A History of the Origin of the Place Names Connected with the Chicago & North Western and., Part 1

Author: William H. Stennett
Publication date: 1908
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 211


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E 155 582


A HISTORY


A 836,157


OF THE


ORIGIN OF THE PLACE NAMES


10 10 CONNECTED WITH


The Chicago & North Western AND The Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railways


INCLUDING


STATES, COUNTIES, TOWNS, VILLAGES AND STATIONS


CHICAGO 1908


1837


ARTES


SCIENTIA


VERITAS


LIBRARY OF THE


UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN


TUEBOR


OS PERINSULAM 4


CIRCUMSPICE


THE GIFT OF Chicago & no. Western Railroad Company


155 ,582


:


.


A HISTORY


OF THE .


Origin of the Place Names


CONNECTED WITH


THE CHICAGO & NORTH WESTERN AND CHICAGO, ST. PAUL, MINNEAPOLIS & OMAHA RAILWAYS By William H. Stennett


"Local names-whether they belong to provinces, cities and villages or are the designation of rivers and mountains-are never mere arbitrary sounds devoid of meaning. They may almost always be regarded as records of the past, inviting and rewarding a careful historical interpretation." Isaac Taylor in "Words and Places."


COMPILED BY ONE WHO FOR MORE THAN 34 YEARS HAS BEEN AN OFFICER IN THE EMPLOY OF THE SYSTEM.


CHICAGO 1908


:


CONTENTS


Page


Introduction


History, in alphabetical order, of the names of the states the North Western traverses - 7-9


I


History, in alphabetical order, of the names of the counties the North Western passes through - - II-33


History, in alphabetical order. of the places (cities, towns, villages and stations) the North Western passes through - 35-142


The list, in alphabetical order, of the old and abandoned


names of the places the North Western traverses -


- 143-150


History, in alphabetical order, of the names of the states the Omaha road traverses - -


- - 157-158


History, in alphabetical order, of the names of the counties the Omaha road passes through - - 159-165 L History, in alphabetical order, of the names of the places (cities, towns, villages and stations) the Omaha road passes through - - 166-198 1


-The list, in alphabetical order, of the old and abandoned names of the places the Omaha road passes through - 199-201


INTRODUCTION


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS


The primary purpose of this volume is to supply authentic information as to the origin and derivation of the names of the towns, cities and villages which are located on the Chicago and North Western and the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railways. In those instances where said names have some special meaning or significance, such meaning or significance is noted.


While it was not in the plan of the work to furnish a history of the various places referred to, it has nevertheless often happened that the meaning or deriva- tion of a name could only be made clear by introducing more or less information of an historic character. In such instances, the historic statement has been used.


In compiling the work, voluminous correspondence has been had with state, county, city and town officials, for the purpose of gaining authentic information, and of eliminating local, fanciful and unreliable legends. Local legends are gen- erally the offspring of the imagination, or of personal vanity, and where reliable data is the end which is sought, are worthless. As far as possible these imagi- native and local legends and "travelers' stories" have been eliminated and established facts alone have been accepted. While it is true that the investigations of the writer have shattered many pretty romances, it is not unlikely that others have escaped his notice and may yet be handed down as history.


In some cases positive evidence concerning names and their origin, has already been lost, and in such cases, the best possible information attainable has been used.


Leger, in his "Wisconsin Place Names" says: "As a rule, (which, however, has notable exceptions), it will be found that the streams and lakes and moun- tains preserve the names given them by the Red Men, or their equivalent in European tongues: many of the cities and villages bear names transplanted from European soil. Thus may be found scattered over this continent in juxtaposition to names of undoubted Indian origin, a nomenclature whereby the immigrant exiles sought to preserve in the wilderness, the associations endeared to them in youth."


Many of the recently adopted names were selected for their brevity, or to avoid the objections of the United States General Postoffice Department. Many of the names were manufactured expressly for the place and have neither sense nor fitness, but as they have been registered in county records, they necessarily appear here.


To secure the true history of the origin of many of the names has cost immense labor. As an illustration, attention is called to the name Marinesco. To get the facts about that name the Compiler was obliged to write more than one hundred letters!


The oldest as well as the most modern records of cities, towns and villages have been ransacked. The journals and other papers preserved at the state cap- itols and at county seats; the records of state historical societies, and local and state histories, have been searched and their stories freely used. Henry Gannett's admirable "Origin of Certain Place Names," has given a great and valuable fund of reliable information. This has been freely used without ac- knowledgment, but which is now tendered to the fullest extent.


