It contains well-preserved house deposits and numerous graves.

Discovered in December 2010, the 'Palace' is an expansive, 7,000-year-old site found during excavations prior to construction of the new wastewater treatment plant in southeastern Des Moines. Several prehistoric occupation areas have been identified by archaeologists in downtown Des Moines. Map of prehistoric and historic American Indian sites in downtown Des Moines īased on archaeological evidence, the junction of the Des Moines and Raccoon Rivers has attracted humans for at least 7,000 years. Prehistory Prehistoric inhabitants of early Des Moines This was some 200 miles (320 km) from the Des Moines River. One popular interpretation of 'Des Moines' ignores Vogel's research, and concludes that it refers to a group of French Trappist monks, who in the 17th century lived in huts built on top of what is now known as the ancient Monks Mound at Cahokia, the major center of Mississippian culture, which developed in what is present-day Illinois, east of the Mississippi River and the city of St. It translates, essentially, as 'the feces-faces.' What he discovered, however, was that it wasn't the actual name of the neighboring tribe it was an insulting nickname they hurled at their rivals. McCafferty agrees with other linguists that the 'Moines' in Des Moines is a French derivation of Moingoana. In 2015, Michael McCafferty of Indiana University, while studying the Miami-Illinois language, concluded that the name was actually a derisive term coined by the Peoria tribe. This was where the earliest known encounters between the Moingona and European explorers took place. Some historians and researchers lacking linguistic or Algonquianist training concluded that Moingona meant 'people by the portage' or something similar, a reference to the Des Moines Rapids. The historian Virgil Vogel claimed that the name was derived from Moingona, an Algonquian clan name, which means ' Loon'. Des Moines ( pronounced ( listen) formerly ) translates literally to either 'from the monks' or 'of the monks'. This was adopted from the name given by French colonists. 3.4 'City Beautiful' project, decline and rebirthĭes Moines takes its name from Fort Des Moines (1843–46), which was named for the Des Moines River.3.2 Early, non-Native American, settlement.2.1 Prehistoric inhabitants of early Des Moines.A 2007 article in The New York Times said, 'If you have any desire to witness presidential candidates in the most close-up and intimate of settings, there is arguably no better place to go than Des Moines.' Many presidential candidates set up campaign headquarters in Des Moines. presidential politics as the state's capital, it is the site of the first caucuses of the presidential primary cycle. In recent years, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, and Facebook have built data-processing and logistical facilities in the Des Moines area.ĭes Moines is an important city in U.S. Other major corporations such as Wells Fargo, Cognizant, Voya Financial, Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, ACE Limited, Marsh, Monsanto, and Corteva have large operations in or near the metropolitan area. The city is the headquarters for the Principal Financial Group, Ruan Transportation, TMC Transportation, EMC Insurance Companies, and Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield. insurance companies' in a Business Wire article and named the third-largest 'insurance capital' of the world. The city was credited as the 'number one spot for U.S. ĭes Moines is a major center of the US insurance industry and has a sizable financial services and publishing business base. The six-county metropolitan area is ranked 83rd in terms of population in the United States with 699,292 residents according to the 2019 estimate by the United States Census Bureau, and is the largest metropolitan area fully located within the state. The city's population was 214,133 as of the 2020 census. It is located on, and named after, the Des Moines River, which likely was adapted from the early French name, Rivière des Moines, meaning 'River of the Monks'. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, which was shortened to 'Des Moines' in 1857.

A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It is also the county seat of Polk County. Des Moines ( / d ə ˈ m ɔɪ n/ ( listen)) is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S.

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