Dear Wigleaf,

Greetings from Jackson, Mississippi. The state capitol. Named for Andrew Jackson. Named after a president, a general, a man whose choices and policies led to the Trail of Tears. I'm not a fan. But this city used to be called LeFleur's Bluff. Named after a fur trader, a polygamist, from what I can tell, a strange man.

Not too far to the south, the Mississippi river empties into the Gulf of Mexico.

And way up north, the river winds along St. Paul Minnesota. The state capitol. Named for the patron saint of writers. Patron saint of other stuff too, but writers seems serendipitous for the purposes of this particular postcard. But the city used to be called Pig's Eye. Named for a fur trapper. A bootlegger. He lived in a cave on the east bank of the river. Sounds like a fun guy.

Not too far to the north of St. Paul, the Mississippi river has its start at Lake Itasca. Itasca is a made-up word. A combination of the Latin verITAS and CAput. A name created specifically for this lake.

Wigleaf, please promise you'll never name anything after me. No person, place or thing. You never know what it's going to become. Or who will come along and rename it. Unless it's a cat. You can name your cat after me. Meowy Hamilton has a nice ring to it.

~m




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Read MH's story.

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