Indian records, the "Jesuit Relations" and the like, have been freely used and relied upon, as they are generally reliable.


2


HISTORY OF THE PLACE NAMES OF THE NORTH WESTERN LINE


During the thirty-five consecutive years of the administration of Mr. Marvin Hughitt, now President of the Chicago and North Western Railway, the mileage of the road has increased nearly four-fold, and the railway stations are nearly three times as great as at the beginning of his service. Literally, hundreds of these miles of railroad were built through virgin territory and far beyond the picket line of the white man's settlements. Mr. Hughitt thus created the necessity for new stations and either suggested or approved their names. His personality is, therefore, in one way or another interwoven with the origin and development of hundreds of western towns, and to him, more than to any other one person or agency, is to be attributed the fact that these towns were called into existence.


The writer of this history has been much more editor than author and much more collator and compiler, than either. He has not aimed to originate anything, but merely to record and preserve that which, after almost infinite care in the pro- cesses of culling, selecting and sifting of material received from countless sources, seemed to be worthy of permanent preservation. His effort has been to hold fast to the grain and to discard the chaff.


The Compiler is especially indebted to Mr. P. E. Hall of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for many facts as to the place names in Iowa and Nebraska; to Mr. Doane Robinson, the accomplished secretary of the State Historical Society of South Dakota; to G. F. West and Lewis S. Reid of Omaha, Nebraska; to General H. H. Beadle of Madison, South Dakota; to ex-Governor W. H. Upham of Wis- consin; to Hon. E. W. Keyes of Madison, Wisconsin; to Mr. Peter White of Marquette, Michigan; to ex-United States Senator Alger of Michigan; to Sen- ator John Gavney of Wisconsin; to Hon. Warren Upham, secretary of the Minnesota State Historical Society; to Mr. R. G. Thwaites of the State Histori- cal Society of Wisconsin; to Mr. A. C. Johnson of Winona, Minnesota; to Gen- eral J. W. Bishop, to Messrs. L. A. Robinson, T. W. Teasdale, and Capt. E. E. Woodman of St. Paul, Minnesota, and to almost countless correspondents, for the facts they had to give and who gave freely. To all of these most cordial thanks are due and are here tendered.


The following together with many other works were carefully examined, and much valuable information was secured therefrom:


.


"Indian Local Names and Their Interpretations," by S. G. Boyd. "In- dian Linguistic Families of America," by J. W. Powell. "Aboriginal Races of North America, " by S. G. Drake. "The Menominee Indians," by W. J. Hoffman. "Vocabularies of Tribes of the North West," by W. H. Dall. "Da- kota-English Dictionary," by S. R. Riggs. "Reports of the Bureau of Ameri- can Ethnology," by J. W. Powell. "Indian Dictionary," by Bishop Fredrich Baraga. "Reports of the Exploring Expeditions of John C. Fremont." "His- tory of the Expedition Under Lewis and Clark." "The Narrative of an Expe- dition to the Sources of the St. Peter's River, etc., Under the Command of Stephen H. Long." "The Story of the Expeditions of Grosielliers and Radis- son, " by H. C. Campbell. "Father Marquette, Joliet and Other Early Mis- sionaries, Travelers and Traders." "The American Indian," by E. M. Haines. "Barrett and Johnson's Histories of Nebraska." "The Transactions of the Wisconsin Academy of Science." "Leger's Wisconsin Place Names." Mrs. Kinzie's "Wauban." G. W. Butterfield's "Stephen Brule's Discoveries and Explorations," and the many volumes of "Early Western Travels" edited by R. G. Thwaites. All of these have furnished many curious and accurate facts that have been freely appropriated.


THE COMPILER.


Illinois, December 31, 1907.


AS TO THE Chicago & North Western Railway.


.


CHICAGO & NORTH WESTERN RAILWAY COMPANY


DIRECTORS


MARVIN HUGHITT


CHICAGO


BYRON L. SMITH


CHICAGO


FRANK WORK


NEW YORK


CYRUS H. McCORMICK


CHICAGO


JAMES STILLMAN


NEW YORK


CHAUNCEY KEEP - CHICAGO


OLIVER AMES


BOSTON


CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW


NEW YORK


ZENAS CRANE


DALTON, MASS.


SAMUEL F. BARGER


NEW YORK


W. K. VANDERBILT


NEW YORK


JAMES C. FARGO


NEW YORK


F. W. VANDERBILT


- NEW YORK


HENRY C. FRICK


PITTSBURGH, PA.


