USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > A History of the Origin of the Place Names Connected with the Chicago & North Western and. > Part 9
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Faulkton, Faulk County, South Dakota, was platted by the Western Town Lot Company in 1886, and was named for Andrew J. Faulk, the third governor of the Territory of Dakota.
Faunus, Menominee County, Michigan. This name was taken from ancient my- thology.
Fellows, Rock County, Wisconsin, was named for a nearby land owner.
Fennimore, Grant County, Wisconsin, was named Fennimore Center from the township with "Center" added thereto. The township was named for M. Fennimore, an early settler. In 1881 the word "Center" was dropped from the name of village and station.
Fenwood, Marathon County, Wisconsin, was platted by the Milwaukee, Lake Shore and Western Railway in 1891, and was so named because a great num- ber of trees and shrubbery (a wood) grew in a nearby "fen" or "marsh."
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Fenton, Kossuth County, Iowa, was platted by the Western Town Lot Company in 1899 and was named for ex-Governor and U. S. Senator R. E. Fenton, of New York.
Ferney, Brown County, South Dakota, was platted by the Western Town Lot Company in 1886 and was named for W. H. Ferney, one of the surveyors who laid out the town.
Fisher, Converse County, Wyoming, was named for F. H. Fisher, the owner of the X. H. Cattle ranch that was nearby.
Fetterman, Converse County, Wyoming, was named from Fort Fetterman, which was near this location. The fort was named by the United States for Lieut. Col. W. J. Fetterman, who was killed by the Indians in De- cember, 1866, at Fort Phil. Kearney in Wyoming.
Flagg, Ogle County, Illinois, was named from the township, and that was named for Richard P. Flagg, one of the first settlers.
Florence, Florence County, Wisconsin, was named by Col. H. D. Fisher, one of the owners of the town site for Mrs. Florence Hulst, the wife of Dr. N. P. Hulst of Milwaukee, Wis.
Flat Rock, Delta County, Michigan. This is a transliteration of the Indian word, Escanaba.
Flickville, Clay County, Nebraska, was named for a nearby old settler.
Fond du Lac, Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, was named for the landing on the lake, and that was named by the French trappers, traders and explorers be- cause it was at the "end of the lake" (Winnebago).
Footville. Rock County, Wisconsin, was named for and by Ezra A. Foot, who owned the town site and who was one of the earliest settlers in the vi- cinity. In an early day the town was called "Bachelor's Grove" for the family of that name who were the first settlers in the grove.
Ford River, Delta County, Michigan, was named from the river, and that was named for Thomas Ford, governor of Illinois, 1842-46, who had explored a portion of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and had mentioned it in his history of Illinois.
Fosterville, Vilas County, Wisconsin, was named for John M. Foster, president and general manager of the Vilas Lumber Company located here. Mr. Foster resides at Granville, Mich.
Fort Pierre, Stanley County, South Dakota. There is much confusion in the at- tainable records as to the exact location of the forts that were built on the west side of the Missouri River, and that in the end came to be known as Fort Pierre. None of them were established by the United States and hence the United States army records do not give their full history. The follow- ing seems to be the facts in the case:
"A fort was built by Joseph La Framboise, an Indian trader in 1817 * at the mouth of Teton River." Another fort was built by one of the fur companies in 1828, some say below the mouth of Teton River. Maximillion the Prince of Weid, who was here in 1832, says "it was just about the mouth." Both these forts were abandoned and the first real Fort Pierre was erected higher up the river. This was built by the Ameri- can Fur Company in 1831-2 and is known to have been three miles above the mouth of the Teton River. (This stream was called Bad River and Little Missouri River as well as Teton River. On some of the maps it now ap- pears as Wak-pa-shic-ka (which is Sioux Indian for a bad river), and on
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others as Bad river.) This fort was christened in June 1832, for Pierre Choteau, Jr., of St. Louis, Mo., who was on a visit to the fort when it was named. Gen. Harney with a force of 1,200 men wintered at this fort in the winter of 1855-6. The fort was abandoned and dismantled by the fur company in 1857. In 1857 a fur trader built another Fort Pierre three miles above the old one. Another new Fort Pierre, a fur company's trading post was built in 1859 two miles above the original Fort Pierre. It was abandoned in 1863 at the time of the Sioux Indian outbreak. A Fort Co- lumbia was built by the Columbia Fur Company in 1822 on the west bank of the Missouri River (not the east bank, as some writers have claimed) a short distance below the first Fort Pierre (this