Editing Wisconsin (section)

==Etymology==
The word ''Wisconsin'' originates from the name given to the [[Wisconsin River]] by one of the [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian]]-speaking Native American groups living in the region at the time of [[European colonization of the Americas|European colonization]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/topics/wisconsin-name/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051028075712/http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/topics/wisconsin-name/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 28, 2005 |title=Wisconsin's Name: Where it Came from and What it Means |access-date=July 24, 2008 |publisher=Wisconsin Historical Society}}</ref> The French explorer [[Jacques Marquette]] was the first European to reach the Wisconsin River, arriving in 1673 and calling the river {{lang|fr|Meskousing}} (likely ᒣᔅᑯᐤᓯᣙ ''meskowsin'') in his journal.<ref>{{Cite book | last = Marquette | first = Jacques | author-link = Jacques Marquette | year = 1673 | contribution = The Mississippi Voyage of Jolliet and Marquette, 1673 | contribution-url = http://www.americanjourneys.org/aj-051/ | editor-last = Kellogg | editor-first = Louise P. | title = Early Narratives of the Northwest, 1634–1699 | place = New York | publisher = Charles Scribner's Sons | page = 235 | oclc = 31431651 | access-date = July 25, 2008 | archive-date = January 25, 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210125212847/https://www.americanjourneys.org/aj-051/ | url-status = live }}</ref> Subsequent French writers changed the spelling from {{lang|fr|Meskousing}} to {{lang|fr|Ouisconsin}}, and over time this became the name for both the Wisconsin River and the surrounding lands. English speakers [[anglicized]] the spelling from {{lang|fr|Ouisconsin}} to ''Wisconsin'' when they began to arrive in large numbers during the early 19th century. The legislature of [[Wisconsin Territory]] made the current spelling official in 1845.<ref>{{cite journal | last = Smith | first = Alice E. | title = Stephen H. Long and the Naming of Wisconsin | journal = Wisconsin Magazine of History | volume = 26 | issue = 1 | pages = 67–71 | date = September 1942 | url = http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/u?/wmh,14413 | access-date = July 24, 2008 | archive-url = https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20170525200450/http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm/ref/collection/wmh/id/14413 | archive-date = May 25, 2017 | url-status = dead }}</ref>

The [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian]] word for Wisconsin and its original meaning have both grown obscure. While interpretations vary, most implicate the river and the red sandstone that lines its banks. One leading theory holds that the name originated from the [[Miami-Illinois language|Miami]] word {{lang|mia|Meskonsing}}, meaning {{gloss|it lies red}}, a reference to the setting of the Wisconsin River as it flows through the reddish sandstone of the [[Dells of the Wisconsin River|Wisconsin Dells]].<ref>McCafferty, Michael. 2003. ''[http://poj.peeters-leuven.be/content.php?url=article&id=2002552&journal_code=ONO On Wisconsin: The Derivation and Referent of an Old Puzzle in American Placenames] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170911183554/http://poj.peeters-leuven.be/content.php?url=article&id=2002552&journal_code=ONO |date=September 11, 2017 }}''. Onoma 38: 39–56</ref> Other theories include claims that the name originated from one of a variety of [[Ojibwa]] words meaning {{gloss|red stone place}}, {{gloss|where the waters gather}}, or {{gloss|great rock}}.<ref>{{cite journal | last = Vogel | first = Virgil J. | title = Wisconsin's Name: A Linguistic Puzzle | journal = Wisconsin Magazine of History | volume = 48 | issue = 3 | pages = 181–186 | year = 1965 | url = http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/u?/wmh,23263 | access-date = July 24, 2008 | archive-url = https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20170525200457/http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm/ref/collection/wmh/id/23263 | archive-date = May 25, 2017 | url-status = dead }}</ref>