How Coloradans pronounce ‘Buena Vista’ was deliberate choice

Many cities, towns and streets in Colorado take inspiration from the Spanish language, including the state name itself. Some if these place names are pronounced the same or at least similarly to the original Spanish words or phrases, while others are not.

Among the places with altered pronunciations, one stands out: Buena Vista. The town itself is located in Chaffee County and was first founded in 1879. It has a population of just over 2,800 people.

For those who have never heard a Coloradan say the name, it is pronounced “Bew-nah Vista” with the first syllable of “Buena” pronounced more like the first syllable of the English word “beautiful.”

Turns out this mispronunciation was a deliberate choice made when the town was founded in the late 19th century. Buena Vista literally means “good view” in Spanish. The word “buena” is Spanish is correctly pronounced as “bway-nah.”

The woman who suggested the name and pronunciation, Alisina Dearheimer, knew how the word was supposed to be pronounced, but she insisted the word be Americanized. The way to do this, she suggested, was to swap out the first syllable from beautiful -“bew”- at the start of Buena.

This idea stuck, and Buena Vista was born.

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