Editing Koochiching County, Minnesota (section)

==History==
About 10,000 years ago almost 90% of Koochiching County was covered by [[Lake Agassiz]]. When it receded it left low areas of decayed [[vegetation]] ([[muskeg]]); as a result, three-quarters of northern Koochiching are underlain with 2 to 50 feet of [[peat]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Soper |first=E. K. |year=1919 |title=Peat Deposits of Minnesota |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j441AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA172 |journal=Bulletin of the Minnesota Geological Survey |issue=16 |page=172}}</ref>

The name "Koochiching" comes from either the [[Ojibwe language|Ojibwe]] word ''Gojijiing'' or [[Cree language|Cree]] ''Kocicīhk'' (recorded in some documents as "Ouchichiq"), both meaning "at the place of inlets," referring to the neighboring [[Rainy Lake]] and [[Rainy River (Minnesota-Ontario)|River]]. Reverend [[Joseph Gilfillan|J.A. Gilfillan]] recorded their meaning, "according to some, Neighbor lake, according to others a lake somewhere," possibly referring to the neighbouring [[Rainy Lake]] and to [[Lake Couchiching]] located in southern [[Ontario]]. Early French inhabitants gave the names ''Lac à la Pluie'' (Rainy Lake) and ''Rivière à la Pluie'' (Rainy River) to the nearby bodies of water because of the mist-like rain present at the falls of [[Rainy River (Minnesota–Ontario)|Rainy River]] and then to the settlement that became known as [[International Falls]].

This area was among the last in Minnesota to be settled. European settlers in Koochiching County started coming in the late 1800's. Some of the last lands were ceded from the Chippewa in a 1904 Land Act.<ref>{{cite web |title=19th century history |url=https://www.redlakenation.org/tribal-history-historical-photos/ |website=Red Lake Nation |access-date=24 December 2024}}</ref> Homesteads were being proven primarily in the 1900-1910 decade.<ref>{{cite web |title=General Land Office Records |url=https://glorecords.blm.gov/results/default.aspx?searchCriteria=type=patent{{!}}st=MN{{!}}cty={{!}}twp_nr=152{{!}}twp_dir=N{{!}}rng_nr=28{{!}}rng_dir=W{{!}}sp=true{{!}}sw=true{{!}}sadv=false |publisher=Bureau of Land Management |access-date=25 December 2024}}</ref> Settlers were lumberjacks and farmers and many other trades, they "suffered through isolation, illness, harsh weather, and poverty... They built schools, churches, and fought for good roads."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schwankl |first=Hermoine Gordon |year=1983 |title=History of Koochiching County |url=https://www.co.koochiching.mn.us/206/History |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100405114001/http://www.co.koochiching.mn.us/history/histmain.htm |archive-date=April 5, 2010 |access-date=August 7, 2010 |publisher=Koochiching County}}</ref>

The county is one of the youngest in the state, having been created in 1906 after separating from [[Itasca County, Minnesota|Itasca County]].