Missouri, etc.

[Rory M Larson]

>>4. Tabeau, probably writing around 1806 if understand correctly, mentions
a
>>"rivierre des mohens" several times.  The editor says this is probably
the
>>Des
>>Moines, . . .   Could mohen simply be an alternate spelling for the old
>>(river of the) Maha?
>
>
> MM: No. This is simply an English speaker’s attempt to write the French
term
> ‘riviere des moines’.

* The etymology of Des Moines has long been disuputed, but the best bet is
* from the new dictionary of Native American placenames that Bill Bright is

* editing (with the questionable help of several of us on the list).

To make sure it's clear here, my question wasn't about
the 'River of the Mahas' being the origin of the name
of the Des Moines river.  I was asking about the Big
Sioux.  I'm looking at an English translation of Tabeau's
French, and "rivierre des mohens" is a footnote's quote
of the original French.  The first mention of it in
the text is:

  Another tribe of Yinctons now located on the River James,
  accustomed to the beaver hunt, who hunted them extensively
  on the branches of the River of the Mohens, also scoured
  the east bank of the Missouri and made only a very ordinary
  catch in 1803.

The footnote to "River of the Mohens" reads:

  (35) rivierre des mohens in original.  Probably the Des Moines,
  of which a variant was Riviere de Moyen. ...

The Des Moines river is mentioned under that name elsewhere
in the text, without commenting on the name, so I assume
that Tabeau was using the term "rivierre des moines" in
these instances.  The "rivierre des mohens" is referred
to several times, generally in conjunction with the James,
the Missouri, and the Minnesota rivers.  I've scanned over
the numerous river names listed in the index, and have not
found any of them that obviously refer to the Big Sioux,
unless it is the rivierre des mohens.  The French maps
from the early 18th century do, I believe, refer to the
Big Sioux as the R. des Mahas.  I was wondering if Tabeau's
"mohens" might not be a variant of earlier French "Mahas",
and if the river he refers to as "rivierre des mohens"
might not be referring to the Big Sioux rather than to the
Des Moines.

Rory