Des Moines, Iowa

City with a population of 197,052 in 2008. State capital and county seat of Polk County. The name means "Of the monks" in French, which could refer to French Trappist monks who lived near the river in colonial times. Native Americans lived here for thousands of years before European settlement, creating several large mounds that were present during European exploration. In 1843 the federal government ordered the construction of a fort here at the convergence of the Raccoon and Des Moines Rivers, in order to control Sauk and Mekwaki Native Americans who had been forced into the area by American settlement. The fort was abandoned three years later when the displaced Native Americans were expelled from the area.

Settlers who had gathered around the fort established Fort Des Moines as a town here which became county seat of Polk County in 1846. In 1851 it was incorporated as a city. The name was shortened to Des Moines in 1857 and the state capital was moved here this year. When a railroad link was built through the city in 1866, it expanded and became a coal mining center.