Being somewhat of a "language die-hard" myself, Chris Ames' letter about Emigration Canyon piqued my curiosity (Readers' Forum, July 30).
While he is correct in stating that emigration implies leaving and immigration implies entering, I believe the truly proper way to determine which term to use is to look at the process the Mormon pioneers were going through. Emigration describes people leaving a specific region to settle in another. Immigration describes people traveling to a specific country or region. The first pioneers were emigrating from a place where they were being oppressed. Consequently, I believe the term "emigration" is the proper choice for Emigration Canyon.
Don Polster
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Salt Lake City