must not be confounded with the Forts Teton). The Fort Pierre of the American Fur Company was the most considerable station of that company on the Missouri River. When Maximillion visited it in 1832-4, it was surrounded by Sioux Indians mostly of the Teton band, but with them were also some of the Yankton band, as both bands with others, traded at this post. Maximillion gives a lengthy account and a picture of the fort, and made a long stay there, studying the Indians and the flora and fauna of the country around the fort. At no point on the Missouri River, saving possibly the mouth of the Yol- lowstone River, was there clustered as much of the work of the fur trader and the life of his Indian allies as about Fort Pierre. We have the dim his- tory of many "forts" and "posts" besides those we have named that were established around this point: Fort Tecumseh, Sublette's Fort, Campbell'. Fort, the Fort of Papin and of Cerro, were all about the mouth of the Teton River and on the west bank of the Missouri River. On the east bank were Fort Aux Cedres or Loiselles' Post, Fort Lookout, Fort Kiawa, Fort Recovery or Cedar Fort, Fort George and Fort Defiance or Fort Bois. These forts or trading posts depended entirely on the Indians who roamed over the prairies west of the river to and perhaps beyond "The Black Hills," where Deadwood and other mining camps and towns are now located. The Indians came to these trading posts in preference to going to those in the valley of the Platte River, as those were frequented by the Indians of the far southwestern plains, who were under Spanish domination and who had no use for the Indians of the northern prairies.
De Land's map of Fort Pierre and surroundings when read from the south shows Fort George on the west bank of the Missouri River just below and opposite the mouth of Medicine Knoll Creek, which flowed into the Mis- souri River from the east, the Indians called this creek pa-hah-wa-kan; then Teton Post, Fort la Framboise, Post Sublette and Campbell, Fort Tecumseh, "Old" Fort Pierre (one and one-half miles north of the loca- tion of the present city of Pierre), New Fort Pierre (two miles north of Old Fort Pierre), Fort Galpin (the trading post of Mr. Galpin of the American Fur Co.), a second Fort La Framboise (supposed to have been at the point where the village of Fort Pierre is now located) and Fort Primeau. On the east side of the Missouri River reading from the south, the following points are shown: Old Fort Sully, American Fur Company's Fort and American Fur Company's Post. From what is shown above it is clear that the name Fort Pierre referred quite as much to the locality as to the posts or forts proper, and in the loose language of the day any location within ten, fifteen, or even twenty miles of Fort Pierre proper, was called Fort Pierre. The
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first Fort Pierre in North America was built between 1730 and 1740 on Rainy Lake on a point of land where the present city of Rainy Lake is lo- cated in Northeastern Minnesota by Pierre la Verendrye, a French explorer. Forest Junction, Calumet County, Wisconsin, was named from the fact, that when established, the town and station were in a dense forest at the june- tion of another railroad.
Fort Atkinson, Jefferson County, Wisconsin, was named by Dwight Foster, to honor General Henry Atkinson, the Indian fighter of the early days of the northwest and especially in the Black Hawk War.
Fort Robinson, Dawes County, Nebraska, was laid out by Col. W. H. Carter, United States Army, and was named for the nearby United States military post, which was named by the United States War Department for Lieut. Robinson of the 14th United States Infantry, who had been killed by In- dians just before this fort was established.
Fort Howard, Brown County, Wisconsin. This village and station were named from Fort Howard, a fort that in an early day was built here for protection against the Indians. It was named for a United States Army Officer. This place is now a portion of the city of Green Bay.
Fort Sheridan, Lake County, Illinois. Was named from the fort that is located here; that was named by the United States War Department in honor of Gen. Philip H. Sheridan.
Foster City, Dickinson County, Michigan, was named "Burnt Bluffs" and then changed to Foster City for Foster Brothers, prominent lumbermen at this point.
Foster, Pierce County, Nebraska, was named for George Foster, long a station agent on the railroad, and who owned land surrounding this town.
Fox Lake, Martin County, Minnesota, was platted by the Western Town Lot Company in 1899, and was named from the nearby lake which the Indians called hosh-a-rao-ah-tah, "fox."
Fox Point, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, was named from the English word equivalent to the Indian hosh-a-rac-ah-tah, "a fox."
Fox River, Kenosha County, Wisconsin, was named from the river on the banks of which the village is situated. The river was named for the English word that represents the Indian word hosh-a-rac-ah-tah, "a fox."
