Seriously, how could they name the second oldest river in the
world “New” River? I mean, this is some of “America’s Best
Whitewater.” Couldn’t they name it something more appropriate?
How about “Big Water Canyon” or “Cataract Canyon?” Oh yeah, that
one is already taken. It’s part of the ancient “Teays” river
system, which would be a little better name. Or we could use the
Shawnee name “Keninskeha” (you can read about that in my “Raft
the Keninskeha” blog). So what if we can’t pronounce it? In
1656, Abraham Woods saw the river and named it after himself
(“Woods River” – thoughtful), thinking he was the first white
man to see it. I’m sure that happened a lot through the years.
There have been many theories as to how the New River got its
inappropriate name. The best one I have found and tend to
believe is from 1641, 15 years before Woods “found” it. The
first reference to the “new” river comes from a Virginia statue
of the same year when Walter Austin, Rice Hoe, Joseph Johnson
and Walter Chris wrote “discovery