H. McK. TWOMBLY


NEW YORK


DAVID P. KIMBALL


BOSTON


E. E. OSBORN


NEW YORK


EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE


MARVIN HUGHITT CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW SAMUEL F. BARGER HENRY C. FRICK


H. McK. TWOMBLY


DAVID P. KIMBALL


W. K. VANDERBILT


JAMES C. FARGO


GENERAL OFFICERS


MARVIN HUGHITT -


President


CHICAGO


EUGENE E. OSBORN


Vice-President and Secretary


NEW YORK


HIRAM R. MCCULLOUGH


Vice-President


CHICAGO


WILLIAM A. GARDNER M. M. KIRKMAN


Vice-President


CHICAGO


JOHN M. WHITMAN -


Vice-President


CHICAGO


R. H. WILLIAMS - M. B. VAN ZANDT


Assistant Treasurer and Assistant Secretary


NEW YORK


J. B. REDFIELD -


Auditor and Assistant Secretary


CHICAGO


LLOYD W. BOWERS


General Counsel


CHICAGO


W. H. STENNETT


Auditor of Expenditures


CHICAGO


RICHARD H. AISHTON


General Manager


CHICAGO


FRANK WALTERS


General Manager


OMAHA


WILLIAM D. CANTILLON


Assistant General Manager


CHICAGO


MARVIN HUGHITT, JR.


Freight Traffic Manager


CHICAGO


EDMUND D. BRIGHAM


General Freight Agent


CHICAGO


WARREN B. KNISKERN


Passenger Traffic Manager


CHICAGO


CHARLES A. CAIRNS


General Passenger and Ticket Agent


CHICAGO


WILLIAM E. MORSE


General Superintendent -


CHICAGO


STANLEY M. BRADEN


General.Superintendent


NORFOLK, NEB.


EDWARD C. CARTER


Chief Engineer


CHICAGO


LESTER S. CARROLL


Purchasing Agent


CHICAGO


JOSIAH F. CLEVELAND


Land Commissioner


CHICAGO


FRANK P. CRANDON


Tax Commissioner


CHICAGO


ROBERT QUAYLE


Superintendent of Motive Power and Machinery


CHICAGO


CHICAGOJOFFICE NEW YORK OFFICE


215 JACKSON BOULEVARD


III BROADWAY


.December 31, 1907


Vice-President


CHICAGO


Treasurer and Assistant Secretary


NEW YORK


6


HISTORY OF THE PLACE NAMES OF THE NORTH WESTERN LINE


MILES OF RAILROAD


The total number of miles of railroad owned June 30, 1907, was 7,407,71 miles. In addition to which the company operated: UNDER LEASE-


Manitowoc, Green Bay & North Western Railway, viz:


Manitowoc to Eland Jet., Wis .. . 106.30 miles


Pulaski to Gillett, Wis. 16.90


123.20 miles


St. Paul, Eastern Grand Trunk Railway (Clintonville to Oconto, Wis., and branches)


60.02


DePue, Ladd & Eastern Railway (Ladd to Seatonville, Ill.)


3.25 "


186.47 "


UNDER TRACKAGE RIGHTS-


Peoria & Pekin Union Railway (in the city of Peoria, Ill.) .


2.02


Indiana, Illinois & Iowa Railroad (Churchill to


Ladd, Ill.).


2.80


Union Pacific Railroad (Broadway Station,


Council Bluffs, Iowa, to South Omaha, Neb.)


8.73


Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Rail-


way (Blair to Omaha, Neb.) 24.70


38.25


7,632.43


Deduct miles of railroad leased to proprietary railway ....


9.52


Total miles of railroad operated June 30, 1907


7,622.91


The above mileage is located as follows:


In Illinois


685.02 miles


In Wisconsin


1,969.79


In Michigan


519.88


In Iowa


1,577.60


In Minnesota


650.30


In South Dakota


974,32


In North Dakota


14.28


In Nebraska


1,101.26


In Wyoming


130.46


7,622.91


SUMMARY OF MILEAGE OF ALL TRACKS, JUNE 30, 1907


MAIN TRACKS


7,622.91


SECOND TRACKS


810.72


THIRD TRACKS


83.94


FOURTH TRACKS


77.91


SIDINGS


*2,763.22


Miles


Total Miles of all Tracks 11,358.70


*Includes 35.07 miles of spur tracks on Ashland Division that are leased to manufacturing companies.


