BetterMost, Wyoming & Brokeback Mountain Forum

Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond => Brokeback Mountain Open Forum => All Things Brokeback: Books, Interviews and More => Topic started by: Marge_Innavera on December 08, 2007, 04:14:28 pm

Title: Where the name "Ennis" came from?
Post by: Marge_Innavera on December 08, 2007, 04:14:28 pm
I recently participated in an email exchange centering around a possible source for Annie Proulx's choice of the name "Ennis" for her main character.  Oregondoggie (a member of this forum) stated that:

"Today, happened to look at The Sheridan, Wyo., County Tour Guide (2006). In it the Bozeman Trail Gallery has a full page ad that includes a pen and ink drawing of an aged cowboy named "Old Man Ennis", an original illustration by Edward Borein (1872-1945) for a book called "The Phantom Bull". [author: Owen Wister.]  Google indicates that Ennis ranched in the Madison Valley in Montana. In fact, there is a town there now called Ennis, almost certainly named after him. . . .  One could speculate that Proulx saw the drawing in the gallery in Sheridan."   The picture is no longer in the tour guide.

A search of Amazon and Barnes & Noble revealed that The Phantom Bull, a short novel, was combined with another novel by the same author, The Pinto Horse, and released as a paperback.  The more recent release had all the original Edward Borein illustrations

"In 1927 Owen Wister called The Pinto Horse, the best western story about a horse that I have ever read. The pinto roamed the Montana range in the late 1880s, surviving wolves and blizzards and earning the respect of the herd but never blending in, always standing out in vulnerable perfection. After years of trusting to human kindness, he falls into the hands of fools.

"The Phantom Bull, first published in 1932, is also marked by authenticity and controlled beauty of style. Old Man Ennis, who ranched on the upper Madison in Montana, grudgingly admired the slate-colored Zebu cow, whose wild cunning was passed on to her calf. The calf grows into a monster bull, not personified but endowed with the suggestion of a definite point of view. "A phantom glimpsed against the horizon" is the image he leaves
."


The biographical description of "old man Ennis" in The Phantom Bull doesn't quite fit the bio of the historical William Ennis; however, it clearly pinpoints the part of Montana where William Ennis settled and founded the town.  According to Names on the Face of Montana (Mountain Press Publishing Company):

"William Ennis was one of the first three men to locate in the Madison Valley. Ennis was born in County Down, Ireland, in 1828. He came to the United States when he was fourteen (1842) and to Montana in 1863. For a while he lived in Bannack, then came to the Madison, where in 1879 he built a store. He became the first postmaster when the office opened in 1881, and for the next eight-six years Ennis' postal service was in the hands of his family.  His daughter, Jennie Ennis Chowning was postmaster 1898-1940. In 1873, Ennis took his family through Yellowstone—these were the first white children to see the Park. William Ennis [was shot?] while standing in front of the Madison House in Virginia City—by a neighbor who was angry because of an unfounded rumor that Mr. Ennis had maligned his character. He died of his wounds on July 4th. "


Interestingly, William Ennis, like Ennis in the film version of BBM, had a daughter named Jenny (or Jennie). In The Phantom Bull, however, "old man Ennis" was originally from Texas.


(http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q135/talkstocoyotes/OldEnnis2.jpg)

This is the drawing of "old man Ennis" that
appeared in  The Pinto Horse and the Phantom Bull.
Title: Re: Where the name "Ennis" came from?
Post by: Front-Ranger on December 08, 2007, 07:07:23 pm
Thanks for sharing that, Marge! Very interesting!!
Title: Re: Where the name "Ennis" came from?
Post by: Marge_Innavera on December 09, 2007, 11:00:59 am
I'm still in the process of reading these two books and oddly, neither contains a single line of dialgue.

Another interesting characteristic, that you don't see in fiction very often, is that much of both stories is written from the animal's point of view, without 'anthropomorphizing' them at all. Both books are a wonderful "text snapshot" of ranch life early in the 20th century.
Title: Re: Where the name "Ennis" came from?
Post by: Marge_Innavera on December 09, 2007, 11:20:38 am
(http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q135/talkstocoyotes/EnnisMontanapostcard1.jpg)

(http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q135/talkstocoyotes/EnnisMontanapostcard2.jpg)

Here are two postcards of Ennis, one obviously older than the other. It still has a population of about 1,000.  Ennis' scenic location and proximity to major highways have, unfortunately, led to the invasion of a number of "McMansions"*  in the past few years.

* (in case this isn't familiar to non-USA readers) "McMansions" are oversized houses on undersized lots; generally rather cheaply built. They typically appear in subdivisions that have only 3 or 4 house designs.
Title: Re: Where the name "Ennis" came from?
Post by: Mero on December 21, 2007, 03:11:18 pm
I just found this thread and read it with much interest, because I have been once (for half an hour or so) in Ennis, Montana.

Thanks to Oregondoggie's eruditeness we have found another interesting probable connection and learned some more about the American West, a really fascinating region full of tragedies, farces, mysteries and stories.

