Willmar tribune., 1911-07-05

tier on our planet, began the work Of
giving names to everything and lay
ing the foundation of our vocabu-
larry, we imagine that he must have
exercised a great deal Of ingenuity.
Since then, however, the giving Of
names has generally been matter
Of sentiment on the part Of someone
if not a natural description Of OBJ
ject or place named.
Kandiyohi, the name Of our coun-
ty and also Of two lakes, town
ship and a village within the
county, is Dakota Indian
word. The Isanti bands Of
Dakotas who hunted and fshed in
this county during the early part
Of last century would come to the
sources Of the Crow River during
the spring when the Ash were spawn
ing in the shallow streams and cas-
lily catch as many as they wanted.
"Kandi" was the Dakota for Buff
falo fish and "'yohi" for Coming
to" or Astounding in" Hence they
called this County Kandiyohi or the
place where the Buffalo fish come.
The name was given to the world by
Joseph Nicholas Nicollet, the. first
official government geographer to
visit Minnesota. He never visited
this neighborhood himself, but as he
passed down the Minnesota River,
drew his map from the description
given by the Indians. His map was
first published in 1841, and that map
determined the English spelling Of
the word. Whatever you may think
Of the name, it has the advantage
Of being a distinctive one, and let
ter addressed to anyone in Kandi-
yohi County without either state or
national address, would by the aid
Of good postal guides, arrive at it's
destination from any pant Of the
world.
On map called Chapman's map
of Territory of Minnesota, and pub
lished at Milwaukee in 1856, there
appeared but three names on the
territory now embraced within the
boundaries Of Kandiyohi County,
namely Kandiy hi l,ke (as Green
Lake was named by the Virginian
Colony), and North Fork River, lat
er known as the Paynesville River.
Four years later the first state
map was published showing Monon-
gala and Kandiyohi Counties as
existed before consolidation. The
points then named by the geographer
in Kandiyohi County were the town
sites of Whitefield, Kandiyohi and
tennessee and st. Johns. Foot Lake
and Dog Lake were named. St.
Johns Lake is designated as Salmon
Lake and Pig Kandiyohi appears as
Wibudan. The same map locates
the Irving and Columbia townsites
on Green Lake, Harrison on Diamond
lake, Calhoun and Grow Lakes.
Monongalia County was named
fol the county Of the same name in
West Virginia, whe'e Eugene Wilson
and colony hailed from, and is a
latinized form Of the Indian name
Monongahela, the river bearing this
name appearing to rise there.
Since the consolidation Of our
county bv that name with Kandivohi
County, the name would have beer,
lost to our community but for it's
perpetuation as one Of the avenues
Of Willmar. Mrs. Wilson's name
for the first County scat Of Mon
ongalia County, Minn., was Irving,
presumably for the great American
author of that name, and has been
perpetuated in the township organ
ization. s.t H.
| Other townships bearing the name
of early townsites within their bor-
ders are tennessee, Kandiyohi,
Whitefeld, Wlllmar, Harrison, Bur
bank, New London, and St. Johns.
tennessee was named by the Hoop
er's who came from the famous Gen.
nessee valley in New York. White
field was named for the artist who
accompanied the Kandiyohi Town
site Company's exploration party
and two other township names may
be traced to him., for he named Lake
Lillian in honor of his wife. Will