Q 01/05

The name Des Moines comes from French and most likely means 'River of the' what?

A) Monks

B) Mills

C) Moors

D) Mounds

Answer · why

A) Monks

One popular theory ties it to French Trappist monks who lived in huts on Monks Mound at Cahokia, far downstream in Illinois.

Q 02/05

Which river merges with the Des Moines River at the spot where the city was founded?

A) Cedar

B) Skunk

C) Raccoon

D) Little Sioux

Answer · why

C) Raccoon

Captain James Allen supervised the building of a fort at the confluence in May 1843.

Q 03/05

In which year was Des Moines incorporated as a city, still under the name Fort Des Moines?

A) 1858

B) 1866

C) 1874

D) 1851

Answer · why

D) 1851

Much of the town had been wiped out by a flood that May, so the new city started rebuilding from scratch.

Q 04/05

Which town was the state capital before the seat of government moved to Des Moines in 1857?

A) Burlington

B) Dubuque

C) Davenport

D) Iowa City

Answer · why

D) Iowa City

The same year the town dropped the 'Fort' from its name.

Q 05/05

Fort Des Moines was built in 1843 to control which Native peoples, moved there from eastern Iowa?

A) Sioux and Omaha

B) Ioway and Otoe

C) Sauk and Meskwaki

D) Potawatomi and Ho-Chunk

Answer · why

C) Sauk and Meskwaki

The fort was abandoned in 1846 once they were pushed on to Indian Territory, though the Meskwaki kept returning until around 1857.