As I have said: I actually once drove through Ennis, Montana. Some impressions:

(http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o27/franklin68/Pilgrimage/BBMPilgerreise5421.jpg)

(http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o27/franklin68/Pilgrimage/BBMPilgerreise5420.jpg)

(http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o27/franklin68/Pilgrimage/BBMPilgerreise5432.jpg)

(http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o27/franklin68/Pilgrimage/BBMPilgerreise5430.jpg)

(http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o27/franklin68/Pilgrimage/BBMPilgerreise5425-1.jpg)

(http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o27/franklin68/Pilgrimage/BBMPilgerreise5433-1.jpg)

(http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o27/franklin68/Pilgrimage/BBMPilgerreise5437-1.jpg)

The Madison Valley near Ennis:

(http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o27/franklin68/Pilgrimage/BBMPilgerreise5443.jpg)

On Boot Hill near Virginia City, Montana:

(http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o27/franklin68/Pilgrimage/BBMPilgerreise5465.jpg)

The cemetery on Boot Hill:

(http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o27/franklin68/Pilgrimage/BBMPilgerreise5467.jpg)

The grave of Ennis, of William J. Ennis (probably the son of "Old Man Ennis"):

(http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o27/franklin68/Pilgrimage/BBMPilgerreise5469-1.jpg)








Title: Re: Where the name "Ennis" came from?
Post by: Shasta542 on December 21, 2007, 03:14:16 pm
Fantastic pictures! Gorgeous town and scenery.
Title: Re: Where the name "Ennis" came from?
Post by: Shasta542 on December 21, 2007, 03:17:39 pm
From the Ennis, Montana, Chamber of Commerce website:


Our businesses offer services with a "You Bet!" attitude and a western flavor.
Title: Re: Where the name "Ennis" came from?
Post by: ifyoucantfixit on December 21, 2007, 04:49:54 pm


         I wonder if they too embrace the heritage of our Ennis.  To invigorate themselves.  I would like
to think so.
         
         Beautiful pictures also.  and Welcome to Bettermost Mero.  I missed your entrance.  Glad to see
you are posting and joining in the discussions.          WELCOME FRIEND                  janice
Title: Re: Where the name "Ennis" came from?
Post by: Marge_Innavera on January 02, 2008, 11:56:32 am
Thanks for those pictures! Love the "Ennis cafe" -- all it needs is a couple of pack mules and a bear....   :)
Title: Re: Where the name "Ennis" came from?
Post by: Penthesilea on January 02, 2008, 01:45:12 pm
Great pictures of Ennis, Montana!  :D Thanks for posting them and welcome to BetterMost Mero   :).



From the Ennis, Montana, Chamber of Commerce website:


Our businesses offer services with a "You Bet!" attitude and a western flavor.

Shasta (and others), do you think it's a deliberate reference to our Ennis? Somehow I doubt it, but it's nice anyway.
Title: Re: Where the name "Ennis" came from?
Post by: Scott6373 on January 02, 2008, 02:01:31 pm
In all the "Meet The Author" thingys she did, I am surprised no one ever asked her how she came up with that name
Title: Re: Where the name "Ennis" came from?
Post by: Shakesthecoffecan on January 03, 2008, 10:03:05 am
Once long ago I saw a post that someone reported that Ennis, Montana had a DelMar Motel, but I have never seen any cooberating evidence.
Title: Re: Where the name "Ennis" came from?
Post by: Penthesilea on January 03, 2008, 01:01:44 pm
South of Dallas in Texas, along Highway 45 between Dallas and Houston, there's also a town named Ennis. Not far from Ennis, TX is a town (village?) named Alma. They're both in Ellis county. Here's a map of Ellis county where you can see both, Ennis and Alma:

(http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m47/Penthesilea06/Sonstige/elliscnty-1.jpg)
(look at the right lower end of the map for Highway 45. Follow it and it leads you first to Alma, then to Ennis)


Naturally, I have no idea where Annie Proulx first encountered the name Ennis. But I firmly believe that she meant Ennis Del Mar to be an island in the sea.
Title: Re: Where the name "Ennis" came from?
Post by: moremojo on January 03, 2008, 07:11:44 pm
Ennis has been noted as both a geographic name (apart from the towns in Montana and Texas, there is also the one in Ireland) and as a family name, but apart from our fictional Ennis del Mar, I've never known of anyone bearing it as a first (or even middle) name. I wonder if Proulx had ever encountered anyone named thus in her own life.
Title: Re: Where the name "Ennis" came from?
Post by: southendmd on March 07, 2012, 11:23:11 am
Bumping this interesting thread. 

In addition to the oft-quoted "Island of the sea" meaning, I found one source that defines "Ennis" not as "island", but as meaning "one choice".   It's one of those "what to name your baby" sites!  But, it suggests that Ennis as a name is a variant of Angus.

Ennis \e(n)-nis\ as a boy's name (also used as girl's name Ennis), is of Celtic origin, and the meaning of Ennis is "one choice". Variant of the Scottish Gaelic name Angus. 

Food for thought!

http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/1/Ennis

Title: Re: Where the name "Ennis" came from?
Post by: ifyoucantfixit on March 07, 2012, 06:56:08 pm

     That seems very right to me..  It makes more sense than an island, especially since Ms Proulx is from a place, that obviously doesn't contain any islands, that I am aware of.  I have found that source also to have that result.  Gaelic, I mean.

   Thanks Paul