des Moines," or "river of monks." and so the name Des Moines began to appear on modern maps. The first part of the name, des, is clearly French, while the latter part has been corrupted from the original Moin, to the orthography of the French word Moines, the pronunciation of which is the same. It is curious to note the changes which the name has undergone.

The foregoing appears to be the most authentic explanation of the origin of the name of our beautiful river, and of the manner in which the name has come down to us. It is in accordance with Nicollet, a most excellent authority, in his "Report of the Upper Mississippi," published by authority of Congress, in 1843.

The Dakota, or Sioux name of the river was Inyan-sha-sha-watpa, or "Redstone River." This name was formed from the Dakota words inyan, stone; sha-sha, red, and watpa, river. What we call the East Fork of the Des Moines, they called Iyan-sha-sha-watpa-sunkakee, or "The Brother of Redstone River."

The Sacs and Foxes, tribes which belonged to the Algonquin race, and spoke a language quite different from that of the Sioux, called the same river Ke-sauk-sepo, or Ke-sauk-kee-sepo, after the national name of the Sauk-kee, or Sac tribe. This name is interpreted as meaning "the river of the Sauk-kee," the termination sepo meaning a river, or stream, in the Algonquin language. At the beginning of the present century, the Sacs had a village near the mouth of the river, and hence the name Ke-sauk-kee-sepo.

Skunk River.--The Sacs and Foxes called this river Che-cau-que, and by this name it was known to the early white settlers. It so appears in the early records of Jeffer-