Place: Minnesota County: State: MN Zipcode: 55155 Longitude: -95.318328 Latitude: 46.018056 LatLong: 46.018056,-95.318328 Google Link: http://www.mapquest.com/?q=46.018056,-95.318328 Description: Minnesota The Dakota name Minnesota (Hear it pronounced in Dakota) means sky-tinted water (Minne, water, and sota, somewhat clouded), as Rev. Edward D. Neill translated it on the authority of Rev. Gideon H. Pond. The river at its stages of flood becomes whitishly turbid. An illustration of the meaning of the words was told to the present writer by Mrs. Moses N. Adams, the widow of the well-known missionary of the Dakotas. She stated that at various times the Dakota women explained it to her by dropping a little milk into water and calling the whitishly clouded water""Minne sota In the years 1846-48, Hon. Henry H. Sibley and Hon. Morgan L. Martin, the delegate in Congress from Wisconsin, proposed this name for the new territory, which thus followed the example of Wisconsin in adopting the title of a large stream within its borders. During the next few years, it displaced the name St. Peter as applied in common usage by the white people to the river, whose euphonious Dakota title will continue to be borne by the river and the state. Jonathan Carver, who wintered with the Dakota on the Minnesota River. In 1766-67, was the earliest author to record its Dakota name. He spelled it Menesotor in his Travels through the Interior Parts of North America and Menesoter on the accompanying map. It was spelled Menesota by Long and William H. Keating; MenisothT by Giacomo C. Beltrami; Minisotah by Nicollet; Minnay sotor by George W. Featherstonhaugh; Minesota by Hon. M. L. Martin and Hon. Stephen A. Douglas in bills introduced by them respectively in the House and Senate for organization of the territory; and Minnesota by Hon. H. H. Sibley at the Stillwater convention. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Anoka County: Anoka State: MN Zipcode: 55303 Longitude: -92.007732 Latitude: 44.249265 LatLong: 44.249265,-92.007732 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Anoka,+MN&hl=en&sll=44.249265,-92.007732&sspn=0.114847,0.177841&oq=anoka,+MN&hnear=Anoka,+Minnesota&t=m&z=12 Description: Anoka is in Anoka County The name of this county, established May 23, 1857, was taken from the town of Anoka, which was first settled in 1851-52 and was named in 1853. It is a Dakota word meaning, as Prof. A. W. Williamson wrote, "on both sides; applied by founders to the city laid out on both sides of Rum River, and since applied to the county," of which this city is the county seat. Rev. Moses N. Adams, who came as a missionary to the Dakota in 1848 and learned their language, stated that as a Dakota word, Anoka means "the other side, or both sides." From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Artichoke County: Big Stone State: MN Zipcode: 56227 Longitude: -96.131161 Latitude: 47.368852 LatLong: 47.368852,-96.131161 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=artichoke+MN&hl=en&sll=47.368852,-96.131161&sspn=0.027147,0.04446&hnear=Artichoke,+Big+Stone,+Minnesota&t=m&z=14 Description: Artichoke is in Big Stone County ARTICHOKE Township, whose first settler came in May 1869, received its name from the former Artichoke Lake, now drained, which was five miles long, stretching from section 11 south to section 36. This name was probably translated from the Dakota name of the lake, referring to the edible tuber roots of a species of sunflower (Helianthus tuberosus), which was much used by the Indians as food, called pangi by the Dakota, abundant here and common or frequent throughout this state. The village Artichoke, in section 11, had a post office, known in Artichoke Lake, 1876-1913; Nels Johnson was the first postmaster and also the town treasurer. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Big Stone County: Big Stone State: MN Zipcode: 56278 Longitude: -96.157554 Latitude: 45.39913 LatLong: 45.39913,-96.157554 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=big+stone+MN&hl=en&sll=45.39913,-96.157554&sspn=0.028145,0.04446&hnear=Big+Stone,+Minnesota&t=m&z=9 Description: Big Stone is in Big Stone County This county, established February 20, 1862, and organized April 13, 1874, derived its name from Big Stone Lake, through which the Minnesota River flows on the west boundary of the county and state. It is a translation of the Dakota name, alluding to the conspicuous outcrops of granite and gneiss, extensively quarried, which occur in the Minnesota valley from a half mile to three miles below the foot of the lake. The city and county building in Minneapolis is constructed of the stone from these quarries, which also supplied four massive columns of the state capitol rotunda, on its north and south sides. The Dakota name, poorly pronounced and indistinctly heard, was written Eatakeka by William H. Keating in his Narrative of Stephen H. Long's expedition in 1823, but Prof. A. W. Williamson more correctly spelled it in two words, Inyan tankinyanyan, the first meaning "stone," the second "very great," as shown by the repetition of the first word and duplication of its final syllable. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Toqua County: Big Stone State: MN Zipcode: 56210 Longitude: -96.4724 Latitude: 45.493204 LatLong: 45.493204,-96.4724 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=big+stone+MN&hl=en&sll=45.39913,-96.157554&sspn=0.028145,0.04446&hnear=Big+Stone,+Minnesota&t=m&z=9 Description: Toqua is in Big Stone County TOQUA Township (formerly spelled Tokua), first settled in 1877 and organized March 16, 1880, received its name from the two Tokua Lakes in Graceville and the similar pair of lakes in this township, which latter were called by the Dakota, as translated, the Tokua Brothers Lakes. This aboriginal name is spelled Ta Kara on Joseph N. Nicollet's map, 1843, Ta being the Dakota word for the moose, while Kara doubtless refers to the Kahra band of the Dakota. Nicollet also used the word Kara as the final part of other names, Plan Kara and Manstitsa Kara, given on his map to two points or hillocks of the valley bluff east of the northern end of Lake Traverse. Stephen R. Riggs, however, in his Dakota dictionary published in 1852, rejected all use of the letter r in that language, so that the name Kahra or Kara may not be identifiable in that work. Tokua (or Toqua) was the white men's endeavor to spell the Dakota name for these pairs of lakes, which Nicollet spelled as Ta Kara. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Blue Earth County: Blue Earth State: MN Zipcode: 56013 Longitude: -94.177551 Latitude: 43.77506 LatLong: 43.77506,-94.177551 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=blue+earth+mn&hl=en&ll=43.77506,-94.177551&spn=1.69957,4.111633&sll=44.863452,-94.294888&sspn=0.208545,0.513954&hnear=Blue+Earth,+Faribault,+Minnesota&t=m&z=9 Description: Blue Earth is in Blue Earth County This name was probably received by Le Sueur and his party from that earlier given to the river by the Dakota. The Relation of Pénicaut, however, might be thought to indicate otherwise, as follows: "We called this Green river, because it is of that color by reason of a green earth which, loosening itself from the copper mines, becomes dissolved in it and makes it green." In the language of the Dakota the same word, to, is used both for blue and green, and their name of the Blue Earth River is Makato (maka, earth; to, blue or green). Hear Makato William H. Keating wrote in the Narrative of Stephen H. Long's expedition, 1823: "By the Dacotas it is called Makato Osa Watapa, which signifies 'the river where blue earth is gathered.' " From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Lura County: Blue Earth State: MN Zipcode: 56068 Longitude: -93.868075 Latitude: 44.246514 LatLong: 44.246514,-93.868075 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Lura,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=44.246514,-93.868075&sspn=0.057426,0.088921&oq=lura,+Minnesota&hnear=Lura,+Faribault,+Minnesota&t=m&z=12 Description: Lura is in Blue Earth County Lake Lura is said to have been so designated by one of the early settlers from the name "Lura" found carved on a tree upon its shore, and thence it was given to a neighboring township in Faribault County. It had two Dakota names, Tewapa (water lily) and Ata'kinyan or Ksanksan (crooked or irregular). From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Mankato County: Blue Earth State: MN Zipcode: 56001 Longitude: -94.494138 Latitude: 44.14888 LatLong: 44.14888,-94.494138 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=mankato,+MN&hl=en&sll=44.14888,-94.494138&sspn=0.013749,0.033023&hnear=Mankato,+Blue+Earth,+Minnesota&t=m&z=12&iwloc=A Description: Mankato is in Blue Earth County The Dakota name is retained, with slight change, by the township and city of Mankato. On the earliest map of Minnesota Territory, in 1850, it appeared as Mahkahta for one of its original nine counties, reaching from the Mississippi above the Crow Wing west to the Missouri. MANKATO Township was established April 6, 1858, and was organized in connection with the present city of Mankato, May 11, 1858. The city charter was adopted March 24, 1868, and the first election of the township, separate from the city, was held April 7, 1868. The first settlement of Mankato and of this county was in February 1852 by Parsons King Johnson, and on the 14th of that month the Blue Earth Settlement Claim Association was organized in St. Paul by Henry Jackson, P. K. Johnson, Col. D. A. Robertson, Justus C. Ramsey, brother of the governor of the territory, and others. Hughes writes of their choice of the name for the settlement to be founded, as follows: "The honor of christening the new city was accorded to Mrs. P. K. Johnson and Mrs. Henry Jackson, who selected the name 'Mankato,' upon the suggestion of Col. Robertson. He had taken the name from Nicollet's book, in which the French explorer compared the 'Mahkato' or Blue Earth River, with all its tributaries, to the water nymphs and their uncle in the German legend of 'Undine.' . . . No more appropriate name could be given the new city, than that of the noble river at whose mouth it is located." Growth of the community was attributed to transportation, as four railroads met in Mankato. In 1880 the city was fourth in size in the state, with a population of 5,500, and supported a number of industries: machine shops, flour, feed, and planing mills, a woolen mill, linseed oil works, several carriage and wagon factories, four breweries, a pottery and brick yards, three newspapers, and fourteen churches. The community is the site of Bethany Lutheran College, founded in 1927; and Minnesota State University--Mankato, which began as a normal school, 1867-1921, teachers college, 1921-57, state college, 1957-75, and state university since 1975. Hear Mankato spoken as Makato From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Maple River County: Blue Earth State: MN Zipcode: 56037 Longitude: -94.115652 Latitude: 43.878991 LatLong: 43.878991,-94.115652 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=mankato,+MN&hl=en&sll=44.14888,-94.494138&sspn=0.013749,0.033023&hnear=Mankato,+Blue+Earth,+Minnesota&t=m&z=12&iwloc=A Description: Maple River is in Blue Earth County Government surveyors also named the Maple River, which the Dakota called the Tewapa- Tankiyan River (meaning big water-lily root), and the Big Cobb River, which bore a Dakota name, Tewapadan (little lily root). The names used by the Indians, copied thus from Nicollet's map (1843), referred to the roots that they dug for food in the shallow water of these streams and their tributary lakes. On the township plats the Big Cobb and Little Cobb Rivers were spelled without their final letter, though probably named for some member or acquaintance of the surveying party. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Medo County: Blue Earth State: MN Zipcode: 56001 Longitude: -93.924996 Latitude: 43.929039 LatLong: 43.929039,-93.924996 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Medo,+Blue+Earth,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=43.929039,-93.924996&sspn=0.461883,0.711365&oq=medo,+Blue+Earth,+Minnesota&hnear=Medo,+Blue+Earth,+Minnesota&t=m&z=12 Description: Medo is in Blue Earth County MEDO, a township of the Winnebago reservation, was named by the county commissioners April 16, 1858, but it was not organized until September 2, 1863. This is a Dakota word meaning a species of plant (Apios tuberosa), which has roots that bear small tubers much used by the Indians as food. It is common or frequent through the south half of this state, extending north to the upper Mississippi River. Dr. Charles C. Parry, with David D. Owen's geological survey in 1848, wrote of it as "Pomme de Terre of the French voyageurs; Mdo, or wild potato, of the Sioux Indians." It is also called ground-nut because its nutlike tubers grow in a series along the root. Medo, a village in section 9, had a post office, 1866-1904, a sawmill, a feed mill, a wagon maker, two general stores, and a hotel. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Minneopa County: Blue Earth State: MN Zipcode: 56078 Longitude: -93.845173 Latitude: 43.974432 LatLong: 43.974432,-93.845173 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Minneopa+Cemetery,+Mankato,+Blue+Earth,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=43.974432,-93.845173&sspn=0.115382,0.177841&oq=minneopa,+blue+earth,+Minnesota&hq=Minneopa+Cemetery,+Mankato,+Blue+Earth,+Minnesota&t=m&z=16 Description: Minneopa is in Blue Earth County MINNEOPA, a village in South Bend Township, section 20, was settled in 1876 and named from the falls nearby in the Minneopa River. The name is a contraction of a Dakota word meaning "follows the water, two waterfalls." A station of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway was in section 21. The state legislature in 1905 provided for the purchase of land containing the Minneopa Falls on the creek of this name in South Bend Township, about four miles west of Mankato, for public use as a state park. Its area is about 60 acres, comprising the falls, two near together, of 60 feet descent, with the gorge below. The railway station and townsite, named Minneopa, close to the falls, were platted in September 1870. This name is contracted from Dakota words, minne-hinhe-nonpa, which mean "water falling twice" or "two waterfalls." An early name of this stream was Lyons Creek, for a pioneer. It flows from Strom, Lily, and Crystal Lakes. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Pleasant Mound County: Blue Earth State: MN Zipcode: 55301 Longitude: -93.989837 Latitude: 44.156146 LatLong: 44.156146,-93.989837 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Pleasant+Mound,+Blue+Earth,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=44.156146,-93.989837&sspn=0.007189,0.011115&oq=pleasa,+Blue+Earth,+Minnesota&hnear=Pleasant+Mound,+Blue+Earth,+Minnesota&t=m&z=12 Description: Pleasant Mound is in Blue Earth County PLEASANT MOUND Township was first named Otsego, April 6, 1858, but on October 14 of that year it was renamed Willow Creek, "probably an eastern name familiar to some old settler." There is a creek of this name in the east part of the township, flowing northeast into the Blue Earth River. A village named Pleasant Mound, first settled in 1857 in section 26, had a post office established in 1863 at the home of F. O. Marks, near a series of hills of drift gravel, called kames, in section 25, which then was moved to section 26 in the home of John S. Parks. The Dakota name of these hills, according to Hughes, was Ichokse or Repah Kichakse, meaning "to cut in the middle, perhaps from the fact that the ridge is divided into a number of mounds, or it may mean 'thrown down or dumped in heaps,' as the spelling is uncertain." September 6, 1865, this township was organized and was given its present name, on the suggestions of Marks and Parks, taken like that of the post office from the knolly gravel ridge. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Wita Lake County: Blue Earth State: MN Zipcode: 56001 Longitude: -94.115652 Latitude: 43.878991 LatLong: 43.878991,-94.115652 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Wita+Lake,+Blue+Earth,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=43.878991,-94.115652&sspn=0.924541,1.422729&oq=wita+lak,+Blue+Earth,+Minnesota&hnear=Wita+Lake&t=m&z=14 Description: Wita Lake is in Blue Earth County Wita Lake, in Lime Township, retains its Dakota name, meaning Island Lake, for its two islands. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Hanska County: Brown State: MN Zipcode: 56041 Longitude: -93.9994 Latitude: 44.163577 LatLong: 44.163577,-93.9994 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=hanska,+MN&hl=en&sll=44.163577,-93.9994&sspn=0.219931,0.528374&hnear=Hanska,+Brown,+Minnesota&t=m&z=16 Description: Hanska is in Brown County HANSKA, a city in the east edge of Lake Hanska Township, section 24, bears as its name, like the township, the common Dakota word meaning "long" or "tall," which these Indians gave to the remarkably long and narrow lake in this township and Albin. The village was platted October 9, 1899, and was incorporated on May 1, 1901; its post office began in 1890. The village had a creamery, three grain elevators, a roller mill, and a station on the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railroad. Hear pronounced in Dakota. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Sleepy Eye County: Brown State: MN Zipcode: 56085 Longitude: -93.106053 Latitude: 44.93708 LatLong: 44.93708,-93.106053 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Sleepy+Eye,+MN&hl=en&ll=44.296456,-94.726353&spn=0.054859,0.132093&sll=44.939708,-93.106053&sspn=0.20438,0.528374&oq=sleepy+&hnear=Sleepy+Eye,+Brown,+Minnesota&t=m&z=14 Description: Sleepy Eye is in Brown County SLEEPY EYE, the city and railway junction in Home Township, platted by Thomas Allison and Walter Brackenridge as Sleepy Eye Lake, September 18, 1872, incorporated as a village February 14, 1878, and as a city in 1903, was named, like the adjoining lake, for a chief of the Sisseton Dakota. The post office was called Prairieville, 1871-72, when it was changed to Sleepy Eye. Businesses included a brewery, marble works, grain elevators, creameries, and mills; a Catholic seminary was located there, and a station of the Chicago and North Western was in section 32; a plant for canning peas and corn began operation in 1930. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Mahtowa County: Carlton State: MN Zipcode: 55707 Longitude: -92.669081 Latitude: 44.294132 LatLong: 44.294132,-92.669081 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Mahtowa,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=44.294132,-92.669081&sspn=0.05738,0.088921&oq=mahtow,+Minnesota&hnear=Mahtowa,+Carlton,+Minnesota&t=m&z=14 Description: Mahtowa is in Carlton County MAHTOWA Township has a name formed from the Dakota mahto and the last syllable of the Ojibwe makwa, each meaning "a bear"; sometimes seen as Mah-to-wa. The village of Mahtowa, section 9, was settled in 1875 with a station of the Northern Pacific Railroad and a post office, established in 1898. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Chanhassen County: Carver State: MN Zipcode: 55317 Longitude: -94.102391 Latitude: 43.637582 LatLong: 43.637582,-94.102391 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Chanhassen,+MN&hl=en&sll=43.637582,-94.102391&sspn=0.053235,0.128489&oq=chan,+MN&hnear=Chanhassen,+Carver,+Minnesota&t=m&z=12 Description: Chanhassen is in Carver County CHANHASSEN Township received its earliest settlers in June 1852 and was organized May 11, 1858. The name, adopted on the suggestion of Rev. Henry M. Nichols, means the "sugar maple," being formed of two Dakota words, chan (tree) and hassen (for hasan, from haza or hah-zah, the huckleberry or blueberry), thus signifying "the tree of sweet juice." The township merged on May 8, 1967, with the village of Watertown. The city of Chanhassen, sections 12 and 13, and extending into Hennepin County, was incorporated as a village on April 25, 1896; its post office, 1854-63, began in Hennepin County and transferred to Carver County in 1857. The village was permanently settled in 1881, and a post office was reestablished in 1882. Hear Chanhassen spoken From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Chaska County: Carver State: MN Zipcode: 55318 Longitude: -93.601799 Latitude: 44.789389 LatLong: 44.789389,-93.601799 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=chaska,+MN&hl=en&ll=44.789389,-93.601799&spn=0.208813,0.513954&sll=44.861965,-93.53231&sspn=0.208551,0.513954&hnear=Chaska,+Carver,+Minnesota&t=m&z=12 Description: Chaska is in Carver County CHASKA Township and city, the county seat, has, unlike the preceding name, the French sound of ch like sh. This was the name generally given in a Dakota family to the first-born child if a son, as Winona was the general name of a first-born daughter. This word is pronounced by the Dakota, and by Rev. Stephen R. Riggs's dictionary, with the English sound of ch (as in charm), and with the long vowel sound in the last syllable, as if spelled kay, but common usage of the white people has given erroneously the French pronunciation (ch as in charade), with the last syllable short, like Alaska. Hear pronounced. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Minnewashta County: Carver State: MN Zipcode: 55331 Longitude: -93.845173 Latitude: 43.707208 LatLong: 43.707208,-93.845173 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Minnewashta+Parkway,+Excelsior,+Carver,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=43.707208,-93.845173&sspn=0.115901,0.177841&oq=minnewashta,+carver,+Minnesota&hnear=Minnewashta+Pkwy,+Excelsior,+Carver,+Minnesota+55331&t=m&z=14 Description: Minnewashta is in Carver County MINNEWASHTA, a village mainly of summer homes on the northeast end of the largest lake in Chanhassen, received its name from the lake. It consists of two Dakota words, minne, water, and washta, good. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Waconia County: Carver State: MN Zipcode: 55387 Longitude: -93.81938 Latitude: 44.857633 LatLong: 44.857633,-93.81938 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=waconia,+MN&hl=en&ll=44.857633,-93.81938&spn=0.028413,0.069866&sll=44.789389,-93.601799&sspn=0.208813,0.513954&hnear=Waconia,+Carver,+Minnesota&t=m&z=14 Description: Waconia is in Carver County WACONIA Township, settled in 1855, organized May 11, 1858, bears the Dakota name of its large lake, meaning a "fountain or spring." The village of Waconia was platted and named by Roswell P. Russell in March 1857. This lake is also called Clearwater Lake. "It has about 18 miles of shore, most of which is high with a gravelly beach. The water is very clear, hence its name, and well stocked with fish." Hear it pronounced in Dakota. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Chippewa County: Chippewa State: MN Zipcode: 56265 Longitude: -95.712124 Latitude: 44.948885 LatLong: 44.948885,-95.712124 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=+chippewa,++MN&hl=en&sll=44.948885,-95.712124&sspn=0.028368,0.04446&hnear=Chippewa,+Minnesota&t=m&z=9 Description: Chippewa is in Chippewa County This county, established February 20, 1862, and organized March 5, 1868, is named for the Chippewa River, which here joins the Minnesota. The river was called Manya Wakan ("of remarkable or wonderful bluffs") by the Dakota. Its present name was also given by the Dakota, because the country of their enemies, the Ojibwe or Chippewa Indians, extended southwestward to the headwaters of this stream, at Chippewa Lake in Douglas County. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Rice County: Clearwater State: MN Zipcode: 56621 Longitude: -95.475747 Latitude: 45.640067 LatLong: 45.640067,-95.475747 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Rice,+Clearwater,+MN&hl=en&sll=45.640067,-95.475747&sspn=0.112098,0.177841&oq=rice,clearwa,++MN&hnear=Rice,+Clearwater,+Minnesota&t=m&z=11 Description: Rice is in Clearwater County Rice Lake and the Upper Rice Lake, and the Wild Rice River, have probably borne these names in four successive languages, the Dakota , the Ojibwe, French, and English. The oldest printed reference is in the narrative of Joseph La France, a French and Ojibwe parentage, who in 1740-42 traveled and hunted with the Indians of a large region in northwestern Minnesota and in Canada northward to Lakes Winnipeg and Manitoba and Hudson Bay. In the story of his wandering, given by Arthur Dobbs in An Account of the Countries adjoining to Hudson's Bay, published in London in 1744, La France described the Upper Rice Lake, in Bear Creek and Minerva Townships of this county, as follows: "The Lake Du Siens is but small, being not above 3 Leagues in Circuit; but all around its Banks, in the shallow Water and Marshes, grows a kind of wild Oat, of the Nature of Rice; the outward Husk is black, but the Grain within is white and clear like Rice; this the Indians beat off into their Canoes, and use it for Food" (Minnesota in Three Centuries, 1908, vol. 1, pp. 299-302). This French name, Du Siens, seems probably to be from the Dakota word psin, meaning "wild rice." From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Cottonwood County: Cottonwood State: MN Zipcode: 56229 Longitude: -95.35645 Latitude: 44.259182 LatLong: 44.259182,-95.35645 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Cottonwood,+MN&hl=en&sll=44.259182,-95.35645&sspn=1.837128,2.845459&oq=Cottonwood,++MN&hnear=Cottonwood,+Lyon,+Minnesota&t=m&z=13 Description: Cottonwood is in Cottonwood County The Cottonwood River, crossing the southern part of this county, has been well noted in the chapter of Cottonwood County. It may be here added that a very large and lone cottonwood tree beside this stream, about seven miles northwest of Lamberton village, was reputed to be a chief reason for its name; but the Dakota had used the name Waraju, as spelled by Joseph N. Nicollet, which the white traders and explorers translated, for probably more than a century before the growth of that tree began. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Black Hawk Lake County: Dakota State: MN Zipcode: 55122 Longitude: -91.256781 Latitude: 43.852046 LatLong: 43.852046,-91.256781 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=black+hawk+lake,+dakota,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=43.852046,-91.256781&sspn=1.849908,2.845459&hnear=Blackhawk+Lake&t=m&z=15 Description: Black Hawk Lake is in Dakota County For the Big Foot Creek and Black Hawk Lake, apparently translations of Dakota names, no definite information has been obtained. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Castle Rock County: Dakota State: MN Zipcode: 55057 Longitude: -93.193202 Latitude: 44.819868 LatLong: 44.819868,-93.193202 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Castle+Rock,+Dakota,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=44.819868,-93.193202&sspn=0.014216,0.02223&oq=castle+rock,+dakota+Minnesota&hnear=Castle+Rock,+Dakota,+Minnesota&t=m&z=14 Description: Castle Rock is in Dakota County CASTLE ROCK Township, organized April 6, 1858, was named, on the suggestion of Peter Ayotte, an early settler, for a former well-known landmark, a pillar or towerlike remnant, spared by erosion and weathering, of "a sandstone rock which stands alone on a prairie in that town. This geologic formation, before its partial disintegration which left it in ruins, closely resembled a castle." Nicollet's Report, in 1843, gives its Dakota name, Inyan bosndata, Standing Rock, which, he adds, on the authority of Pierre Charles Le Sueur in the year 1700, was the Dakota name also of the Cannon River. Prof. N. H. Winchell's "Final Report of the Geology of Minnesota," in vol. 2, 1888, has a good description and historical notice of Castle Rock in chapter 3 (pp. 76-79), "The Geology of Dakota County," with three pictures of it from photographs. Its height was 44 feet above the ground at its base, and 70 feet above an adjoining hollow, but the slender pillar, 19 feet high, forming its upper part, fell in about 1900. The village of Castle Rock, section 31, had a post office, first named Vermillion in 1855, changing to Castle Rock in 1858-95; it had a station of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Chub Lake County: Dakota State: MN Zipcode: 55024 Longitude: -93.152438 Latitude: 44.543854 LatLong: 44.543854,-93.152438 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Chub+Lake,+Eureka,+Dakota,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=44.543854,-93.152438&sspn=0.028568,0.04446&oq=chub+lak,+Dakota,+Minnesota&hnear=Chub+Lake&t=m&z=14 Description: Chub Lake is in Dakota County Chub Lake and Chub Creek (or River) are named for the well-known species of fish, being quite probably a translation of their Dakota name. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Dakota County: Dakota State: MN Zipcode: 55033 Longitude: -95.218293 Latitude: 46.154596 LatLong: 46.154596,-95.218293 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Hastings,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=46.154596,-95.218293&sspn=7.108168,11.381836&oq=hastingt,+Minnesota&hnear=Hastings,+Dakota,+Minnesota&t=m&z=12 Description: Dakota County This county, established October 27, 1849, was named for the Dakota people, meaning an alliance or league. Under this name are comprised a large number of allied and affiliated Indian tribes, who originally occupied large parts of Minnesota and adjoining states. The Dakota called themselves collectively by this name, but they have been frequently termed Sioux, this being a contraction from the appellation Nadouesioux, given with various spellings by Pierre E. Radisson, Father Louis Hennepin, and Robert Cavalier, sieur de la Salle , a term evidently of Algonquianorigin, adopted by the early French explorers and traders. Radisson says (Voyages, p. 154) that the first part of the Algonquian name for the Dakota, spelled, in the translation of his manuscript, Nadoneceronons, means an enemy. Rev. Moses N. Adams informed me that the Dakota dislike to be called Sioux and much prefer their own collective name, borne by this county, which implies friendship or even brotherly love. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Lake Isabelle County: Dakota State: MN Zipcode: 55033 Longitude: -92.85265 Latitude: 44.73525 LatLong: 44.73525,-92.85265 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Lake+Isabelle,+Hastings,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=44.73525,-92.85265&sspn=0.113894,0.177841&oq=lake+isab,+Minnesota&hnear=Lake+Isabelle&t=m&z=16 Description: Lake Isabelle is in Dakota County Lake Isabelle, adjoining the east edge of the city of Hastings, was stated by the late Gen. William G. Le Duc to be named in honor of a daughter of Alexis Bailly, one of the original proprietors of this city. The Dakota name of this lake was Mahto-waukan, Spirit Bear. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Mendota County: Dakota State: MN Zipcode: 55150 Longitude: -96.173333 Latitude: 45.571667 LatLong: 45.571667,-96.173333 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=mendota,+MN&hl=en&sll=45.571667,-96.173333&sspn=0.028059,0.069866&hnear=Mendota,+Dakota,+Minnesota&t=m&z=15 Description: Mendota is in Dakota County MENDOTA, a city of Mendota Township, was the first Euro-American settlement in Minnesota. The village began as a fur trading post in 1812; permanent settlers came about 1822, at which time it was called St. Peter's. The name Mendota, adopted about the year 1837, is a Dakota name meaning "the mouth of a river," because here the Minnesota River joins the Mississippi. It was the county seat, 1854-57; was incorporated on March 5, 1853; became a village on July 6, 1887; and had a post office, 1854-1972, at which time it was changed to a branch of St. Paul. The township was established in April 1858. Hear it pronounced in Dakota. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Wasioja County: Dodge State: MN Zipcode: 55927 Longitude: -93.002562 Latitude: 44.806517 LatLong: 44.806517,-93.002562 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Wasioja,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=44.806517,-93.002562&sspn=0.056877,0.088921&oq=wasio,+Minnesota&hnear=Wasioja,+Dodge,+Minnesota&t=m&z=14 Description: Wasioja is in Dodge County WASIOJA Township, settled in October 1854, organized in 1858, bears the Dakota name of the Zumbro River, spelled Wazi Oju on Joseph N. Nicollet's map in 1843. It is translated as "Pine river " by Nicollet and is defined as meaning "pine clad." Large white pines, far west of their general geographic range, grow on the Zumbro bluffs in the east part of this township, as also in Mantorville, and at Pine Island in Goodhue County. The village of Wasioja, section 13, was platted May 24, 1856. It had a station of the Chicago Great Western Railroad and a post office, 1856-1911. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Blue Earth County: Faribault State: MN Zipcode: 56013 Longitude: -93.393872 Latitude: 45.623468 LatLong: 45.623468,-93.393872 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Blue+Earth,+Faribault,+MN&hl=en&sll=45.623468,-93.393872&sspn=3.292396,8.223267&oq=blue+earth+fariba&hnear=Blue+Earth,+Faribault,+Minnesota&t=m&z=14 Description: Blue Earth is in Faribault County BLUE EARTH Township, first settled in May 1855, organized October 20, 1858, derived its name from its village, called Blue Earth, which had been platted in July 1856, and has ever since been the county seat. The village was named from the river, which the Dakota called Mahkahto (hear it spoken), meaning green or blue earth, as more fully noticed in the chapter of Blue Earth County. The site was laid out by H. P. Carstans and J. B. Wakefield, was incorporated on May 19, 1857, became a village in 1879, and incorporated as a city on April 8, 1899; it had a station of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railroad in section 17, and its post office began in 1856. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Ozahtanka County: Faribault State: MN Zipcode: 56097 Longitude: -93.9335649 Latitude: 43.6666214 LatLong: 43.6666214,-93.9335649 Google Link: Description: Ozahtanka is in Faribault County The two largest lakes of this county, Minnesota Lake, before noticed, and Ozahtanka Lake in Barber and Emerald Townships, have been drained, their beds being now cultivated farmlands. Both these names are on the map of 1860, each being the Dakota language. Tanka, like tonka, means "great," but Ozah is not defined in Stephen R. Riggs's Dictionary. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Walnut Lake County: Faribault State: MN Zipcode: 56097 Longitude: -93.383789 Latitude: 44.100407 LatLong: 44.100407,-93.383789 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Walnut+Lake,+Faribault,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=44.100407,-93.383789&sspn=0.115137,0.177841&oq=walnut+lake,+faribault,++Minnesota&hnear=Walnut+Lake,+Faribault,+Minnesota&t=m&z=12 Description: Walnut Lake is in Faribault County WALNUT LAKE Township, settled in June 1856, organized in 1861, bears the name of its large lake, referring to its butternut trees, also called oil-nut and white walnut. It is translated from the Dakota name Tazuka. The village of Walnut Lake, section 27, on the northwest side of Walnut Lake, flourished with hotels, a post office, a school, several stores, dwellings, and a blacksmith shop. Its first post office operated 1860-69, when it was transferred to Wells; a second post office operated 1870-82. The village was a popular stage stop for persons hunting lands to the west. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Root River County: Fillmore State: MN Zipcode: 55949 Longitude: -91.974792 Latitude: 43.841461 LatLong: 43.841461,-91.974792 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Root+River+Trail+Center,+Lanesboro,+MN&hl=en&ll=43.841461,-91.974792&spn=0.23128,0.225906&sll=45.198988,-92.987208&sspn=7.229803,7.229004&oq=root+river&hq=Root+River+Trail+Center,&hnear=Lanesboro,+Fillmore,+Minnesota&t=m&z=11&iwloc=B Description: Root River is in Fillmore County Root River, more fully noticed in the first chapter, is translated from the Dakota name Hokah, both being used on Joseph N. Nicollet's map in 1843. This river may be said to be formed by the union of its North and Middle Branches in Chatfield Township. A mile and a half below Lanesboro it receives the South Branch. Another large southern affluent, called the South Fork of Root River, drains southeastern Fillmore County and joins the main stream in Houston County. Hear Hokah pronounced in Dakota. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Hay Creek County: Goodhue State: MN Zipcode: 55066 Longitude: -92.817772 Latitude: 44.079803 LatLong: 44.079803,-92.817772 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Hay+Creek,+Goodhue,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=44.079803,-92.817772&sspn=0.028794,0.04446&oq=hay+creek,goodh+Minnesota&hnear=Hay+Creek,+Goodhue,+Minnesota&t=m&z=14 Description: Hay Creek is in Goodhue County The Dakota name of this place was Rhemnicha or Khemnicha, applied by Nicollet's map to the present Hay Creek as Remnicha River. It means the Hill-Water-Wood place, formed by three Dakota words, Rhe, "a high hill or ridge," mini,"water" and chan,"wood" referring to the Barn Bluff and other high river bluffs and to the abundance of water and wood, which made it an ideal camp ground. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Minneola County: Goodhue State: MN Zipcode: 55027 Longitude: -92.543801 Latitude: 44.491912 LatLong: 44.491912,-92.543801 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Minneola,+Goodhue,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=44.491912,-92.543801&sspn=0.028593,0.04446&oq=minneola,+Goodhue,+Minnesota&hnear=Minneola,+Goodhue,+Minnesota&t=m&z=11 Description: Minneola is in Goodhue County MINNEOLA, settled in May 1855, organized December 15, 1859, has a name from the Dakota language, meaning "much water." A post office, located six miles east of Aspelund, operated 1863-71. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Pine Island County: Goodhue State: MN Zipcode: 55963 Longitude: -92.718273 Latitude: 44.310332 LatLong: 44.310332,-92.718273 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Pine+Island,+Goodhue,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=44.310332,-92.718273&sspn=0.229456,0.355682&oq=pine+island,+Goodhue,+Minnesota&hnear=Pine+Island,+Goodhue,+Minnesota&t=m&z=12 Description: Pine Island is in Goodhue County "The island proper is formed by the middle branch of the Zumbro, which circles around the present village, enclosing a tract once thickly studded with tall pine trees. . . . This spot was one of the favorite resorts of the Dakota Indians. They called it Wa-zee-wee-ta, Pine Island, and here in their skin tents they used to pass the cold winter months, sheltered from the winds and storms by the thick branches of lofty pines. The chief of Red Wing's village told the commissioners of the United States, when asked to sign the treaty that would require his people to relinquish their home on the Mississippi River, that he was willing to sign it if he could have his future home at Pine Island" (Hancock, p. 288). "Between the two branches of the Zumbro River, which unite a short distance below, there was quite a forest of pine, which could be seen for a long distance over the prairie, giving it quite the appearance of an Island in the sea" (Mitchell, p. 118). From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Red Wing County: Goodhue State: MN Zipcode: 55066 Longitude: -92.6463 Latitude: 44.201354 LatLong: 44.201354,-92.6463 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Red+Wing,+Goodhue,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=44.201354,-92.6463&sspn=0.114941,0.177841&oq=red,+Goodhue,+Minnesota&hnear=Red+Wing,+Goodhue,+Minnesota&t=m&z=11 Description: Red Wing is in Goodhue County The Dakota name of this place was Rhemnicha or Khemnicha, applied by Nicollet's map to the present Hay Creek as Remnicha River. It means the Hill-Water-Wood place, formed by three Dakota words, Rhe, "a high hill or ridge," mini, "water," and chan, "wood," referring to the Barn Bluff and other high river bluffs and to the abundance of water and wood, which made it an ideal camp ground. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Zumbrota County: Goodhue State: MN Zipcode: 55992 Longitude: -92.536956 Latitude: 44.566069 LatLong: 44.566069,-92.536956 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Zumbrota,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=44.566069,-92.536956&sspn=0.228453,0.355682&oq=zumbrota,+Minnesota&hnear=Zumbrota,+Goodhue,+Minnesota&t=m&z=13 Description: Zumbrota is in Goodhue County ZUMBROTA, settled in 1854, organized in 1858, received the name of its village, platted in September 1854, on the Zumbro River, which flows across the southern part of this township. The Dakota named this river Wazi Oju, meaning Pines Planted, having reference to the grove of great white pines at Pine Island, before noticed; and it bears this name on Nicollet's map, 1843, and the map of Minnesota Territory in 1850. It was called Riviere d'Embarras and River of Embarrassments by Pike, 1805-6, adopting the name given it by the early French traders and voyageurs; Embarrass River by Maj. Long, 1817; and Embarras, the more correct French spelling, by Albert M. Lea's map, 1836. From the reminiscences written by Lea in 1890 of his explorations, we learn that the French name referred to obstruction of the river near its mouth by a natural raft of driftwood. Pronounced quickly and incompletely, with the French form and accent, as heard and written down by the English-speaking immigrants, this name, RiviFre des Embarras, was unrecognizably transformed into Zumbro, which is used on the map of Minnesota in 1860. The village and township name adds a syllable, the Dakota suffix ta, meaning "at, to, or on," that is, the town on the Zumbro, being thus a compound from the French and Dakota languages. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Pomme de Terre County: Grant State: MN Zipcode: 56531 Longitude: -96.122003 Latitude: 45.873294 LatLong: 45.873294,-96.122003 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Pomme+de+Terre,+Grant,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=45.873294,-96.122003&sspn=0.027908,0.04446&oq=Pomme,+Grant,+Minnesota&hnear=Pomme+de+Terre,+Grant,+Minnesota&t=m&z=12 Description: Pomme de Terre is in Grant County POMME DE TERRE Township, organized July 17, 1877, took the name of the large lake at its southeast border, whence also the Pomme de Terre River, flowing from it to the Minnesota River, was named. It is received from the early French voyageurs and traders, meaning literally apple of the earth, that is, a potato, but it was here applied to the edible ovoid-shaped root of the wild turnip (Psoralea esculenta), called Tipsinah by the Dakota. This much esteemed aboriginal food plant, very valuable to these Indians, formerly was common on dry and somewhat gravelly parts of upland prairies throughout southwestern Minnesota. The old village of Pomme de Terre, in section 24, platted in 1874, was the first village in the county, then superseded by railway towns. A post office was located in section 24, 1868-79 and 1880-1902, first established in Stevens County, with a station of the Soo Line. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Enchanted Island on Lake Minnetonka County: Hennepin State: MN Zipcode: 55305 Longitude: -93.561026 Latitude: 44.664019 LatLong: 44.664019,-93.561026 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Enchanted+Island,+Minnetrista,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=44.664019,-93.561026&sspn=0.114034,0.177841&oq=enchanted+islan,+Minnesota&hnear=Enchanted+Island&t=m&z=14 Description: Enchanted Island on Lake Minnetonka is in Hennepin County "Picturesque Lake Minnetonka," published in yearly editions by S. E. Ellis (1906, 102 pp.), referred the name of Enchanted Island to its being long ago a favorite place of Dakota medicine dances; and related that Wawatasso was a young Dakota man who rescued the daughter of a white pioneer trapper from drowning. Other Dakota legends about Minnetonka have been written in prose by Thomas M. Newson in 1881 and in poetry by Hanford L. Gordon (Indian Legends and Other Poems, 1910, 406 pp.). Like Hiawatha and Minnehaha and like the geographic names in this county that are partly of Dakota derivation, these writings present more white than Indian ways of thought and imagery. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Hassan County: Hennepin State: MN Zipcode: 55374 Longitude: -93.600426 Latitude: 45.197764 LatLong: 45.197764,-93.600426 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=hassan,+hennepin+county+MN&hl=en&ll=45.197764,-93.600426&spn=0.112979,0.279465&sll=44.857633,-93.81938&sspn=0.028413,0.069866&hnear=Hassan,+Hennepin,+Minnesota&t=m&z=12&iwloc=lyrftr:m,17809567204926765549,45.190022,-93.637848 Description: Hassan is in Hennepin County HASSAN Township, first settled in 1854, organized April 3, 1860, received its name from the Dakota word chanhasan, meaning "the sugar maple tree" (chan, tree; hasan, from haza, the whortleberry or huckleberry, also blueberries; that is, the tree having similarly sweet sap). Carver County has a township named Chanhassen, south of Lake Minnetonka, settled two years earlier and organized in 1858. Not to conflict with that name, the syllable meaning tree was here omitted. A post office operated 1866-1904. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Lake Calhoun County: Hennepin State: MN Zipcode: 55417 Longitude: -93.64579 Latitude: 44.90829 LatLong: 44.90829,-93.64579 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Lake+Calhoun,+Minneapolis,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=44.908296,-93.645793&sspn=0.028388,0.04446&oq=lake+cal,+Minnesota&hnear=Lake+Calhoun,+Minneapolis,+Hennepin,+Minnesota&t=m&z=14 Description: Lake Calhoun is in Hennepin County Lake Calhoun commemorates John Caldwell Calhoun (1782-1850), the eminent statesman of South Carolina, who was secretary of war, 1817-25. He was vice-president of the United States, 1825-32; was U.S. senator, 1833-43; and was secretary of state under President Tyler, 1844-45, when he was again elected to the Senate, of which he remained a member until his death. The Dakota name of this lake is given as "Mde Medoza, Lake of the Loons," by Maj. T. M. Newson in his "Indian Legends of Minnesota Lakes" (no. 1, 1881, p. 18). From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Minnehaha County: Hennepin State: MN Zipcode: 55406 Longitude: -93.311195 Latitude: 44.945139 LatLong: 44.945139,-93.311195 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Minnehaha+Falls,+Minneapolis,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=44.945139,-93.311195&sspn=0.02837,0.04446&oq=minnehaha+falls,+Minneapolis,+Minnesota&hnear=Minnehaha+Falls&t=m&z=14 Description: Minnehaha is in Hennepin County The common Dakota word for waterfall is haha, which they applied to the Falls of St. Anthony, to Minnehaha, and in general to any waterfall or cascade. To join the words minne, "water," and haha, "a fall," seems to be a suggestion of white men, which thereafter came into use among the Indians. Soon this Dakota name took its present form, an improvement devised by white people, probably first published in Mary Eastman's book in 1849, previously quoted. It was more elaborately presented by Rev. John A. Merrick in a paper describing the Falls of St. Anthony, contributed to the Minnesota Year Book for 1852, published by William G. Le Duc. Merrick wrote: "By the Dahcota or Sioux Indians they are called Minne-ha-hah or Minne-ra-ra (Laughing water), and also Minne-owah (Falling water), general expressions, applied to all waterfalls; but par eminence Minne-ha-hah Tonk-ah (the great laughing water). By the Ojibwe they are termed Kakah-Bikah (the broken rocks). From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Minnetonka County: Hennepin State: MN Zipcode: 55305 Longitude: -93.600426 Latitude: 45.197764 LatLong: 45.197764,-93.600426 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=minnetonka,+hennepin+county+MN&hl=en&sll=45.197764,-93.600426&sspn=0.112979,0.279465&hnear=Minnetonka,+Hennepin,+Minnesota&t=m&z=11 Description: Minnetonka is in Hennepin County Minne (also spelled mini) is the common Dakota word for water, and tonka (also spelled tanka) is likewise their common word meaning big or great, but the name thus compounded seems not to have been used by the Dakota till Ramsey coined it for the lake. So far as we have records, indeed, the Dakota appear to have had no term for this large and many-featured body of water. Between her Lake Bryant and the third large sheet of water, ""an extremely narrow . . . headland half a mile in length, running out from the southern shore,""; since named Breezy Point, was by her named Point Wakon, ""the Dakota term for anything spiritual or supernatural."" There an oval stone, a waterworn boulder about a foot in diameter, had been found, which the Dakotas had ""painted red, and covered with small yellow spots, some of them faded to a brown color"" around which stone the Dakota braves were accustomed, after raids against the Ojibwe, to celebrate. "";Picturesque Lake Minnetonka"" published in yearly editions by S. E. Ellis (1906, 102 pp.), referred the name of Enchanted Island to its being long ago a favorite place of Dakota medicine dances; and related that Wawatasso was a young Dakota man who rescued the daughter of a white pioneer trapper from drowning. Other Dakota legends about Minnetonka have been written in prose by Thomas M. Newson in 1881 and in poetry by Hanford L. Gordon (Indian Legends and Other Poems, 1910, 406 pp.). Like Hiawatha and Minnehaha and like the geographic names in this county that are partly of Dakota derivation, these writings present more white than Indian ways of thought and imagery. Hear it pronounced in Dakota.From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Wayzata County: Hennepin State: MN Zipcode: 55391 Longitude: -93.209741 Latitude: 44.915223 LatLong: 44.915223,-93.209741 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=wayzata,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=44.915223,-93.209741&sspn=0.028385,0.04446&hnear=Wayzata,+Hennepin,+Minnesota&t=m&z=13 Description: Wayzata is in Hennepin County This name was formed by slight change from Waziyata, a Dakota word meaning "at the pines, the north." Wazi is defined as "a pine, pines," and Waziya, "the northern god, or god of the north; a fabled giant who lives at the north and blows cold out of his mouth. He draws near in winter and recedes in summer." The suffix ta, denotes "at, to, on" (Riggs, Dictionary of the Dakota Language, 1852, pp. 192, 239). The name Wayzata, originated by white men, refers to the location at the north side of the east end of Lake Minnetonka, not to pine trees, which are found nearest, in very scanty numbers, on the Mississippi bluffs at Dayton and on Bassett's and Minnehaha Creeks in Minneapolis. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Hokah County: Houston State: MN Zipcode: 55941 Longitude: -91.640439 Latitude: 44.047889 LatLong: 44.047889,-91.640439 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=hokah,+MN&hl=en&sll=44.047889,-91.640439&sspn=0.230478,0.355682&hnear=Hokah,+Houston,+Minnesota&t=m&z=14 Description: Hokah is in Houston County HOKAH Township, settled in 1851, organized May 11, 1858, bears the Dakota name of the Root River, which is its English translation. Hutkan is the spelling of the word by Stephen R. Riggs and Dr. Thomas S. Williamson in their Dakota dictionaries, 1852 and 1902, but it is spelled Hokah on the map by Joseph N. Nicollet, published in 1843, and on the map of Minnesota Territory in 1850. A part of the site of the village, which was platted in March 1855, had been earlier occupied by the village of a Dakota leader named Hokah. This railway village was incorporated March 2, 1871. The city of Hokah reincorporated on April 23, 1923, and separated from the township. It was first settled by Edward Thompson, who built a sawmill in 1852, a flour mill in 1853, and a dam in 1866 across the Root River in anticipation of the Southern Minnesota Railroad coming; the railroad caused the population to increase tenfold. Thompson Creek south of Hokah andMt. Tom are named for Thompson. Part of the city was called Slab Town for the houses built on slabs from the sawmill. The post office began in 1856. Hear Hokah pronounced in Dakota. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Isanti County: Isanti State: MN Zipcode: 55040 Longitude: -93.396853 Latitude: 44.374895 LatLong: 44.374895,-93.396853 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Isanti,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=44.374895,-93.396853&sspn=0.02865,0.04446&oq=isant,+Minnesota&hnear=Isanti,+Minnesota&t=m&z=13 Description: Isanti is in Isanti County Prof. A. W. Williamson wrote of this word, and of its probable derivation from the Dakota name of Knife Lake in Kanabec County: "Isanti (isanati or isanyati),--isan, knife; ati, dwell on or at; the Dakota name of the part of the nation occupying Minnesota, and comprising the Sissetons as well as those now known as Santees; it is supposed the name was given as this lake was their chief location for a time on their westward journey." From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Knife Lake County: Isanti State: MN Zipcode: 55051 Longitude: -93.254013 Latitude: 45.979309 LatLong: 45.979309,-93.254013 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=knife+lake,+Isanti,+Minnesota&hl=en&ll=45.979309,-93.254013&spn=0.222834,0.355682&sll=45.502181,-93.322366&sspn=0.112373,0.177841&hq=knife+lake,&hnear=Isanti,+Minnesota&t=m&z=11&iwloc=B Description: Knife Lake is in Isanti County Prof. A. W. Williamson wrote of this word, and of its probable derivation from the Dakota name of Knife Lake in Kanabec County: "Isanti (isanati or isanyati),--isan, knife; ati, dwell on or at; the Dakota name of the part of the nation occupying Minnesota, and comprising the Sissetons as well as those now known as Santees; it is supposed the name was given as this lake was their chief location for a time on their westward journey." From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Heron Lake County: Jackson State: MN Zipcode: 56137 Longitude: -94.988759 Latitude: 45.814306 LatLong: 45.814306,-94.988759 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Heron+Lake,+MN&hl=en&sll=45.814306,-94.988759&sspn=0.223496,0.355682&oq=heron+l,+MN&hnear=Heron+Lake,+Jackson,+Minnesota&t=m&z=14 Description: Heron Lake is in Jackson County HERON LAKE Township, organized September 7, 1870, was named for the large lake on its west side, which, as noted by Prof. A. W. Williamson, is translated from itsDakota name, Okabena (hokah, heron; be, nests; na, diminutive suffix), meaning "the nesting place of herons." Minnesota has three common species, the great blue heron or crane, from which Crane Island of Lake Minnetonka was named, the green heron, and the black-crowned night heron. The last, found by Dr. Thomas S. Roberts in considerable numbers at Heron Lake, was formerly plentiful or frequent through the greater part of this state. Jack and Okabena Creeks flow into the west side of Heron Lake, the former being probably named from jack rabbits, and the latter bearing the Dakota name for Heron Lake. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Little Spirit Lake County: Jackson State: MN Zipcode: 56143 Longitude: -95.320278 Latitude: 43.795 LatLong: 43.795,-95.320278 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=little+spirit+lake,+MN&hl=en&sll=43.795,-95.320278&sspn=0.028933,0.04446&hnear=Jackson,+Minnesota&t=m&z=9 Description: Little Spirit Lake is in Jackson County Minneota has Loon Lake, Pearl, Rush, and Little Spirit Lakes. The last is named in contrast with the much larger Spirit Lake in Iowa, which is translated from its Dakota name, Mini wakan, noted by Joseph N. Nicollet. In its most northern part, Spirit Lake touches the boundary of the state and of this township at the south side of section 36. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Minneota County: Jackson State: MN Zipcode: 56264 Longitude: -95.060577 Latitude: 43.5973 LatLong: 43.5973,-95.060577 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=minneota+jackson+county+mn++&hl=en&ll=43.5973,-95.060577&spn=0.852316,2.055817&sll=43.551526,-95.137138&sspn=0.426484,1.027908&hnear=Minneota,+Jackson,+Minnesota&t=m&z=10&iwloc=A Description: Minneota is in Jackson County MINNEOTA Township, organized October 15, 1866, has a Dakota name, meaning "much water," given partly for its group of several small lakes but mainly for the adjoining large Spirit Lake and Lake Okoboji in northwest Iowa. A village by the same name was located in the township about 1940. Hear it pronounced in Dakota. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Okabena County: Jackson State: MN Zipcode: 56161 Longitude: -95.143207 Latitude: 43.598799 LatLong: 43.598799,-95.143207 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Okabena,+MN&hl=en&sll=43.598799,-95.143207&sspn=0.928872,1.422729&oq=okabene,+MN&hnear=Okabena,+Jackson,+Minnesota&t=m&z=15 Description: Okabena is in Jackson County OKABENA, a city in sections 7 and 8 of West Heron Lake Township, was founded in September 1879, taking the Dakota name of the lake, which means, as before noted, "the nesting place of herons." It was incorporated as a village and separated from the township on July 30, 1938; its post office operated 1880-84 and reestablished in 1892. In 1897 Henry J. Schumacher purchased the townsite, platted it, and built a hotel; he sold the townsite in 1905 to Ferdinand Milbrath and his son, Edward. The Milbraths purchased the Okebena Clay Works, a brick and tile manufacturing company begun in 1897 and incorporated in 1916 with Edward Milbrath, president. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Timber Lake County: Jackson State: MN Zipcode: 56101 Longitude: -95.315832 Latitude: 43.739404 LatLong: 43.739404,-95.315832 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Timber+Lake,+Jackson,+MN&hl=en&sll=43.739404,-95.315832&sspn=0.01448,0.02223&oq=timber+lake,+jac+MN&hnear=Timber+Lake&t=m&z=14 Description: Timber Lake is in Jackson County Timber Lake, named for its lone grove in this broad prairie region, adjoins the south side of Wilder village. It has been also called Lake Minneseka, a Dakota name meaning "bad water." From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Kandiyohi County: Kandiyohi State: MN Zipcode: 56151 Longitude: -93.206882 Latitude: 45.764114 LatLong: 45.764114,-93.206882 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Kandiyohi,+MN&hl=en&sll=45.764114,-93.206882&sspn=0.111849,0.177841&oq=kandi,+MN&hnear=Kandiyohi,+Minnesota&t=m&z=15 Description: Kandiyohi County This county, established March 20, 1858, bears the Dakota name of one or several of its lakes, meaning "where the buffalo fish come." Dr. Thomas S. Williamson states that it is from "kandi, buffalo fish; y, euphonic; ohi, arrive in." Our three species of buffalo fish, Ictiobus cyprinella, I. urus, and I. bubalus, at their spawning season in May and June leave the large rivers, in which they live the greater part of the year, and come, sometimes in immense numbers, to the lakes at the head of the small streams. The first named species, when mature, often attains the weight of 30 to 40 pounds; and the second and third are about two-thirds as large. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Kasota County: Kandiyohi State: MN Zipcode: 56050 Longitude: -94.932315 Latitude: 45.131104 LatLong: 45.131104,-94.932315 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=kasota,+MN&hl=en&sll=45.131104,-94.932315&sspn=0.014139,0.02223&hnear=Kasota,+Le+Sueur,+Minnesota&t=m&z=14 Description: Kasota is in Kandiyohi County In Kandiyohi Township are Lake Kasota, a Dakota name, meaning "a cleared place," and Swan Lake, each lying close to the north side of Little Kandiyohi Lake, with which Lake Kasota is connected by a strait. