parunuweap (canyon with a swift stream of water), Kanab (meaning willow; there were many of them growing there when the town was first settled), and Paria or Pahrea (meaning a settlement and plateau). The name Mukuntuweap, pronounced Mu-koon-tu-weap, without accent, is undoubtedly of Indian origin, but there has been much dispute as to its derivation and application. Originally applied by Major Powell to both Zion Canyon and the river flowing through it, the name is now restricted to the latter. Some of the early white settlers suggest that it means “the place of the gods” or simply “God’s land.” This interpretation, however, seems to have no real foundation. Both Indians and whites appear to be in complete agreement that tu-weap means ground, earth, or place. It is the rest of the word which is in doubt. William W. Seegmiller, who is familiar with the Indian language, is of the opinion that it is named for a chief of the Virgin River Indians named Mukun, and therefore simply means the land of Mukun. Old George of the Kaibab Indians pronounced it Mukoontau′-weap, with accent on tau, and said it meant straight canyon. William R. Palmer, also an authority on Paiute lore, concludes that there are two possibilities: one, that it is derived from the Indian word yucca or oose, muk-unk, the whole word muk-unk-o-weap, thus meaning Oose Creek (or since the oose was sometimes used for soap simply Soap Creek); and the other derived from Muk-unt-o-weap, meaning straight canyon. Major Powell (September 12, 1872) says, “The Indians call the canyon through which it [the river] runs, Mu-koon-tu-weap, or Straight Canyon.”[2]