AS TO THE


CHICAGO & NORTH WESTERN RAILWAY


THE STATES


THEIR NAMES AND ORIGIN


Illinois. Named from the Illini tribe of Indians who lived in the State as early as 1673. Father Jacques Marquette found them resident at that time and said they were the dominating tribe on both sides of the Illinois River. State Capital, Springfield. Named from Spring Creek, a small stream that runs into the Sangamon River. This capital city is on the Sangamon River. Sangamon is a corruption of an Indian word that means "good hunting ground." The early name assigned to the county was Sangamo. Why the change in name was made is not now known.


Iowa. The name is that of a tribe of Indians who inhabited this region when it was first visited by the whites. The word means "sleepy ones" or "drowsy ones." These Indians called themselves Pa-hu-cha, which may be translated "as of the dusty nose." By the Algonquin tribes they were called I-o-was, by other Indian tribes they were called Mas-cou-tin, and by the French they were called Prairie Nadoussis. Marquette called them Pa-hou-tet. Father Andre, a Jesuit priest, settled amongst them in 1675. The Iowa River was named from the Algonquin name of the Indian tribe and the State was named from the river.


State Capital, Des Moines. It is on the Des Moines River and was named from the river. The river name comes from the Indian word Mikonang, meaning "road." The French spoke the word as if it was spelled Moin- gona, and then shortened it to Moin, and called the river "La riviere des Moines."


Michigan. The name is an Indian word, said by some to mean "big lake." E. M. Haines, who was wise in Indian matters, said it meant "place for catching fish." Fathers Raymbault and Jorges, Jesuit priests, founded a mission for the Chippewa Indians in 1641 at what is now Sault Ste. Marie, but it was abandoned. Father Marquette restored the mission in 1668 and there founded the first permament settlement in Michigan.


State Capital, Lansing. Named for Abraham Lansing of Lansingburg, N. Y.


Minnesota. Minnesota is a Sioux Indian word meaning "muddy water," "cloudy water" or "sky-tinted water." Hennepin and LaSalle saw the Minnesota River in 1680, and LaHonton, LeSueur and Carver, later. In 1812 the United States first exercised authority in the territory. Fort Snelling was built in 1819 and named by the United States authorities for Colonel Josiah Snelling who built the fort. It was a protection for the early settlers, traders, etc., on the upper waters of the Mississippi and Minnesota (St. Peter) Rivers.


8


HISTORY OF THE PLACE NAMES OF THE NORTH WESTERN LINE


State Capital, St. Paul. The city was named in 1841 from the church of "St. Paul," a log church which was built here for Father M. Galtier, a Jesuit missionary.


Nebraska. Nebraska is a Sioux Indian word meaning "shallow water" or "broad water." It is supposed the word was applied to the Platte River by the Indians.


State Capital, Lincoln. This was named for Abraham Lincoln.


North Dakota. Dakota was the common name for the confederated Sioux tribes. The word they used varied, as sometimes they called themselves Lakota or Nakota, and again Dakota. The "North" was added to the word when the territory was divided. For a mention of the confederated tribes, see South Dakota in this work.


State Capital, Bismarck. Was named for Otto Von Bismarck, the great Chancellor of Germany.


South Dakota. Dakota was the common name for the confederated Sioux tribes. The name they used varied, as sometimes they called themselves Lakota or Nakota, and again Dakota. The word was formerly spelled Dah-ko-ta. The "South" was added when the territory was divided. The Dakotas were cut off from Minnesota in 1858 and had no real government until the territory was established by act of congress in the year 1861.


State Capital, Pierre. This was named from Fort Pierre, which was on the opposite bank of the Missouri River and was named in June 1832, for Pierre Choteau, Jr., of St. Louis, Missouri, who visited the trading post there at that time. The "Fort" belonged to the American Fur Trading Company. For a brief history of this Fort, see "Fort Pierre" in this work.


The Dakota confederation was made up of various Sioux tribes that are known as the confederated tribes. These tribes occupied or roamed over the country west of the Mississippi River. There were seven principal tribes in this so-called confederation, viz .:


First: The Mndewakantons, or People of Spirit Lake.


Second: The Wakpekutes, or Leaf Shooters.


Third: The Wahpetons, or People of the Leaves.


Fourth: The Sissetons, or People of the Swamp.


These four bands or tribes are called Santees or Isantees, or "people who use knives," or who lived on Knife Lake.


Fifth: The Yankton, or People of the East End.


Sixth: The Yanktonaise, or People near the End.


