Location
Watonwan is in Watonwan County This county, established February 25, 1860, was named from the Watonwan River, whose headstreams flow through it. Prof. A. W. Williamson, in his paper on our Dakota geographic names, wrote: "This word might mean 'I see,' or 'he sees,' intransitive; it may have been applied to this branch of the Blue Earth as being a prairie country and presenting a good prospect, but it is uncertain whether this is the meaning on which the appellation was given." Rev. M. N. Adams later stated the significance of this name without doubt, that in being anglicized it was misspelled, and that it should be Watanwan, meaning "fish bait," or "where fish bait abounds," as he had been informed by the Dakota. Our earliest knowledge of the Watonwan River is supplied by Joseph N. Nicollet's report and map, published in 1843. Its accent is on the first syllable; and the first a has its sound as in father, the last as in fall. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print.
