bat-n roozh / French / 1682
Baton Rouge, the capital of Louisiana, is a city found on the Mississippi River. In 1682 French explorer la Salle spotted a prominent cypress tree that had been stripped of its bark, making the tree appear red in colour. The Frenchmen referred to the tree, which was used by local native tribes to demarcate hunting grounds, as le baton rouge – French for "the red stick".
