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Indian Place name: Emiquon
What's The Story
Based on a French/Illinois dictionary assembled by the Jesuit priest Jean LeBoullenger between 1704 and 1740, the term emicouene is translated as “citrouilles,” which means pumpkin in French. Thus, Esarey concludes that the place name for the Spoon River may be translated as River of the Pumpkins.
Today, the term is applied by The Nature Conservancy to their Emiquon Preserve and by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge.
To learn more:
Esarey, Duane 1998. Emiquon: Part II. Living Museum, Vol. 60, No. 2, pp. 1, 13.
