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| Des Moines Apartment Locator Services : Des Moines |  | Contents | |
| History |
The origin of the name of the river is obscure.
It was given the name La Rivière des Moines, literally
meaning "River of the Monks", by early French explorers.
The name may have referred to early Trappist monks who built
huts near the mouth of the river. It may also refer to moingona,
a Native American word meaning "river of the mounds"
in reference to the burial mounds that were located near the
banks of the river.
During the mid-19th century, the river provided the main commercial
transportation across Iowa until the building of the railroads
in the 1860s.
Historic floods on the river and its tributary the Raccoon in
the summer of 1993 forced the evacuation of much of the city
of Des Moines and nearby communities.
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