my homie Apollo, one of the comment box lurkers over at
Claycord did some research for me...
..."ok, so spent some time at Concord Historical Society, old woman's club early this week to do some volunteering, scanning pics of some boring footbal game in the late 1960's. I dropped that a "friend" of mine was seeking to rename concord to its original name. I think you read my post. . . well here's the back up
"In 1869 Salvio Pacheco, Fernando Pacheco, and Francisco Galino laid out the town of Concord, plotting lots and streets. The donor of the lan suggested the name Todos Santos (All Saints). Tis is the name by which the town was recorded. The Americans dubbed it Drunken Indian, but the public finally gave it the name it now bears" History of Contra Costa County; Historic Record Co., Los Angeles 1926
"In the naming of the new town there was a variety of disputation. At first the Spanish population and donors of the land wanted it to be named Todos Santos (All Saints), by which the name was recorded. The Americans had dubbed it Drunken Indian, with that genius that the early pioneers displayed for the science of nomenclature. But it was finally left to the public to give it the name of Concord, by which it is officially known" - The history of Contra Costa County, p. 110, , edited by F.J. Hulaski Berkeley 1917
"In the naming of the new town, there was much variety of disputation. To bgin with, the spanish ppulation and the donors of the land wanted it to be named Todos Santos (All Saint) by which name it is recorded; The Americans had dubbed it Drunken Indian; but it was left for the Contra Costa Gazette to give it the name of Concord, by which it is now known, habitually if not officially" History of Contra Costa County , W. A. Slocum 1882
"The Spanish people in the town called it Todos Santos (All Saints), but the Americans called it Drunken Indian. The Contra Costa Gazette wrote of it as Concord and the name stuc" Wilma Cheatham, The Story of Contra Costa County for Boys and Girls , 1942
"The name of the new town was officially recorded as Todos Santos, All Saints
Not long after the Americans began to settle in Todos Santos, they found an Indian living nearby who, being addicted to fire water, resorted to many wiley schemes to obtain free drinks. Anglo Saxon settlers finding more or less difficulty in mastering the combination of hard consanants and soft rolling vowels of Spanish Todos Santos, decided to call the new town "Drunken Indian" and for a time it appeared as though the name would stick. The aristocratic Pachecos were all but overcome with consternation.
Better judgement prevailed and it appeared before long that a name with more dignity than was expressed by Drunken Indian would have to be adopted. The credit for the name of Concord, some authorities claim, belongs to the editor of the pioneer newspaper, the Contra Costa Gazette" Purcell, History of Contra Costa County, Berkelely 1940, p 707,8
Oakland Tribune Aug 11, 1976 p. 14 "But anglos found the phrase (Todos Santos) a tongue twister and dubbed the town 'Drunken Indian'"
Now, I do not know how much of this material is self referential, as to how many of these quotes are strictly refering to the same source. But I still believe in Drunken Indian, it's in my heart, if not in my stomach and liver.