Fortieth Street (Chicago) Cook County, Illinois. This name merely indicates a point that is shown on the time table of the road. The name has no his- torical significance. Here are located the Chicago shops of the Chicago and North Western Railway and that explains the location of this station.
Frankfort, Spink County, South Dakota, was named from the place of this name (Frankfort-on-the-Main) in Germany. It was platted by the Western Town Lot Company in 1882, and named by Foster and Fisher, who owned land in the vicinity.
Francis Creek, Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. This place was named from the nearby stream. The stream was named for the founder in A. D. 1208 of the Franciscan Order, St. Francis of Assisi in Italy. His father, Signor Barnar- cione, was traveling in France when his son was born. The mother named the child Giovanni, but when the father returned he was not pleased with the name and gave him that of Francisca, whence comes the English Francis. In French it is Francois.
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Franklin Grove, Lee County, Illinois, was named from a nearby grove of trees, and this was named for James R. Franklin, an early settler in this grove. At one time the village is said to have been known as Chaplin, but no records now seem accessible to prove the story.
Freeman, Kane County, Illinois, was named for John Freeman, the original owner of the town site.
Freeport, Stephenson County, Illinois. The earliest name of this place was Winneshiek. It took the name because it was the home of Winneshiek, an Indian chief. The name means "five" or "plenty waters." The burying ground of the tribe this chief belonged to is now covered by the freight station and yard of the Chicago and North Western Railway in Freeport. When Winneshiek and his tribe were removed beyond the Mississippi River, the place name disappeared. In 1835, William Baker and William Kirkpatrick settled here, and in 1837 laid out a town and named it Freeport. Mrs. William Baker suggested this name as she said it would truthfully depict to posterity, the unbounded and continuous hospitality that wel- comed every "new comer" at the Baker home. The "welcome" was unstinted and was given "without money and without price" and con- tinued as long as Mr. Baker lived.
Fremont, Dodge County, Nebraska. The first settlement here, was made in 1856 when John C. Fremont the explorer, was running for president of the United States. It was first named "Jessie Benton Fremont" for the wife of the explorer, who was a daughter of Thomas H. Benton, long time United States senator from Missouri. In time the name was changed to its pres- ent form.
Friday, Delta County, Michigan, was named for Joseph Friday, an early settler. Frost, Faribault County Minnesota, was named for Charles S. Frost, an archi- tect of Chicago.
Fulton, Whiteside County, Illinois, was named for Robert Fulton, the inventor of steamboats.
Fulton Junction, Whiteside County, Illinois, was named from its relation to the nearby city of Fulton.
Fumee, Dickinson County, Michigan, was named for a nearby lake. Its name is a corruption of Fumay, a city in France, and was given the lake by a
. French explorer from that city.
Gagen, Oneida County, Wisconsin, was named for Daniel Gagen, a local land owner and the pioneer of the place.
Galbraith, Kossuth County, Iowa, was named for Senator Galbraith, a well known politician of Iowa. When first established the place was called Morton Siding for a nearby farmer.
Galena, Jo Daviess County, Illinois, was named in 1819 by Samuel C. Miner, an early settler, from the lead ore (Galena) found in its vicinity. The early French explorers called the place de feve "the bean, " and they called the river it is on la riviere de feve, because of the immense quantity of wild "beans" found growing upon its banks. The name of the river has been corrupted into fievre (fever) which gave rise to the impression that the place was unhealthy.
Galesville, Trempealeau County, Wisconsin, was named for George Gale, the original owner of the town site.
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Galloway, Shawano County, Wisconsin, was named for C. A. Galloway of the Moore-Galloway Company of Fond du Lac, Wis., and a large owner of land near here.
Galt, Whiteside County, Illinois, the original name was Como, named from Lake Como in Italy. The name was changed to honor John Galt, the owner of the town site.
Galva, Ida County, Iowa, was named from Galva in Henry County, Illinois, whence many of the farmers of the village came. The name is an Angli- cized form of the Swedish Gelfe and was the home name of Olaf Johnson, one of the oldest, if not the oldest, Swedish settler in Henry County, III.
Garden Prairie, Boone County, Illinois. The first name applied to this village was Amesville, for an old settler. Because of the fertility of the soil and the beauty of its natural plants, it was thought to resemble a garden, and hence the early settlers gave it its present name.
