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"I come from Des Moines. Somebody had to."
Bill Bryson, "The Lost Continent", c. 1989 

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The meaning of the name "Des Moines"

 

There has been some confusion over the origin of the name "Des Moines." The generally-accepted explanation is that it came from the French explorers' interpretation of "river of the Moingonas," named for an Indian tribe, the Moingonas, that resided in the area. The source of this information is an article from the Des Moines Tribune dated March 14, 1981, which had a fuller explanation (along with several other erroneous interpretations of the name). 

 

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