Des Moines: River, county, and city in Iowa. This name is thought to have been derived from the Indian word, mikonang, meaning "the road." This name was applied by the Indians to a place in the form of Moingona, which the French shortened into Moin, calling the river "riviere des Moins." Finally, the name became associated with the Trappist monks, and the river by a spurious etymology was called "la riviere des moines," "the river of the monks."

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