Jim, I can only comment on the common usage in the Arkansas Ouachitas (where I grew up). There, the "Ouachita" spelling seems preferred, and the name of the lake, river, etc. are all spelled that way. But "Washita" turns up also, as in "Washita novaculite", which if I recall correctly from my childhood is considered one of the highest grades of that substance, at least when used for whetstones. They are pronounced identically (though I do remember one Little Rock newscaster pronouncing Ouachita as ow-a-CHEET-a on the news one night and having to apologize the next). I have never seen "Wichita" used to refer to anything in the Ouachitas, nor is it pronounced the same there, but of course that means nothing as far as the etymology. The Ouachitas are a rich area, botanically, with new species being discovered by the state botanists every year (though mostly things that are interesting only botanically, not horticulturally, except to the very most plant-geeky of us). Though not high mountains in the absolute sense, there is even some "island" effect - things found here and there, only at the highest elevations, as disjunct populations. The same area where many of those discoveries are being made (roughly from Hot Springs west to the Oklahoma state line) is also a favorite spot for rockhounds, with quite a variety of minerals to hunt, including diamonds. Steve On Thu, 1 Jul 2010, Jim McKenney wrote: > Aaron mentioned "the Ouachita's (of Arkansas)" > > Are Ouachita, Washita and Wichita basically the same word given different > phonetic transcriptions? -- Steve Marak -- samarak@gizmoworks.com