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Thurston County was named for
United States Senator John M. Thurston who assisted in effecting the organization of the county out of
territory under the jurisdiction of Dakota, Wayne, and Burt Counties.
It was originally named Blackbird County
in honor of the first Omaha chief of whom there is definite knowledge.
According to Lewis and Clark who visited his grave in 1804, he died in 1800.
The Indian name of Chief Blackbird was Wagigasabey [Wazhinga Sabe]. It is also authoritatively stated that the county was originally named
Black Bird after the mythological Thunder Bird of the Indians.
The boundaries of the county were defined by an act of the
legislature approved March 7, 1855.
Macy
This post office was originally
named Omaha Agency because it is the Agency of the Omaha Indians. It was
thought best, however, to change the name because so much mail was being missent to Omaha. In forming the new name, the second syllable of Omaha (-ma-)
was taken plus the last syllable of agency (-cy) and the office was called
Macy.
Pender
Pender, the county seat of
Thurston County, was organized on Friday 2, 1886. It was originally two miles
south of its present location and was at that time called Athens. The name was changed to
Pender in honor of John Pender, an Englishman, who was noted as a cable builder
and who was a director of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Omaha
railroad. The town was moved to its present location through railroad
cooperation.
Rosalie
Rosalie was named for Rosalie La
Flesche, a daughter of Joseph La Flesche (died 1888), French-Indian chief of the Omaha tribe. Rosalie La Flesche was the wife of Edward Farley of Bancroft and a sister of "Bright Eyes," as she was named by her white
husband, Thomas Tibbies.
Thurston
The town of Thurston was named for
United States Senator John M. Thurston of Nebraska, like the county. This place was formerly called Flournoy and
the precinct still retains that name.
Walthill
James J. Hill, the builder of the
Great Northern Railroad, had several sons. One of them, Walter Hill, was sent
to this vicinity during the building of the Sioux City and Lincoln branch of
the Burlington railroad in which the Hills were interested. Walter Hill became very friendly with a local man by the
name of Hutchins and. they organized a town-site company together. When the
time came for naming this town Mr. Hutchins insisted that it be given the name of his friend, "Walt Hill." Settlement
in the new town was begun in the spring of 1906.
Winnebago
The town of Winnebago was named
for the Winnebago tribe of Indians. Auouez, the French explorer who first intelligently
wrote of the tribe, spells the name Ovenibigontz, the Algonquian appellation
which, freely translated, means "the disfavored ones." In the Jesuit
Relations the name occurs as Otiinibegouc, Ouinipegouec, and Ouenibegoutz. This
in our spelling has been transformed to Winnebago. The Winnebagoes own name for
their people is Ho-tchan'-ga-ra.
Nebraska Place-Names by Lillian Linder Fitzpatrick, A. M. - 1925
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