Garvin, Lyon County, Minnesota, was first named Kent, for Father Kent, a mis- sionary of Chicago, but its name was changed to honor H. C. Garvin, the son of one of the oldest employes of the Chicago and North Western Rail- way. The town was platted under the name of Terry, for General A. H. Terry of the U. S. Army, in 1886 by the Winona and St. Peter Railroad Company.
Garwin, Tama County, Iowa, was named for an early settler of the vicinity. . Gary, Deuel County, South Dakota, was named for H. B. Gary of Marshall, Minnesota, who was an official of the postoffice department in the early days of this State. The town was platted by the Winona and St. Peter Railroad Company in 1877.
Geneva, Kane County, Illinois, was named by James Herrington, the original owner of the town site, from the place of this name in New York state. This was done in honor of C. B. Dodson, who had emigrated from that place to Kane County, Ill., when this village was established. Geneva in New York state was named from Geneva in Switzerland.
Geneva, Fillmore County, Nebraska, was named in 1871 by Miss Emma Me- Cauley, a daughter of Col. A. C. McCauley, who owned the farm on which the county seat was established, and named from Geneva, New York. That place was named from Geneva in Switzerland.
Genoa Junction, Walworth County, Wisconsin, was named from the fact that it was the junction of two lines of railroad. Before the roads were built the settlement was called Genoa, and was named from the town in New York state. That was named from the city in Italy.
Gentian, Marquette County, Michigan, was named by W. B. Linsley for the flower, the fringed gentian (Gentiana corinata) that abounded there. The place was first named Harvey for T. W. Harvey of Chicago, a pioneer lum- . berman.
Georgia, Cherry County, Nebraska, was named for George A. Frost, a stuttering carpenter, who so spoke his own name as Georgia, and as a joke, more than for any other reason, the name was given to and is still held by the town.
Gettysburg, Potter County, South Dakota, was named from the battlefield in Pennsylvania, because many of the early settlers near here had been sol- diers in the fight on that field. The town was platted by the Western
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Town Lot Company in 1884. Northwest of Gettysburg is Le Beau, in Wal- worth County, South Dakota. It was named for Antoine Le Beau, a half- breed Sac Indian. It is near the Missouri River, a little above the city of Pierre. It has been an historic spot for forty-five years, for it was at that. point that the Indian chief White Lodge fled with his capitves at the close of the Sioux Indian war. On August 20, 1862, a small settlement at Lake Shetak, Murray County, Minn., was attacked by Sioux Indians, when White Lodge, a Sisseton Indian chief and one hundred of his warriors were the assassins when all the adult white males were killed, and the chil- dren and the women were taken into captivity. White Lodge, Little Crow, Sleeping Eyes, Pawn and Big Head, conveyed the captives to the Missouri River, to a point where Swan Creek empties into that river, about a mile and a half from the present site of Le Beau. A local legend says that shortly after their arrival on the river, Galpin, a trader of the American Fur Company was passing down the river, and arriving at the camp of White Lodge, was asked to come ashore and trade; but before he could land, Galpin's wife discovered the Indians were hostile and warned her husband. When the boat swung out into the river again, & white woman ran down the shore and called to the trappers that a party of nine were held captive by the Indians, and implored them to come to their relief. When Mr. Galpin reached Fort Pierre, where he was custodian of the post, and which was the next landing below Le Beau on the river, he told the Indians who were there the story of the capture of the whites. Around the fort, was a party of eleven young Indians, who at once formed them- selves into a rescue band, and resolved to go to the relief of the women relief of the women and children. This little band, it is said, was comprised of Martin Charger, Kills-and-Comes, Four Bear, Mad Bear, Pretty Bear, Sitting Bear, Swift Bird, One Rib, Strikes Fire, Red Dog and Charging Dog, all of whom belonged to Two Kettle band of Tetons, with the exception of Charger.
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The little band departed from Fort Pierre on Nov. 15, 1862, and four days later reached the camp of White Lodge. They asked for a council with the chief.
Charger was appointed spokesman for the party and spoke in behalf of the rescuers. He said: "We have come here to buy the white captives and give them back to their people. We will give you horses for them all; all the horses that we have." The reply of White Lodge disheartened the young Indians, as the ultimatum of the chief seemed to sound the death knell of the white captives.
