Location
Blue Earth is in Blue Earth County This name was probably received by Le Sueur and his party from that earlier given to the river by the Dakota. The Relation of P�nicaut, however, might be thought to indicate otherwise, as follows: "We called this Green river, because it is of that color by reason of a green earth which, loosening itself from the copper mines, becomes dissolved in it and makes it green." In the language of the Dakota the same word, to, is used both for blue and green, and their name of the Blue Earth River is Makato (maka, earth; to, blue or green). Hear Makato William H. Keating wrote in the Narrative of Stephen H. Long's expedition, 1823: "By the Dacotas it is called Makato Osa Watapa, which signifies 'the river where blue earth is gathered.' " From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print.
