Taylor Pierce, who was connected with the early trading-post at Fort Des Moines and who spoke the Sauk and Fox languages fluently, said that when the natives were transitioning from one location to another – having to cross deep river waters – they would say:
“Posse (pony) pukachee (traveling or moving) kiowa (specific place) sepo (river).”
Meaning – the braves and their ponies were going across the river at a designated “this is the place” location.
The Sauk word kiowa – was most likely where early Iowa settlers found the word IOWA – this is the place!
READ MORE ABOUT THIS IOWA STORY HERE
Did you know? is an Our Iowa Heritage blog series that offers you a little bit of Iowa trivia from a large selection of stories on our website. Subscribe to this FREE blog and you’ll get a new email from us every Monday – Wednesday – Friday.
Join us for Our Iowa Heritage blog posts.
Learn some historical facts about Iowa City, Johnson County, or Eastern Iowa.
Amaze your friends.
Our Iowa Heritage 