County Names

COUNTY NAMES

Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 7/27/2020 at 12:19:44

Source: Cresco Plain Dealer June 6, 1913, P-1, C-6

County Names.
John R. Waller has been writing a series of articles showing how the different counties in the state got their names. The following is the report on the counties in this section.

Floyd—Sergeant Charles Floyd of Lewis and &{sic} Clark's expedition in their great tour of discovery in the Northwest in 1804, sent out by Thomas Jefferson.
Cerro Gordo—Battle of Cerro Gordo in the Mexican War.
Fayette—For Marquis de LaFayette.
Clayton—For John Clayton, U. S. Senator from Delaware.
Howard—For Capt. John Eager Howard. It was due to him and his troops that the famous battle of the Cowpens was won. He was governor of Maryland and U. S. Senator.
Allamakee—Iowa Historical Society says named for Allen Makee, an early trapper in that section. "Haines’ American Indian” says it is an Algonquin word meaning thunder.
Chickasaw—For Chickasaw tribe of the South.
Winneshiek—For Chief Winneshiek, Chief of Winnebagoes.—Decorah Republican.