What’s in a name?

Origins of the street names used throughout Marion’s Gardens, Marion’s Pastures and Marion’s Acres, Fort Pierre.

In 1877 a young Canadian called Hormidas Marion was on route to the Black Hills, seeking his fortune, when he stopped at the Fort Pierre trading post and took a job as a cook, eventually owning a tent restaurant and bakery.

He purchased a one acre parcel of land on Teton Island, coming eventually to own the whole island. The island became known as Marion’s Island and on there he ran a market garden that supplied fruit and vegetables that he sold in Pierre and Fort Pierre.  Marion’s Island was absorbed into the mainland on the west side of the Missouri River when the Oahe Dam was built in the 1960’s.

A portion of the Marion’s Garden Development is situated on the northern tip of what was Marion’s Island and it is from this that the name Marion’s Garden was chosen.

Mike and Fiona Harrison were the developers of Marion’s Garden and subsequently of two relatively new developments in the area, Marion’s Pastures and Marion’s Acres. The Harrison’s are originally from Scotland.

When choosing street names for Marion’s Garden Mike and Fiona chose to use names from Scotland and are aware that these names are different from those that many are used to seeing. Following are a guide to the meaning and pronunciation of these names.

Ardlussa, the name of the Townhouse project on Marion’s Garden is a Scottish term meaning “grand place” or “home of content”. It is the name of a large estate on the island of Jura.

Cao-ila, pronounced Col-ee-la, means “the sound of Islay”. A small village on Islay it is also well known for its single malt whiskey distillery.

The Hebrides, the name given to the Marion’s Gardens apartments, are a series of islands that lie to the north of Islay. Some of the island names are Aaron, Barra, Colonsay, Durness and Eigg and these individual names have, or will, be given to each apartment building.

Islay, pronounced “Eye-la”, is the island which Mike and Fiona lived on in Scotland. There are two possible origins for the origination of the meaning of the word. Some say it means I-Lagh, the Law Island, (I means island and lang means law) while others believe it means an island divided in two (I means island and leithe means half). Islay measures about 25 miles north-south by 20 miles east-west, though of irregular shape. It is the most southerly of the Western Isles and is famous for its single malt whiskies. There are no fewer than seven distilleries in operation on the island. The total population of the island stands at about 4,000 people.

Jamieson is a well known Irish whisky. Because of the close geographical and social ties between Scotland, Ireland and Islay there are several streets and houses on Islay with names of Irish origin.

Port Charlotte is a village on Islay and is known to be the best preserved and most attractive on Islay. It is named for the village’s founder, Walter Frederick Campbell’s mother Charlotte.

Port Weyms pronounced “Poet Weems” means River Mouth. It is a 19^th century village near Port Na Haven on the south west coast of Islay.

Portnahaven, “Port-na-hay-van” means bay or harbor of the river. This fishing village on Islay is on the most southerly tip of the island.

Skerrols “ske-rols” was the name of Mike and Fiona’s old farm house on Islay. The word means "fair pastures” or “fine land”.

It is a very common practice for home owners in Scotland as well as other areas in the United Kingdom to name their homes. Many of these homes were named years ago by previous owners and the name remains unchanged. In less populated areas such as rural farms, the name of the house is the only address of the residents, no street name or house number would be given. Because a house has a name does not mean that it is a large mansion or estate.

The names of streets within Marion’s Pastures and Marion’s Acres are taken from other islands off the west coast of Scotland.

Jura (avenue) is named after the Hebridean Isle of Jura and lies just north-east of Islay and overlooking the coastline of Argyll is the Island of Jura. Its three peaks, the Paps of Jura, dominate the view from the mainland and form a mountainous core to the twenty eight mile long, eight mile wide island which is one of the wildest of the Inner Hebrides. The interior and entire west coast is uninhabited and the island's 200 people are hugely outnumbered by the 5,000 deer living on Jura.

Mull is a large island to the north of Islay and Jura. The human population of Mull is around 2,300. There are also 80,000 sheep and 5,000 cattle that outnumber the humans. The island is 29 miles long on an East-West axis, and is three miles wide at its narrowest point. The capital is Tobermory, whose brightly-painted houses lend it an almost Mediterranean air. In the bay, according to legend, is one of the galleons of the Armada, which has over the years eluded the efforts of numerous treasure seekers in pursuit of its fabled hoard of riches.

Iona (street) lies off Mull’s south westerly tip.  Iona is a tiny island only 3½ miles long, by 1½ miles wide, inhabited by a small crofting community and village. Iona is known as the Cradle of Christianity. St. Columba came from Ireland in 563AD and landed at Port' a Churaich. He established a monastic settlement on the island, probably near to the site of the present Abbey. From Iona he spread Christianity throughout Scotland. The beautiful white sandy beaches are a special feature of the island.

The Isle of Tiree (drive) lies to the west of Mull about 2.5 hours by ferry from the mainland of Scotland. Part of Scotland's Inner Hebrides, the island of Tiree, 10 miles long and 4 miles wide in parts, is home to some 800-900 people. In Gaelic it is known as Tir-Iodh - the land of corn.  The coastline of Tiree is a mixture of rocky outcrops and long stretches of white sandy beach which, along with the uninterrupted Atlantic winds, makes Tiree a perfect place for windsurfing.

To the west of these islands lies the Atlantic Ocean, the United States of America and of course South Dakota!

Waldron Street is named after Lieutenant Commander John Charles Waldron, USN (1900-1942). He was born at Fort Pierre, South Dakota, on 24 August 1900. Graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1924, he became a Naval Aviator in 1927. During the years prior to World War II, he served in several air units, was an instructor at the Naval Academy and at Pensacola, Florida, and performed other duties connected with aviation. In 1941, LCdr. Waldron became Commanding Officer of Torpedo Squadron Eight (VT-8), which was to serve on the new aircraft carrier Hornet (CV-8). He led that unit during the Battle of Midway, when all fifteen of its planes were lost to overwhelming enemy fighter opposition while making an unsupported attack on the Japanese aircraft carrier force. Lieutenant Commander John C. Waldron was killed during that action.

USS Waldron (DD-699) was named in honor of John Charles Waldron.