Seventh: The Tetons, or People of the Prairies.


These Tetons were divided into bands or sub-tribes as follows:


First: The Uncapapas, or People who camp by themselves.


Second: The Sihasapas, or Blackfeet.


Third: The Itasipelos, or People without bows and consequently called by the French San Arcs.


Fourth: The Minneconjous, or People who Plant by the Water.


Fifth: The Oglalas.


Sixth: The Sichanques or Burnt Thighs, or, as the French called them "the Brules" or "Brule Sioux."


Seventh: The Oohononpaas or Two Kettles. They were so named be- cause two kettles of meat once saved the band from starvation.


The name of the State came from the general name of this confederation.


9


HISTORY OF THE PLACE NAMES OF THE NORTH WESTERN LINE


Wisconsin. The name comes from a Sauk Indian word having reference to holes in the banks of a stream in which birds nest.


State Capital, Madison. Named for James Madison, president of the United States. It was made the state capital in 1838 and the first meeting of the legislature was held there in November of that year.


Elijah M. Haines in his North American Indians, says substantially as follows of the word Wisconsin: "The name was first given to the stream or river. The word was given by Marquette as Mesh-bou-sing and Mish- kou-sing. The letter 'm' afterwards was changed to 'w' and the letter 'u' changed to 'n,' making it "Wish-kin-sing. The word given by Mar- quette is supposed to mean 'strong current,' a feature that especially marks this stream in high water." The name of the stream was ultimately given to the territory and later to the State. The spelling of the word as Quisconsin, was merely a refining of a misunderstood French euphonism, and has no basis in correct (French) orthography. The first territorial government was established at Mineral Point in 1836. The first legislature met at Belmont in Iowa County, in October, 1836. The State was admitted into the Union on May 29, 1848.


Wyoming. This word is a corruption of the Delaware Indian word maughwau- wa-ma that means "large plains" or "extensive meadows." The word has had many spellings, such as Wauwaumie, Wiwaume, Wiomie, until it reached Wyoming. The name was first used by whites as the name for a valley in Pennsylvania where a portion of the Delaware tribe of Indians lived. Calwallader Colden in his history of the "Five Nations" spelled it Wyomen. In 1778 this valley was thickly settled and was ravaged by the British Colonel Butler and his Indian allies, when more than three hun- dred of the inhabitants were massacred. Thomas Campbell, the poet, wrote his "Gertrude of Wyoming" on this massacre, and that poem has done more than anything else to make this a popular name for places in the United States. Wyoming was organized as a territory by act of congress of July 28, 1868, portions being taken from Dakota, Idaho and Utah respect- ively. The first permanent settlement within the limits of the present State was made in 1867.


State Capital, Cheyenne. It was named for the Indian tribe who called themselves Dzitzistas. The word "Cheyenne" is a corruption of the In- dian word and was given to the Cheyenne Indians by the Dakota Sioux, who assert it means "aliens," or "foreigners."


AS TO THE


CHICAGO & NORTH WESTERN RAILWAY.


THE COUNTIES.


THEIR NAMES AND ORIGIN.


Adams County, State of Nebraska. Named for President John Adams.


County seat, Hastings. Named for Col. T. D. Hastings in gratitude to him for inducing a railroad company to build a line of railroad through the county.


Alger County, State of Michigan. Named for ex-Senator and Secretary of War R. A. Alger.


County seat, Munising. This is an Indian word meaning "island," or "at the little island."


Antelope County, State of Nebraska. Named by Leander Gerrard in com- memoration of his killing an antelope while chasing Indians in this region. County seat, Neligh. Named for Hon. John D. Neligh of West Point, Ne- braska, who platted the town.


Ashland County, State of Wisconsin. Named from the home of Henry Clay, in Kentucky.


County seat, Ashland, and was named from the county.


Audubon County, State of Iowa. Named for J. J. Audubon, the ornithologist and painter of birds and animals. The county was created in 1851 and organized in 1855.


County seat, Audubon. Named from the county.


Beadle County, State of South Dakota. Named for W. H. H. Beadle, an early State officer.


County seat, Huron. Named from the Indian tribe, and that name is be- lieved to have come from the French word hure, meaning "wild boar," and supposed to be applied to this tribe on account of their unkempt ap- pearance. Huron is on the Dakota or James river. The Indians called this river T-chan-san-san. The Huron was one of the Iroquoian tribes found by the French living between Lake Huron and Ontario. The French included twelve tribes in their name of Iroquois.




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