Charger renewed his offer of the horses and kept persistently at the chieftain, that night and well into the next day, before the proposition was . finally accepted, and the boys were told to bring their horses into camp. They did so, and the captives were turned over to them. The boys started back to Fort Pierre with their party on the evening of Nov. 29, 1862, and reached Fort Pierre six days afterward, nearly frozen and almost starved to death. The captives were finally turned over to their friends and the Indian rescuers were rewarded by the United States. The name "Le Bean" is a corruption of the French Le boeuf (the buffalo), a name first applied to a man who, from his size and sluggishment moved like a buffalo.
How much truth or how much fiction there is in this story is very dit-
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cult to determine at this time. It is history however, that after Gen. Sib- ley had at Wood Lake on Sept. 25, 1862, thoroughly whipped the Indians in a hard fought battle, they fled towards the Missouri River, and that on Dec. 25, 1862, they were on the river above Fort Pierre with 500 to 1,000 warriors getting ready for the destruction in the spring of 1863 of all the whites in western Minnesota and Dakota territory. Little Crow was the leader in the war and vowed an awful vengeance against the whites because a lot of his followers, who had been captured by Gen. Sibley, were hanged before the campaign of 1863 was inaugurated.
Gerled, Kossuth County, Iowa, was named from the first syllables of the names of the townships on each side of it, viz .: "Ger" from Germanic, and "led" from Ledyard.
Ghent, Lyon County, Minnesota, was named by a Belgian priest (who located a colony at this place), from his native city in Belgium. This town was platted under the name of Grand View by the Winona and St. Peter Rail- road Company in 1878.
- Gifford, Hardin County, Iowa, was named for C. T. Gifford, an early settler who induced a railroad company to establish a station here.
Gilbert, Story County, Iowa, was named by and for George Gilbert, who was the original owner of the town site.
Gilberts, Kane County, Illinois, was named by the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad for Amasa Gilbert, an early settler. Its earlier name was Rutland- ville, which it was given by E. P. Stark, the first supervisor, from Butland, Vt., whence he had emigrated. The Vermont Rutland was named from Butland in Liecestershire, England.
- Gile, Iron County, Wisconsin, was named for Gordon H. Gile, of Oshkosh, Wia., who was largely interested in iron ore mines and mining in the vicinity, and who was one of the owners of the Northern Chief Iron Company.
Gilfillan, Redwood County, Minnesota, was named for C. D. Gilfillan of Minne- apolis, who owned much land in the vicinity. The postoffice is Morgan. Gillespie, Macoupin, County, Illinois. This place was named for Judge Joseph Gillespie, a notel jurist of central Illinois, and who for many years had large political and other influence in this county.
Girard Junction, Macoupin County, Illinois, was so named because of its near. ness to the city of Girard. That city was named for Stephen Girard of Philadelphia, Pa., at one time the richest man in the United States, and who gave his great fortune to found and support Girard College, one of the most beneficent institutions in the country.
Gillett, Oconto County, Wisconsin, was named for R. Gillett, one of the first settlers in the county.
Gladbrook, Tama County, Iowa. This name was made up and applied to this place by a prominent officer of the Chicago and North Western Railway Company.
Glen, Sioux County, Nebraska, was so named because descriptive of the vicinity. Glenbeulah, Sheboygan County, Wisconsin. This name was made by the original owner of the town site by combining the word "Glen," which describes the location, and "Beulah" the given name of the mother of one of the contractors who built the railroad through the place. This Scriptural name is supposed to mean "beautiful land" or "land of flowers," and well de- scribed this place when it was established.
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Glencoe, Cook County, Illinois. This is a manufactured name as used here, and was devised by W. S. Gurnee a well known citizen of early Chicago, and who as a contractor built the railroad through this place. To the word "Glen"-which was suggested to him by the many glens that are around the village-he added "Coe" which was his wife's maiden name.
Glendale, Monroe County, Wisconsin, was named by James R. Lyon, an early settler, because "he fancied the name when he met with it in his reading." Glen Ellyn, DuPage County, Illinois. Its earliest name was Danby. In 1876 it was changed to Prospect Park. The present name has reference to a nearby glen. To that was added "for euphony" the last part of the name.
Glen Rock, Converse County, Wyoming. Was named from the fur traders' and trappers' name for a large rock that had been a sentinel for generations to travelers over this part of the country.
Glidden, Carroll County, Iowa, was named by the original owners of the town site in honor of Capt. W. T. Glidden of Salem and Boston, Mass., one of the earliest and most steadfast friends of the project of building a railroad across the state of Iowa.
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