How The first maps of In 1750, the first map of In the 1700s, maps and illustrations were printed from engraved copper plates. Everything was engraved in reverse (like a negative) so that it would print positive on the paper. One can see how mistakes could occasionally happen. The change from Pocken-Eyland to Bockeneyland simply involved changing the “P” to a “B.”
By the time of Kueffner’s map (1767), Pocken-Eyland had either been leased to or purchased by a Dane with the last name of Diedrich, who was the Town Clerk (recorder of deeds) at Christiansted, which was capital of the “Danish Islands in America.” Contrary to popular legend, Diedrich was neither pirate nor privateer, nor did he live on the island! He established a small settlement of enslaved Africans to cut down the lignum vitae trees for export. This ecological disaster was made worse when goats were introduced to the island in the last quarter of the 1700s. It was the presence of goats that caused subsequent mapmakers to assume that the name Bock was the Dutch word for ram-goat, instead of a misspelling. It was a simple step to convert Bock to the English “Buck” in maps beginning in the early 1800s.
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Last updated: June 7, 2017