Originally published in 1935 and still in print Arizona Place Names collects information and stories about the origin of place names in Arizona. The book is not comprehensive but it is a good first stop when looking into a place name.

The author - Will C. Barnes - was born in San Francisco in 1858. He served at Fort Apache as a telegrapher and after leaving the military in 1882 went into the cattle business in the Holbrook area. In the 1890s he went into public service holding various positions in Arizona and New Mexico. In 1907 he joined the Forest Service, then under Gifford Pinchot, where he was instrumental in developing and administering grazing policy. Before his final retirement in 1930 he served as the Secretary of the US Geographic Board in Washington, D.C.

He returned to Arizona in 1930 to work on Arizona Place Names. The book was published in 1935. Barnes died on December 17, 1936.

Barnes published a number of books - a search of the Arizona Historic Society Catalog brings up a number of works - and also of interest might be the AHS's Will C. Barnes Photograph Collection and Papers.

Source: Arizona Place Names