Baton Rouge: City in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana. It is a French name, meaning "red staff" or "stick," given because of a tall cypress tree which stood upon the spot where it was first settled. Some authorities say that the name is derived from the name of an Indian chief, whose name translated into French was "Baton Rouge." Still another theory ascribes the name to a massacre by the Indians took place upon the spot upon the arrival of the first settlers.

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