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Lac qui Parle County: Lac qui Parle State: MN Zipcode: 56256 Longitude: -93.620001 Latitude: 44.878055 LatLong: 44.878055,-93.620001 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Lac+Qui+Parle,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=44.878055,-93.620001&sspn=0.028403,0.04446&oq=Lac+qui+Parle,+Minnesota&hnear=Lac+Qui+Parle,+Lac+qui+Parle,+Minnesota&t=m&z=14 Description: Lac qui Parle is in Lac qui Parle County This county was established March 6, 1871. Nine years earlier a county bearing this name but of entirely different area, situated north of the Minnesota River, had been authorized by a legislative act, February 20, 1862, but it was not ratified by the people. This French name, meaning "the Lake that Talks," is translated from the Dakota name, Mde Iyedan (mde, lake; iye, speaks; dan, a diminutive suffix), applied to the adjacent lake, which is an expansion of the Minnesota River. The lake, nearly 10 miles long with a maximum width of 1 mile and a maximum depth of 12 feet, owes its existence to the deposition of alluvium from the Lac qui Parle River, which enters the Minnesota valley near the foot of the lake. Its name most probably was suggested to the Dakota by echoes thrown back from its bordering bluffs. Prof. Andrew W. Williamson wrote: "It is very uncertain how it received the name; one tradition says from an echo on its shores, but it is doubtful if any such existed; another tradition is that when the Dakotas first came to the lake voices were heard, but they found no speakers; some think the word has changed its form." The Qu' Appelle River in Saskatchewan, also a French translation of its Indian name, having nearly the same significance, "the River that Calls," is similarly enclosed by somewhat high bluffs, likely to reply to a loud speaker by echoes. Rev. Moses N. Adams, who during our territorial period resided as a missionary at Lac qui Parle, told of a very remarkable creaking, groaning, and whistling of the ice on the lake in winter and spring, due to fluctuations of the water level allowing the ice to rise and fall, grating upon the abundant boulders of the shores. At the same time these strange sounds are echoed and reverberate from the enclosing bluffs. To these "voices" he ascribed the Dakota and French name. Keating mapped the Lac qui Parle River as Beaver Creek, adopting this name from the fur traders. His narrative adds that the Dakota called it Watapan intapa, "the river at the head," because they considered Lac qui Parle as the head of the Minnesota River, probably referring rather to the limit of favorable canoe travel during the usually low stage of water in the summer. Its name on Joseph N. Nicollet's map, published in 1843, is Intpah River, and this is repeated on maps of Minnesota in 1850 and 1860. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Kasota County: Le Sueur State: MN Zipcode: 56050 Longitude: -93.521073 Latitude: 46.11829 LatLong: 46.11829,-93.521073 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Kasota,+Le+Sueur,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=46.11829,-93.521073&sspn=0.055569,0.088921&oq=kasota,+le+sue,+Minnesota&hnear=Kasota,+Le+Sueur,+Minnesota&t=m&z=14 Description: Kasota is in Le Sueur County KASOTA Township, settled in 1851, organized May 11, 1858, took the Dakota name of its village, in sections 29, 32, and 33, which was platted March 23, 1855, and was incorporated on April 28, 1890. It means, as noted by Prof. A. W. Williamson, "clear, or cleared off; the name sometimes applied by the Dakotas to the naked ridge or prairie plateau south of the village." This Kasota terrace of the valley drift, three miles long from north to south and averaging a half mile wide, is about 150 feet above the river and 75 feet lower than the general upland. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Okaman County: Le Sueur State: MN Zipcode: 56028 Longitude: -93.34259 Latitude: 44.441624 LatLong: 44.441624,-93.34259 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=okaman,+Le+Sueur,+Minnesota&hl=en&ll=44.441624,-93.34259&spn=0.915753,1.422729&sll=44.290247,-93.968192&sspn=0.028692,0.04446&hq=okaman,&hnear=Le+Sueur,+Minnesota&t=m&z=9 Description: Okaman is in Le Sueur County OKAMAN, at the east side of the northern end of Lake Elysian, was an early village, platted March 30, 1857, lying partly in Waseca County. Its site was vacated in 1867 and reverted to farm uses. The name Okaman, supplied by the Dakota, was given to this lake by Nicollet, derived, according to Williamson, from hokah, "heron, man, nests." It thus had the same meaning as the Okabena Creek and Lakes in Jackson and Nobles Counties. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Shanaska Creek County: Le Sueur State: MN Zipcode: 56050 Longitude: -93.34259 Latitude: 44.441624 LatLong: 44.441624,-93.34259 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Shanaska+Creek,+Le+Sueur,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=44.441624,-93.34259&sspn=0.915753,1.422729&hnear=Shanaska+Creek&t=m&z=14 Description: Shanaska Creek is in Le Sueur County Kasota is crossed by Shanaska Creek (also Shahaska and Chankaska, a Dakota name, used by Nicollet, meaning "forest-enclosed"), the outlet of Lake Washington; Spring Creek, about three miles farther north; and Cherry Creek at the north end of this township, flowing into the Minnesota River near Ottawa village. Lake Williams or Plaza, and Long Lake, each very small, are in the southern part of Kasota, and the larger Lake Emily near its center. Another Lake Emily is mapped in section 31, Cleveland, only two miles southeast from the last. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Shaokatan County: Lincoln State: MN Zipcode: 56142 Longitude: -96.365147 Latitude: 45.803026 LatLong: 45.803026,-96.365147 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Shaokatan,+MN&hl=en&sll=45.803026,-96.365147&sspn=0.894144,1.422729&hnear=Shaokatan,+Lincoln,+Minnesota&t=m&z=12 Description: Shaokatan is in Lincoln County SHAOKATAN Township has the Dakota name of its lake, found on an early map of this state, before mentioned for Lake Hendricks, published January 1, 1860. Its origin and meaning remain to be learned. A post office was in section 14, 1882-88, on postmaster Samuel D. Pumpelly's farm; he was born in Kentucky and came to Minnesota in 1876; after serving as postmaster for seven years, he became county auditor at Lake Benton, later moving to Oregon, where he died. The post office had earlier been at Morse and later moved to Idlewild. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Minneota County: Lyon State: MN Zipcode: 56264 Longitude: -93.063667 Latitude: 44.906575 LatLong: 44.906575,-93.063667 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Minneota+Post+Office,+Minneota,+MN&hl=en&sll=44.906575,-93.063667&sspn=0.006512,0.016061&oq=minneota+post,+MN&hq=Minneota+Post+Office,&hnear=Minneota,+Lyon,+Minnesota&t=m&z=17 Description: Minneota is in Lyon County MINNEOTA, a city in Eidsvold Township, sections 25, 26, 35, and 36, which was incorporated on January 21, 1881. It was first known locally as Pumpa, so designated by early Norwegian settlers because of the railroad water pump, and then called Upper Yellow Medicine Crossing for its location. It was platted as Nordland village by the Winona and St. Peter Railroad in August 1876; when the post office was established in 1878, it was given the name Nordland, with railroad section boss Harvey D. Frink, postmaster, at his homestead store on railroad land, located on the left side of the tracks west of Yellow Medicine Creek; when the railroad built its depot on the right side of the tracks and other buildings went up nearby, the post office moved to new postmaster Nils Winther Luth Jaeger's store, and the name changed to Minneota, as suggested by Thomas D. Seals, another storekeeper. Jaeger was born in Norway in 1841, came to Minnesota in 1868 and to Lyon County in 1874, and was prominent in business for many years. The name Minneota is a Dakota name, meaning "much water." Prof. A. W. Williamson wrote of its origin, that it is "said to be so named by an early settler on account of an abundance of water flowing into his well." Hear it pronounced in Dakota. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Manyaska County: Martin State: MN Zipcode: 56171 Longitude: -94.479976 Latitude: 43.932309 LatLong: 43.932309,-94.479976 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Manyaska,+MN&hl=en&sll=43.932309,-94.479976&sspn=0.923712,1.422729&oq=manya,+MN&hnear=Manyaska,+Martin,+Minnesota&t=m&z=12 Description: Manyaska is in Martin County MANYASKA Township bears a Dakota name, given to lakes of this vicinity on Nicollet's map, probably meaning "white bank or bluff," but to be then more correctly spelled mayaska. It has been otherwise translated as "white iron" or silver, from maza, "iron," ska, "white." This name is also borne by a lake in section 19, a railway station, and a village in section 25. The village was established as a shipping point for stock and grain with a station of the Chicago and North Western Railway in 1899; the post office operated 1900-8. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Mille Lacs County: Mille Lacs State: MN Zipcode: 56359 Longitude: -96.450057 Latitude: 45.297187 LatLong: 45.297187,-96.450057 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Mille+Lacs+Lake,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=45.297187,-96.450057&sspn=0.028196,0.04446&oq=mille,+Minnesota&hnear=Mille+Lacs+Lake&t=m&z=10 Description: Mille Lacs County and Lake The ten southern townships of this county, Dailey, Mudgett, Page, Hayland, Milaca, Borgholm, Milo, Bogus Brook, Greenbush, and Princeton, were known as Monroe County until Mille Lacs County was established in 1860. The county was named for the large lake, called Mille Lacs, meaning a thousand lakes, which is crossed by the north boundary of the county. It was named Lac Buade by Father Louis Hennepin in 1680, for the family name of Count Frontenac. By the Dakota it was called Mde Wakan, that is, Wonderful Lake or Spirit Lake. Pierre Charles Le Sueur's journal, written in 1700 and 1701 and transcribed by Bernard de la Harpe, states that the large part of the Dakota who lived there received from this lake their distinctive tribal name, spelled, by La Harpe, Mendeouacantons. The same name, with better spelling, was given by William H. Keating in 1823, and the lake, on the map accompanying his Narrative, is named Spirit Lake, but this group of the Dakota, the Mdewakanton, had before that time been driven from the Mille Lacs region by the Ojibwe and then lived along the Mississippi. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Wahkon County: Mille Lacs State: MN Zipcode: 56386 Longitude: -93.66048 Latitude: 46.252945 LatLong: 46.252945,-93.66048 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=wahkon,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=46.252945,-93.66048&sspn=0.443458,0.711365&hnear=Wahkon,+Mille+Lacs,+Minnesota&t=m&z=13 Description: Wahkon is in Mille Lacs County WAHKON, a city in section 17 of Isle Harbor Township, was incorporated as a village on November 6, 1912; it was established in 1885 as Potts Town, changed to Lawrence in 1891 when the post office was established, and changed again in 1910 to Wahkon. This name is the Dakota name of Mille Lacs, spelled wakan in the Dakota dictionary by Rev. Stephen R. Riggs, defined as "spiritual, sacred, consecrated, wonderful, incomprehensible." The Dakota applied this name especially to a very remarkable but small island far out in the lake, about seven miles northwest from Wahkon, consisting of rock, granitic boulders piled by the ice of the lake to a height of nearly 20 feet, a noted resort of gulls and pelicans, called on maps Spirit Island or Pelican Island. Only 1 or 2 feet below the lake level, and visible under the water for 100 feet or more to the north and east, is a ledge of the bedrock described by David I. Bushnell in Brower's memoir of Mille Lac (p. 121, with a picture, on p. 118, of the heaped rock masses forming the island). Wonderful as the island is, it was the origin of the Dakota name of the lake, of this village, and, by a punning perversion noted on a later page, the name of the Rum River. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Buffalo Ridge County: Murray State: MN Zipcode: 56151 Longitude: -95.861896 Latitude: 44.009501 LatLong: 44.009501,-95.861896 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Buffalo+Ridge,+Chanarambie,+Murray,+MN&hl=en&sll=44.009501,-95.861896&sspn=0.230628,0.355682&oq=Buffalo+Ridge,+murray,+cMinnesota&hnear=Buffalo+Ridge&t=m&z=14 Description: Buffalo Ridge is in Murray County The highest land in this county, extending about two miles along the crest of the Coteau des Prairies in the central part of American Anthropologist, July 1890, quoted in The Aborigines of Minnesota, 1911, pages 106-8, with a diagram of the buffalo outline). From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Chanarambie County: Murray State: MN Zipcode: 56128 Longitude: -96.010576 Latitude: 43.980244 LatLong: 43.980244,-96.010576 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Chanarambie,+Murray,+MN&hl=en&sll=43.980244,-96.010576&sspn=0.028843,0.04446&oq=+Chanarambie,+Murray,+MN&hnear=Chanarambie,+Murray,+Minnesota&t=m&z=11 Description: Chanarambie is in Murray County In Osborne, the most southeastern township, the West Fork of Rock River flows to it from Elmer, and nearly opposite to that stream it receives Chanarambie Creek, bearing a Dakota name that means "hidden wood," as noted for Murray County, which has a township of this name. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Owanka County: Murray State: MN Zipcode: 56172 Longitude: -95.991914 Latitude: 43.816434 LatLong: 43.816434,-95.991914 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=owanka+MN&hl=en&sll=43.816434,-95.991914&sspn=0.115689,0.177841&t=m&z=12 Description: Owanka is in Murray County OWANKA, a Dakota word, meaning a camping place, is the name of grounds platted for summer homes in Shetek Township on and near the northeastern shore of Lake Shetek. A part in the southwest quarter of section 29 had been earlier named Tepeeota, meaning a place of Dakota tents or tepees. About a mile southward, in the center and southwest part of section 32, the high shore is called "Ball's bluff," for Ezra Ball, a pioneer settler there, on whose land a party of state cavalrymen camped as rangers through this region after the Dakota War in 1862. A village in section 30 had a post office, 1900-1902. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Swan Lake County: Nicollet State: MN Zipcode: 56074 Longitude: -94.665703 Latitude: 43.63842 LatLong: 43.63842,-94.665703 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Swan+Lake,+MN&hl=en&sll=43.63842,-94.665703&sspn=0.116034,0.177841&oq=swan+lake,+MN&hnear=Swan+Lake,+Stevens,+Minnesota&t=m&z=11 Description: Swan Lake is in Nicollet County Nicollet Creek, flowing south through Nicollet Township to the Minnesota, is the outlet of the large Swan Lake, which Nicollet mapped as Marrah Tanka (for maga, goose, tanka, great), the Dakota name of the swan. William H. Keating, in the Narrative of Long's expedition in 1823, wrote of this lake, "The Indian name is Manha tanka otamenda, which signifies the lake of the many large birds." Two species, the trumpeter swan and the whistling swan, were formerly found in Minnesota. The first nests here, but the second, which yet is rarely seen in this state, has its breeding grounds far north of our region. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Ocheda Lake County: Nobles State: MN Zipcode: 56187 Longitude: -95.856486 Latitude: 44.738044 LatLong: 44.738044,-95.856486 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Ocheda+Lake,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=44.738044,-95.856486&sspn=0.911081,1.422729&oq=lake+ocheda,+Minnesota&hnear=Ocheda+Lake&t=m&z=12 Description: Ocheda Lake is in Nobles County Lake Ocheda (or Ocheda Lake), its outflowing Ocheyedan Creek, and Okshida Creek in Murray County, are names received by Nicollet from the Dakota, having reference to their mourning for the dead, as before noted in the chapter on Murray County. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Okabena County: Nobles State: MN Zipcode: 56187 Longitude: -95.556478 Latitude: 43.584262 LatLong: 43.584262,-95.556478 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Okabena,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=43.584262,-95.556478&sspn=0.116138,0.177841&oq=okabena,+Minnesota&hnear=Okabena,+Jackson,+Minnesota&t=m&z=15 Description: Okabena is in Nobles County WORTHINGTON, a city in sections 23-26 of Worthington Township and the county seat, platted in the summer of 1871, was incorporated as a village March 8, 1873, and as a city in 1912. Its site had been called Okabena during the grading of the railway in 1871 for the two adjoining lakes, meaning the nesting place of herons, a Dakota name from hokah, "heron," be, "nests," and na, a diminutive suffix, as noted by Prof. A. W. Williamson. Its railroad station was named Okabena, as was the post office for the first year of operation, 1872, with Herbert W. Kimball as first postmaster. In the autumn of 1871 that name was changed to Worthington in honor of the mother of Mary Dorman Miller, wife of Dr. A. P. Miller, who was intimately associated with Ransom F. Humiston in forming the National Colony Company and founding Worthington, before noticed because Ransom Township was named for him. Mrs. Miller in 1888 wrote of the origin of this name: "My mother's maiden name was Worthington. Her father was Robert Worthington, of Chillicothe, Ohio, who was the brother of Thomas Worthington, governor of Ohio; and the now beautiful, prosperous town of Worthington, Minn., was named for the Chillicothe family." Worthington Township was organized May 20, 1872. Okabena Creek, flowing east from Worthington to Heron Lake in Jackson County, is the outlet of the West Okabena Lake, whence the site of Worthington was at first named Okabena, as before noted. From this name, given to Heron Lake on Nicollet's map in 1843, the present name of that lake was translated, while the Dakota name, referring to these lakes and the creek as "the nesting place of herons," was retained for the creek and for two lakes at Worthington, of which the east one has been drained. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Waukon County: Norman State: MN Zipcode: 56386 Longitude: -95.141602 Latitude: 46.301406 LatLong: 46.301406,-95.141602 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=waukon++MN&hl=en&sll=46.301406,-95.141602&sspn=7.08856,11.381836&hnear=Waukon,+Norman,+Minnesota&t=m&z=14 Description: Waukon is in Norman County WAUKON Township, organized in 1880, has a Dakota name, meaning "spiritual, sacred, wonderful." It probably refers to the grandeur of the view westward over the broad Red River valley, this township being crossed by the highest shoreline of Lake Agassiz. A village in section 16 had a post office, 1895-1905. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Eyota County: Olmsted State: MN Zipcode: 55934 Longitude: -92.631862 Latitude: 46.573834 LatLong: 46.573834,-92.631862 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Eyota,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=46.573834,-92.631862&sspn=0.027554,0.04446&oq=eyota,+Minnesota&hnear=Eyota,+Olmsted,+Minnesota&t=m&z=13 Description: Eyota is in Olmsted County EYOTA Township, organized in 1858, was at first named Springfield, which was changed in 1859 to this Dakota word, spelled iyotan by Rev. Stephen R. Riggs in the Dakota Dictionary, meaning "greatest, most." The city of Eyota in sections 11 and 14, platted in November 1864, was incorporated February 16, 1875. The post office was established as Greenfield in 1857 and changed to Eyota in 1864; it had a station of the Chicago Great Western and the Winona and St. Peter Railroads. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Whitewater River County: Olmsted State: MN Zipcode: 55910 Longitude: -92.091029 Latitude: 44.032845 LatLong: 44.032845,-92.091029 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=whitewater+river,+olmsted,+Minnesota&hl=en&ll=44.032845,-92.091029&spn=0.007204,0.011115&sll=43.9889,-92.2291&sspn=0.057677,0.088921&hnear=South+Fork+Whitewater+River&t=m&z=16&iwloc=A Description: Whitewater River is in Olmsted County Whitewater River, having in this county its North, Middle, and South Branches, is translated from its Dakota name, Minneiska, borne by a township and village in Wabasha County at the mouth of this stream. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Zumbro County: Olmsted State: MN Zipcode: 55992 Longitude: -92.407379 Latitude: 44.246183 LatLong: 44.246183,-92.407379 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=zumbro,++Minnesota&hl=en&ll=44.246183,-92.407379&spn=0.229706,0.355682&sll=44.032845,-92.091029&sspn=0.007204,0.011115&hnear=Zumbro,+Wabasha,+Minnesota&t=m&z=11&iwloc=A Description: Zumbro is in Olmsted County The origin and meaning of the first of these names are fully noticed in the chapter of Goodhue County, where a village and township on this river are named Zumbrota. Its earlier Dakota name, Wazi Oju, applied to the river by Joseph N. Nicollet, referring to its large grove of white pines at the village of Pine Island, is also duly explained for that village and township in Goodhue County. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Winnewissa Falls County: Pipestone State: MN Zipcode: 56164 Longitude: -96.004412 Latitude: 43.995522 LatLong: 43.995522,-96.004412 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Winnewissa+Falls,+Sweet,+Pipestone,+MN&hl=en&sll=43.995522,-96.004412&sspn=0.230683,0.355682&oq=Winnewissa+Falls,++pipeMinnesota&hnear=Winnewissa+Falls&t=m&z=14 Description: Winnewissa Falls is in Pipestone County At the quartzite bluff between Pipestone Lake and the quarry, this stream "passes over the ledge from the upper prairie to the lower with a perpendicular fall of about 18 feet," as noted by Prof. N. H. Winchell (Geology of Minn., Final Report, vol. 1, 1884, p. 539). His later map of the pipestone quarry names this cascade as Winnewissa Falls (Aborigines of Minn., 1911, plate at p. 564), from the Dakota verb winawizi, "to be jealous or envious." The name had been used much earlier in an excellent poem by Adelaide George Bennett of Pipestone, titled "The Peace-Pipe Quarry," first read at a celebration there July 4, 1878, which was reprinted as pp. 77-85 in Indian Legends of Minnesota, compiled by Cordenio A. Severance and published in 1893. In the reprint Mrs. Bennett inserted new lines with this name, "Falls of Winnewissa." From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Lake Minnewaska County: Pope State: MN Zipcode: 56334 Longitude: -95.243234 Latitude: 45.016572 LatLong: 45.016572,-95.243234 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=minnewaska,++MN&hl=en&sll=45.016572,-95.243234&sspn=0.453354,0.711365&hnear=Minnewaska,+Pope,+Minnesota&t=m&z=12 Description: Lake Minnewaska is in Pope County MINNEWASKA Township, adjoining the northern shore of the largest lake in this county, bears the name given to the lake by the white settlers made from two Dakota words, mini or minne, "water," and washta or waska, "good." Prof. N. H. Winchell wrote of the lake and its successive names, as follows: "This lake, according to statements of citizens of Glenwood, was originally designated by an Indian name, meaning Dish Lake, because of its being in a low basin. After that, when the chief, White Bear, was buried in a high hill on the north shore, it was called White Bear Lake. After a time it was changed to Lake Whipple, from Bishop Whipple, of Faribault, and by act of the state legislature in 1883 it was again changed to Minnewaska, or Good-water. It is said to be 85 feet deep in its deepest part and averages about 40 feet, and there is no known evidence of its having ever stood at a higher level" (Geological Survey of Minnesota, Thirteenth Annual Report, for 1884, p. 14). From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Carver's Cave County: Ramsey State: MN Zipcode: 55102 Longitude: -93.311348 Latitude: 45.951388 LatLong: 45.951388,-93.311348 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=carver+lake,+ramsey,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=45.951388,-93.311348&sspn=0.111473,0.177841&hnear=Carver+Lake&t=m&z=16 Description: Carver's Cave is in Ramsey County This county, established February 20, 1855, was named for Capt. Jonathan Carver, explorer and author, who was born in Wyemouth, Massachusetts, on April 13, 1710, and died in London, England, January 31, 1780. He commanded a company in the French war, and in 1763, when the treaty of peace was declared, he resolved to explore the newly acquired possessions of Great Britain in the Northwest. In 1766 he traveled from Boston to the upper Mississippi River and spent the ensuing winter with the Dakota on the Minnesota River in the vicinity of the site of New Ulm. On his return, according to statements published after his death, he negotiated a treaty, May 1, 1767, at Carver's Cave, in the east edge of the present city of St. Paul, by which the Dakota granted to him a large tract of land on the east side of the Mississippi. Carver continued his explorations by a canoe journey along the north and east shore of Lake Superior. He returned to Boston in October 1768, soon sailed to England, and spent the remainder of his life in London. Carver's Cave is located in the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Kaposia County: Ramsey State: MN Zipcode: 55075 Longitude: -93.054113 Latitude: 44.910572 LatLong: 44.910572,-93.054113 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=kaposia+park+South+Saint+Paul,+MN&hl=en&sll=44.910572,-93.054113&sspn=0.013023,0.032122&hq=kaposia+park+South+Saint+Paul,+MN&t=m&z=17&iwloc=A Description: Kaposia is in Ramsey County The name Kaposia, changed from Kapozha in the Dakota language, means "light or swift of foot in running," as defined by Prof. A. W. Williamson in his list of Dakota geographic names. Little Crow's band had received this name, which thence was applied to their village, "in honor of their skill in the favorite game of lacrosse." Hear it pronounced in Dakota. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: St. Paul County: Ramsey State: MN Zipcode: 55102 Longitude: -92.981306 Latitude: 44.906381 LatLong: 44.906381,-92.981306 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Saint+Paul,+Ramsey,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=44.906381,-92.981306&sspn=0.007097,0.011115&oq=saint+paul,+ramsey,+Minnesota&hnear=St+Paul,+Ramsey,+Minnesota&t=m&z=11 Description: St. Paul is in Ramsey County Prof. A. W. Williamson, in his list of geographic names in this state received from the Dakota, wrote: "Imnizha ska,--imnizha, ledge; ska, white; the Dakota name of St. Paul, given on account of the white sandstone cropping out in the bluffs." In the simplest words, this Dakota name means "White Rock." From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: White Bear Lake County: Ramsey State: MN Zipcode: 55110 Longitude: -93.089958 Latitude: 44.953703 LatLong: 44.953703,-93.089958 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=White+Bear+Lake,+Ramsey,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=44.953703,-93.089958&sspn=0.226926,0.355682&oq=white+bear,+Ramsey,+Minnesota&hnear=White+Bear+Lake,+Ramsey,+Minnesota&t=m&z=12 Description: White Bear Lake is in Ramsey County William H. C. Folsom, in his Fifty Years in the Northwest (1888, on its p. 545), wrote of the Dakota name as follows: "The Indians called this a grizzly, polar, or white bear, and named an adjacent locality [now a village on the northeastern shore, in Washington County] 'Mah-to-me-di,' or 'M'de, i. e., Mahto, gray polar bear, and M'de, lake. It is not probable, however, that a polar bear ever reached this spot, and a visit from a grizzly is nearly as improbable. Indian legends are very frequently made to order by those who succeed them as owners of the soil." From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Redwood Falls County: Redwood State: MN Zipcode: 56283 Longitude: -95.670826 Latitude: 44.609905 LatLong: 44.609905,-95.670826 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Redwood+Falls,+MN&hl=en&sll=44.609905,-95.670826&sspn=0.05707,0.088921&oq=red,+MN&hnear=Redwood+Falls,+Redwood,+Minnesota&t=m&z=12 Description: Redwood Falls is in Ramsey County Established February 6, 1862, this county was named for the Redwood River, whence also comes the name of the county seat, Redwood Falls, situated on a series of cascades and rapids of the river. Prof. A. W. Williamson wrote of this name: "Chanshayapi;--chan, wood; sha, red; ayapi, are on; Redwood river; so called by the Dakotas on account of the abundance of a straight slender bush with red bark, which they scraped off and smoked, usually mixed with tobacco. This name is spelled by Nicollet Tchanshayapi." William H. Keating and George W. Featherstonhaugh each gave both the Dakota and English names of this river; and the latter traveler expressly defined their meaning, as follows: "This red wood is a particular sort of willow, with an under bark of a reddish colour, which the Indians dry and smoke. When mixed with tobacco it makes what they call Kinnee Kinnik, and is much less offensive than common tobacco." The inner bark of two Cornus species, C. sericea, the silky cornell, and C. stolonifera, the red-osier dogwood, were used by the Indians, both the Dakota and the Ojibwe, to mix with their tobacco for smoking. The Algonquian word kinnikinnick for such addition to the tobacco included also the leaves of the bearberry and leaves of sumac, gathered when they turn red in the autumn, which were similarly used. It has been supposed also that the Dakota name of the Redwood River alludes to the red cedar trees on its bluffs at Redwood Falls or to trees there marked by spots of red paint for guidance of a war party at some time during the ancient warfare between the Ojibwe and the Dakota for ownership of this region, as told in a Dakota legend to early white settlers (history of this county, 1916, pp. 613-14). Either of these alternative suggestions has seemed to many of the settlers more probable than the testimony for the kinnikinnick, which was received from an earlier and more intimate knowledge of the Dakota people and their language. Chan, as a Dakota word, may mean "a tree or any woody shrub," being a more general word than wood in our language, which in its most common use is applied only to trees. But two or even all three of these reasons for the naming of the river may be included together as each contributing to its origin, namely, the kinnikinnick, the red cedars, and also painted trees. In support of the third as a part of the origin, we should quote from Giacomo C. Beltrami who was here in 1823, accompanying Maj. Stephen H. Long's expedition, for he wrote that the Redwood River was "so called from a tree which the savages paint red every year and for which they have a peculiar veneration" (Beltrami, A Pilgrimage in America, vol. 2, p. 316) From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Beaver Falls County: Renville State: MN Zipcode: 56270 Longitude: -95.095051 Latitude: 44.683843 LatLong: 44.683843,-95.095051 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=beaver+falls,+renville,+MN&hl=en&sll=44.683843,-95.095051&sspn=0.455975,0.711365&hnear=Beaver+Falls,+Renville,+Minnesota&t=m&z=14 Description: Beaver Falls is in Renville County BEAVER FALLS Township, organized April 2, 1867, and its village in section 22, platted July 25, 1866, and incorporated January 21, 1890, received their name from Beaver Creek, which is a translation of the Dakota name Chapah River, noted on Joseph N. Nicollet's map in 1843. This village was the first county seat, until a very long contest, begun in 1885, was finally decided in October 1900 by removal of the county offices to Olivia. An act to invalidate the incorporation was approved on April 14, 1891. The village was platted on land owned by David Carrothers and Sam McPhail, the latter residing in Redwood Falls; a post office operated 1867-1904. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Birch County: Renville State: MN Zipcode: 56283 Longitude: -95.047219 Latitude: 44.583016 LatLong: 44.583016,-95.047219 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=birch,+renville,+MN&hl=en&sll=44.583016,-95.047219&sspn=0.028548,0.04446&hnear=Birch+Cooley,+Renville,+Minnesota&t=m&z=11 Description: Birch is in Renville County On the southwest border of this county the Minnesota River receives Hawk Creek and Sacred Heart Creek in the townships bearing these names, the first being a translation from its Dakota name, Chetamba, which is now given to a creek flowing into it from Ericson and Wang; Middle Creek in Flora; Beaver Creek, with West and East Forks, translated from the Dakota, as noted for Beaver Falls Township; Birch Cooley or Creek, also from the Dakota and before noticed for the township named from it; and Three Mile Creek in Camp, so named for its distance northwest from Fort Ridgely. Farther east, in Cairo, are Fort Creek and Mud or Little Rock Creek, flowing into Nicollet County and there tributary to the Minnesota River respectively near Fort Ridgely and near the site of a former trading post called Little Rock, adjoining an extensive rock outcrop in the Minnesota valley. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Sacred Heart County: Renville State: MN Zipcode: 56285 Longitude: -95.158799 Latitude: 45.0308 LatLong: 45.0308,-95.158799 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Sacred+Heart,+Renville,+MN&hl=en&sll=45.0308,-95.158799&sspn=0.90647,1.422729&oq=sacred+,+renville,+MN&hnear=Sacred+Heart,+Renville,+Minnesota&t=m&z=14 Description: Sacred Heart is in Renville County SACRED HEART Township, organized April 6, 1869, was settled mostly by Lutherans, so that the adoption of a name apparently Roman Catholic in origin seems surprising. It was derived, however, from the name given by the Dakota to an early trader, Charles Patterson, who about 1783 established a trading post at the rapids of the Minnesota River in the present section 29, Flora, later called Patterson's Rapids. He wore a bearskin hat, whence, "the bear being a sacred animal to the Indians, they called him the 'Sacred Hat' man, which gradually became Sacred Heart" (History of the Minnesota Valley, p. 817). The name so applied to the trader was afterward used by the Dakota for the site of his trading post and thence it was given, in this accepted translation, to the adjacent township. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Mazaska County: Rice State: MN Zipcode: 55021 Longitude: -93.34877 Latitude: 44.259708 LatLong: 44.259708,-93.34877 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Mazaska+Lake,+Rice,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=44.259708,-93.34877&sspn=0.114827,0.177841&oq=Mazaska+Lake.+rice,+Minnesota&hnear=Mazaska+Lake&t=m&z=14 Description: Mazaska is in Rice County In the preceding list, we may additionally note that Cedar Lake has red cedars on its shores; Roberds Lake was named for William Roberds, a native of North Carolina, who settled beside it and built a sawmill; Mazaska, meaning "white iron," is the Dakota word for silver; Circle Lake encircles a large island, containing 97 acres; and in Union Lake the two headstreams of Heath Creek are united. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Kanaranzi County: Rock State: MN Zipcode: 56146 Longitude: -95.991914 Latitude: 43.816434 LatLong: 43.816434,-95.991914 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Kanaranzi,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=43.816434,-95.991914&sspn=0.115689,0.177841&hnear=Kanaranzi,+Rock,+Minnesota&t=m&z=14 Description: Kanaranzi is in Rock County KANARANZI Township, organized January 15, 1873, bears the name of its creek, which is spelled Karanzi on Nicollet's map, a Dakota word, translated as meaning "where the Kansas were killed." The community of this name in section 3 was platted in August 1885; its post office was established in 1886, with Glenn T. Bandy as postmaster on his farm. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Rock County: Rock State: MN Zipcode: 56156 Longitude: -96.094469 Latitude: 43.575802 LatLong: 43.575802,-96.094469 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=rock,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=43.575802,-96.094469&sspn=0.029039,0.04446&hnear=Rock,+Minnesota&t=m&z=10 Description: Rock County This county was established May 23, 1857, and was organized by a legislative act March 5, 1870. Its name and also that of the Rock River refer to the prominent rock outcrop (called "The Rock" on Joseph N. Nicollet's map in 1843) of reddish gray quartzite, forming a plateau of gradual ascent from the west and north, but terminated precipitously on the east and south, which occupies an area of three or four square miles, situated about three miles north of Luverne, on the west side of the Rock River, above which it has a height of about 175 feet. In this generally prairie region, "the Mound," as this plateau is now called, commands an extensive prospect. The name is translated from the Dakota "Inyan Reakah or River of the Rock," as it was mapped by Nicollet. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Sand Creek County: Scott State: MN Zipcode: 55352 Longitude: -94.718895 Latitude: 44.287193 LatLong: 44.287193,-94.718895 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Sand+Creek,+Scott,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=44.287193,-94.718895&sspn=0.007173,0.011115&oq=sand+cree,+scott,+Minnesota&hnear=Sand+Creek,+Scott,+Minnesota&t=m&z=12 Description: Sand Creek is in Scott County SAND CREEK Township was first named Douglass at its organization, May 11, 1858, but in September it was changed to St. Mary and in December to Jordan. The present name was adopted at the annual town meeting, April 5, 1859, being taken from the stream that flows through this township and supplies water power at Jordan. It was mapped by Nicollet as "Batture aux fieves," meaning "shallow, with fevers." Next on the map of Minnesota dated January 1, 1860, it is called Fever River and also has a Dakota name, Chankiyata River, of undetermined meaning, while a settlement near the site of Jordan is named Sand Creek. Numerous outcrops of soft white sandstone occur there, whence the stream and township were named. See also JORDAN. The eastern part of a high terrace of the Minnesota valley drift, adjoining the Sand Creek at Jordan, was named Spirit Hill by the Dakota, who frequently held councils and dances there. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Shakopee County: Scott State: MN Zipcode: 55372 Longitude: -94.023568 Latitude: 45.731138 LatLong: 45.731138,-94.023568 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Shakopee+Post+Office,+Shakopee,+MN&hl=en&sll=45.731138,-94.023568&sspn=3.285857,8.223267&oq=Shakopee+Post+Office+,+Shak+MN&hq=Shakopee+Post+Office,+Shakopee,+MN&radius=15000&t=m&z=12 Description: Shakopee is in Scott County SHAKOPEE, a city in Jackson and Eagle Creek Townships, the county seat, was founded by Thomas A. Holmes in 1851 as a trading post, to which he gave this name of the leader of a Dakota band living here. The village, platted in 1854, was incorporated as a city May 23, 1857, but surrendered its charter in 1861, returning to township government. It was incorporated as a village on March 1, 1866. It again received a city charter March 3, 1870, and the former township of Shakopee, excepting the city area, was renamed Jackson, as before noted, January 17, 1871. Holmes, born in Pennsylvania in 1804, is considered the "father" of Shakopee; he served in the 1849 territorial legislature and was influential in the community; he moved to Cullman, Ala., in 1878, where he died in 1888. The post office began in 1853 and was spelled Shah-k'pay until changed to the present spelling in 1857; Holmes was the first postmaster. The village had a station of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul and Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railroads. Shakopee (or Shakpay, as it was commonly pronounced), meaning Six, was the hereditary name, like Wabasha, of successive leaders, in lineal descent from father to son. The first of whom we have definite knowledge is the Shakopee who was killed when running the gauntlet at Fort Snelling in June 1827, as related by Charlotte O. Van Cleve (Three Score Years and Ten, 1888, pp. 74-79). The second, who is commemorated by the name of this city, characterized by Samuel W. Pond, Jr., as "a man of marked ability in council and one of the ablest and most effective orators in the whole Dakota Nation," died in 1860. His son, who had been called Shakpedan (Little Six), born on the site of the city in 1811, became at his father's death the leader of the band, numbering at that time about 400. He was hanged at Fort Snelling, November 11, 1865, for his actions in the Dakota War of 1862. Hear Shakopee pronounced in Dakota.From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: High Island County: Sibley State: MN Zipcode: 56044 Longitude: -94.171854 Latitude: 44.493025 LatLong: 44.493025,-94.171854 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=High+Island+Lake,+New+Auburn,+Sibley,+MN&hl=en&sll=44.493025,-94.171854&sspn=0.11437,0.177841&oq=High+Island+La,+Sibley,+MN&hnear=High+Island+Lake&t=m&z=13 Description: High Island is in Sibley County High Island Lake, the largest in the county, has a small but high island of glacial drift in its northern part, rising 20 or 30 feet above the lake. The same name is given likewise to the outflowing High Island Creek, being partly a translation of the Dakota name, recorded by Nicollet as Witakantu, meaning Plum Island (Wita, "island," kantu, "plum trees"). From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Rush River County: Sibley State: MN Zipcode: 55307 Longitude: -94.210272 Latitude: 44.667765 LatLong: 44.667765,-94.210272 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Middle+Branch+Rush+River,+Sibley,+Minnesota+55334&hl=en&sll=44.667765,-94.210272&sspn=0.057013,0.088921&oq=rush+rive,+Sibley,+MN&geocode=FWbwpgIdbnti-g&hnear=Middle+Branch+Rush+River&t=m&z=14 Description: Rush River is in Sibley County Nicollet also noted the Dakota name Wanyecha Oju River, and its translation, Rush River, which, with its North and South Branches, drains the southern part of the county. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Owatonna County: Steele State: MN Zipcode: 55060 Longitude: -93.468749 Latitude: 44.921184 LatLong: 44.921184,-93.468749 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Owatonna,+MN&hl=en&sll=44.921184,-93.468749&sspn=0.227055,0.558929&oq=owat+MN&hnear=Owatonna,+Steele,+Minnesota&t=m&z=12 Description: Owatonna is in Steele County OWATONNA, the county seat, earliest settled in 1854 and platted in September 1855, was incorporated as a town August 9, 1858, and as a city February 23, 1865. Its post office was established in 1855. The townsite is on land originally owned by A. B. Cornell, W. F. Pettit, and John Abbott, with 120 acres platted into 21 blocks and a public square; it had a station of the Chicago and North Western Railway. The township was organized, with its present area, February 27, 1857. This was the Dakota name of the Straight River, which is its translation. The river was mapped, but not named, on the map of Minnesota Territory in 1855; on the early state maps, in 1860 and 1869, it is called Owatonna River, but in 1870 it is named Straight River. Hear it pronounced in Dakota. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Chokio County: Stevens State: MN Zipcode: 56221 Longitude: -93.237711 Latitude: 44.093018 LatLong: 44.093018,-93.237711 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=chokio,+MN&hl=en&sll=44.093018,-93.237711&sspn=0.115152,0.279465&hnear=Chokio,+Stevens,+Minnesota&t=m&z=14 Description: Chokio is in Stevens County CHOKIO (accented on the second syllable, like Ohio) is a city in sections 3 and 10 of Baker. This name is a Dakota word, meaning "the middle." The city was incorporated as a village on August 11, 1898. The post office was called Chokago, 1878-79, and Cho-ki-o, 1879-81, and was reestablished as Chokio in 1891; the early site had a creamery, a cheese factory, and a station of the Great Northern Railway. Hear Chokio pronounced. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Kandota County: Todd State: MN Zipcode: 56378 Longitude: -95.351678 Latitude: 44.786903 LatLong: 44.786903,-95.351678 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=kandota,+MN&hl=en&sll=44.786903,-95.351678&sspn=0.028448,0.04446&hnear=Kandota,+Todd,+Minnesota&t=m&z=11 Description: Kandota is in Todd County KANDOTA Township, organized in April 1870, took the name of a proposed townsite platted here in 1856, on the shore of Fairy Lake, by Edwin Whitefield, an artist from Massachusetts. This name, derived by him from the Dakota language, is said to mean "Here we rest." The townsite, the first platted in the county, was incorporated as a village on February 27, 1878, and had a station of the Great Northern Railway but did not develop as planned. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Lake Valley County: Traverse State: MN Zipcode: 56296 Longitude: -96.559353 Latitude: 45.535578 LatLong: 45.535578,-96.559353 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=lake+valley+MN&hl=en&sll=45.535578,-96.559353&sspn=0.112306,0.177841&hnear=Lake+Valley,+Traverse,+Minnesota&t=m&z=10 Description: Lake Valley is in Traverse County LAKE VALLEY Township, organized in 1881, is named for the northern part of Lake Traverse bordering its west side. This part of the lake, northward from its marshy tract at the mouth of Mustinka River, is called Buffalo Lake on the map of Long's expedition, and Joseph N. Nicollet's map called it Intpah Lake, a Dakota name meaning "the end." It has an extent of eight or ten miles from south to north, being at the ordinary stage of low water an area of marsh one to two miles wide, in which are several spaces of open water a mile or two in length. The lake later became a reservoir and was named Mud Lake. The township was divided into LAKE VALLEY EAST Township, T. 127N, R. 46W; and LAKE VALLEY WEST Township, T. 127N, R. 47W. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Tintah County: Traverse State: MN Zipcode: 56583 Longitude: -95.905151 Latitude: 45.821143 LatLong: 45.821143,-95.905151 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Tintah,+MN&hl=en&sll=45.821143,-95.905151&sspn=1.787707,2.845459&oq=tinta+MN&hnear=Tintah,+Traverse,+Minnesota&t=m&z=14 Description: Tintah is in Traverse County TINTAH Township, organized in 1881, received its name from the Dakota, this being their common word meaning "a prairie." The city in sections 3 and 10 was incorporated as a village on May 2, 1889, and separated from the township on April 27, 1906. The Great Northern Railway built a station in section 3 in 1872. The village was organized in 1881 and platted on March 1, 1887. Charles Smith became postmaster when the post office opened in 1880. Hennepin wrote of the Dakota as "the Nation of the prairies, who are called Tintonha," a name derived from tintah. Later it has been written Tintonwans, Titonwans, or Tetons, comprising many Siouan bands ranging over southern and western Minnesota and onward to the vast country of plains west of the Missouri. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Minneiska County: Wabasha State: MN Zipcode: 55910 Longitude: -93.221397 Latitude: 44.984713 LatLong: 44.984713,-93.221397 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Minneiska,+MN&hl=en&sll=44.984713,-93.221397&sspn=0.113402,0.112953&oq=minneiska&hnear=Minneiska,+Wabasha,+Minnesota&t=m&z=13 Description: Minneiska is in Wabasha County MINNEISKA Township, settled in 1851, organized April 5, 1859, and its city with Winona County, located in sections 33-35, platted in 1854, are named from the Whitewater River, which is a translation of its Dakota name (Minne or Mini, "water"; ska, "white"). The city was incorporated on March 4, 1857, reincorporated on April 7, 1921, and separated from the township on May 9, 1921. The post office operated January-April 1856, when it was changed to Mount Vernon in Winona County, returning to Minneiska in September. Hear it pronounced in Dakota. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Wabasha County: Wabasha State: MN Zipcode: 55981 Longitude: -91.973419 Latitude: 44.370987 LatLong: 44.370987,-91.973419 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Wabasha,+MN&hl=en&ll=44.370987,-91.973419&spn=0.229218,0.355682&sll=43.841461,-91.974792&sspn=0.23128,0.225906&oq=wabasha&hnear=Wabasha,+Minnesota&t=m&z=11 Description: Wabasha County and City This county, established October 27, 1849, commemorates a line of Dakota leaders, whose history is told by Hon. Charles C. Willson in the MHS Collections (vol. 12: 503-12 [1908]). Wapashaw (variously spelled) was the name, in three successive generations, of the hereditary leaders having greatest influence among the Mississippi bands of the Dakota. Thomas L. McKenney and James Hall, in the first volume of their History of the Indian Tribes of North America (1836), gave a portrait of the second man bearing this name, who wore a covering over his left eye. The third Wapashaw's band occupied the country below Lake Pepin, his principal village being on the Rollingstone Creek, near the site of Minnesota City. A beautiful prairie in the Mississippi valley three to five miles southeast of this village, commonly called Wapashaw's Prairie 60 to 80 years ago, became the site of the city of Winona. The town (now a city) of Wabasha, which was named in 1843 for the last of these three leaders, is situated at a distance of 30 miles up the Mississippi from his village. It was at first called Cratte's Landing, for the earliest white man to build his home there, in 1838. From this town the county containing it, which was later established, received its name. The more remote origin of the name, which means "red leaf," and thence "red hat or cap," and "red battle-standard," as applied to the first man named Wapashaw, was on the occasion of his return, as tradition relates, from a visit to Quebec, at some time after the cession of Canada to Great Britain in 1763. He had received from the English governor presents of a soldier's uniform, with its red cap, and an English flag, which, being displayed triumphantly on his arrival among his own people, led to their hailing him as Wapashaw (History of Winona County, 1883, p. 31). This name is widely different, as to its origin and meaning, from the Wabash River, which is said to signify in its original Algonquian, "a cloud blown forward by an equinoctial wind." In pronunciation, Wabasha should have the vowel of its accented first syllable (formerly spelled Waa and Wah) sounded like the familiar word ah; and its final a, like awe. There is, however, a tendency or a prevalence of usage departing from the aboriginal pronunciation for each of the four names of Wabasha, Wadena, Waseca, and Watonwan, by giving to the first a its broad sound as in awe or fall. Hear it pronounced in Dakota. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Watopa County: Wabasha State: MN Zipcode: 55945 Longitude: -92.011786 Latitude: 44.312242 LatLong: 44.312242,-92.011786 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Watopa,+Wabasha,+MN&hl=en&sll=44.312242,-92.011786&sspn=0.028681,0.04446&oq=watop,+wabasha,+MN&hnear=Watopa,+Wabasha,+Minnesota&t=m&z=12 Description: Watopa is in Wabasha County WATOPA Township, settled in 1855 and organized May 11, 1858, has a Dakota name, being a verb, "to paddle a canoe." A post office named Wautopa was located in the township, 1858-60, and was reestablished as Watopa, 1867-71. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Okaman County: Waseca State: MN Zipcode: 56096 Longitude: -93.600082 Latitude: 44.267821 LatLong: 44.267821,-93.600082 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=okaman,+waseca,+Minnesota&hl=en&ll=44.267821,-93.600082&spn=0.229621,0.355682&sll=44.282649,-93.909178&sspn=0.028696,0.04446&hq=okaman,&hnear=Waseca,+Minnesota&t=m&z=11&iwloc=B Description: Okaman is in Waseca County OKAMAN, a former village on the northeast shore of Lake Elysian, in section 1, Janesville, platted in May 1857, extended also north into the edge of Le Sueur County. This Dakota name has nearly the same meaning as Okabena in Jackson and Nobles Counties, each being from hokah, "a heron," having reference to these localities as nesting places of herons. A post office with the same name, transferred from Elysium, Le Sueur County, was in section 1 of Janesville, 1858-75. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Waseca County: Waseca State: MN Zipcode: 56093 Longitude: -93.600082 Latitude: 44.267821 LatLong: 44.267821,-93.600082 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Waseca,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=44.267821,-93.600082&sspn=0.229621,0.355682&oq=+waseca,+Minnesota&hnear=Waseca,+Minnesota&t=m&z=13 Description: Waseca is in Waseca County This county was established February 27, 1857. Its name is a Dakota word, which has been explained by Prof. A. W. Williamson as follows: "Waseca (wasecha),--rich, especially in provisions. I was informed in 1855 by a gentleman who was a stranger to me, who professed to be one of the first settlers, that this name was given in response to inquiries as to the Indian word for fertile, and adopted as a name. In Dakota writing and books the word waseca is spelled as we spell the name, and is a word likely to be given in answer to such a question. The soil is also very fertile." The name was first applied to the earliest farming settlement in 1855, near the present city of this name. The dictionary of the Dakota language, by Rev. S. R. Riggs, published in 1852, shows that this word was pronounced as if written washecha. It has the same accent and vowel sounds as Wadena. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Mahtomedi County: Washington State: MN Zipcode: 55115 Longitude: -92.840881 Latitude: 44.741 LatLong: 44.741,-92.840881 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Mahtomedi,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=44.741,-92.840881&sspn=0.007118,0.011115&oq=mahtom,+Minnesota&hnear=Mahtomedi,+Washington,+Minnesota&t=m&z=12 Description: Mahtomedi is in Washington County MAHTOMEDI, a city in section 20 of Grant Township, on the northeast shore of White Bear Lake, was platted in July 1883, by the Mahtomedi Assembly of the Chautauqua Association. This is "the Dakota name of White Bear lake" (from mato, the "white or polar bear," or matohota, the "grizzly bear," with mde, "a lake"). It was incorporated as a village August 14, 1931; its post office operated in 1884 and 1888-89, became Grant 1889-1904, was again named Mahtomedi in 1904, and was discontinued in 1954; it had a station of the Northern Pacific Railroad. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Medicine Wood County: Washington State: MN Zipcode: 55071 Longitude: -93.072806 Latitude: 45.102928 LatLong: 45.102928,-93.072806 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Grey+Cloud+Island,+Washington,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=45.102928,-93.072806&sspn=0.905332,1.422729&oq=grey+cloud+isla,+washington,+Minnesota&hnear=Grey+Cloud+Island,+Washington,+Minnesota&t=m&z=13 Description: Medicine Wood is in Washington County Medicine Wood, a translation from the Dakota, was a camping place on or near the western end of Grey Cloud Island, occupied for a night by Col. Henry Leavenworth, Thomas Forsyth, and the first troops coming in 1819 for building the fort later named Fort Snelling. Forsyth wrote of it in his journal: "Medicine Wood takes its name from a large beech tree, which kind of wood the Sioux are not acquainted with, and supposing that the Great Spirit has placed it there as a genii to protect or punish them according to their merits or demerits" (MHS Collections 3: 153, 156). From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Watonwan County: Watonwan State: MN Zipcode: 56081 Longitude: -94.418209 Latitude: 44.219498 LatLong: 44.219498,-94.418209 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Watonwan,+MN&hl=en&sll=44.219498,-94.418209&sspn=0.22981,0.355682&oq=watonwa,+MN&hnear=Watonwan,+Minnesota&t=m&z=9 Description: Watonwan is in Watonwan County This county, established February 25, 1860, was named from the Watonwan River, whose headstreams flow through it. Prof. A. W. Williamson, in his paper on our Dakota geographic names, wrote: "This word might mean 'I see,' or 'he sees,' intransitive; it may have been applied to this branch of the Blue Earth as being a prairie country and presenting a good prospect, but it is uncertain whether this is the meaning on which the appellation was given." Rev. M. N. Adams later stated the significance of this name without doubt, that in being anglicized it was misspelled, and that it should be Watanwan, meaning "fish bait," or "where fish bait abounds," as he had been informed by the Dakota. Our earliest knowledge of the Watonwan River is supplied by Joseph N. Nicollet's report and map, published in 1843. Its accent is on the first syllable; and the first a has its sound as in father, the last as in fall. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Rollingstone County: Winona State: MN Zipcode: 55969 Longitude: -96.583557 Latitude: 47.152369 LatLong: 47.152369,-96.583557 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Rollingstone,+MN&hl=en&sll=47.152369,-96.583557&sspn=0.872256,1.422729&oq=rollingstoneMN&hnear=Rollingstone,+Winona,+Minnesota&t=m&z=14 Description: Rollingstone is in Winona County ROLLINGSTONE Township, organized May 1858, and its city, located on a plateau between two branches of the Rollingstone River, are named from the river or creek. Its Dakota name is "Eyan-omen-man-met-pah, the literal translation of which is 'the stream where the stone rolls'" (History of Winona County, 1883, p. 144). The journal of Maj. Thomas Forsyth, with Col. Henry Leavenworth and the troops who came in 1819 for building the fort that in 1825 was named Fort Snelling, called this stream "the Tumbling Rock." From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Whitewater County: Winona State: MN Zipcode: 55910 Longitude: -91.816821 Latitude: 44.097741 LatLong: 44.097741,-91.816821 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Whitewater,+MN&hl=en&sll=44.097741,-91.816821&sspn=0.028786,0.04446&oq=whitewater,+MN&hnear=Whitewater,+Winona,+Minnesota&t=m&z=12 Description: Whitewater is in Winona County WHITEWATER Township bears the name of the river flowing through it northward to the Mississippi, derived in translation from two Dakota words, mini, "water," ska, "white." In Wabasha County this stream has a township and village named Minneiska. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Winona County: Winona State: MN Zipcode: 55987 Longitude: -91.973419 Latitude: 44.370987 LatLong: 44.370987,-91.973419 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Winona,+MN&hl=en&sll=44.370987,-91.973419&sspn=0.229218,0.355682&hnear=Winona,+Minnesota&t=m&z=11 Description: Winona is in Winona County Established February 23, 1854, this county was named for a Dakota woman, Winona, cousin of the last chief named Wabasha, both of whom were prominent in the events attending the removal in 1848 of the Winnebago Indians from Iowa to Wabasha's Prairie (the site of the city of Winona) and thence to Long Prairie in Todd County. This name belonged, said Prof. A. W. Williamson, in any Dakota family, to the "first born, if a daughter, diminutive of wino, woman"; and similarly the name of the "first born child, if a son," was Chaska. In pronunciation, Winona is accented on the middle syllable, and the first and last syllables have the short vowel sounds. The first, however, is often incorrectly given the long sound, as in wine; it should be short, as in win, or may be quite rightly given the sound of long e, as we. Hear it pronounced in Dakota. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Cokato County: Wright State: MN Zipcode: 55321 Longitude: -92.007732 Latitude: 44.135455 LatLong: 44.135455,-92.007732 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=cokato,+MN&hl=en&sll=44.135455,-92.007732&sspn=0.115069,0.177841&hnear=Cokato,+Wright,+Minnesota&t=m&z=14 Description: Cokato is in Wright County COKATO Township, settled in the early spring of 1856, included Middleville Township and was called Middleville when it was first organized; it was reorganized in 1856 with Stockholm Township and called Mooers Prairie Township; it became a separate township in July 1868. The Dakota name Cokato, adopted in 1868, which had been previously borne by the largest lake of the township, signifies "at the middle." Hear it pronounced in Dakota. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |
Place: Yellow Medicine County: Yellow Medicine State: MN Zipcode: 56241 Longitude: -95.957337 Latitude: 46.073284 LatLong: 46.073284,-95.957337 Google Link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Yellow+Medicine,+Minnesota&hl=en&sll=46.073284,-95.957337&sspn=0.111228,0.177841&oq=Yellow,+Minnesota&hnear=Yellow+Medicine,+Minnesota&t=m&z=9 Description: Yellow Medicine County This county, established March 6, 1871, is crossed by the Yellow Medicine River, whence the name is derived. It is a translation of the Dakota name, which Prof. A. W. Williamson spelled and defined thus: "Pajutazee (Pezhihutazi, abbreviated from Pezhihutazizi kapi),--peji, generic name, including grasses and all other erect plants without wood stems; huta, root; zi, yellow; kapi, they dig; diggings of yellow plant root, or yellow medicine diggings; the Dakota name of the Yellow Medicine river, written by Nicollet Pejuta zizi. The name as first spelled was given by Dr. T. S. Williamson to his station, and is found in this form on a number of maps." From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print. |