I'm working on updating and correcting the Marshall Pass area of the Dorman Collection and have run into kind of a conundrum on names. All the D&RG(W) maps and timetables refer to "Shawano" as the name of a siding and water tank on the west side of Marshall Pass. The name of the Salida to Montrose passenger train (315/316) was "Shavano". And I see some cross-pollination of the names in works by several authors.
In researching the origin of these names, I find that "Shawano" is an Objiwa (Wisconsin area) language term meaning "southern", while "Shavano" is the name of a Ute Chief from the San Juans and there is even a mountain peak named for him.
Perhaps some D&RG Denver-office person was from the upper midwest and used the "W", but a later D&RGW person used the seemingly more correct "V".
Does anyone have a good reference or even an idea of correctness about this?
Wes