KENTUCKY IS CONSTANTLY YIELDING CLEAR EVIDENCE of long occupation by a succession of Indian cultures. Is it possible that the last Indian occupation and the beginning of white settlement had enough overlap and contact to allow the continuation of some Indian place names into the contemporary world? A casual survey of the state map creates a large measure of pessimism. Only Ohio County and the city of Paducah are evident possibilities. The Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi rivers are of certain Indian origins. Beyond this point the search must become involved with the mass of names of neighborhoods, streams, hills, historical sites and some folk lore. The Department of Anthropology of the University of Kentucky has estimated that during the pioneer period there are recorded only a few over one-hundred white-Indian contacts. As evidence of how slight the contact actually was, a Mr. Ficklin writing from Lexington in 1847 said: ... I have myself an acquaintance with the Indian history of the State from the year 1781 ... is one fact favorable to this State which belongs to few, if any, of the sister States. We have not to answer, to any tribunal, for the crime of driving off the Indian tribes, and possessing their lands. There were no Indians located within our limits, on our taking possession of the country.l Due to differences in the geographical areas referred to as Kentucky, the complete record does not allow such positive statements as those made by Mr. Ficklin, but the sense of his statement is essentially true. There is evidence that close to the time of his arrival in Kentucky there were some Shawnee villages on the Kentucky side