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National Bank Notes > Minnesota

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Thief River Falls, First NB, 5894
Fr. 633 $10 1902ND
Grade: Ch. AU    

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THIEF RIVER FALLS is the county seat of Pennington County. The community takes its name from a geographic feature, the falls of the Red Lake River at its confluence with the Thief River. The name of the river is a loose translation of the Ojibwe phrase, Gimood-akiwi ziibi, literally, the "Stolen-Land River" or "Thieving Land River," which originated when a band of Dakota Indians occupied a secret encampment along the river. The Falls marked the limit of navigability of the Red Lake River, where the eponymous townsite was established in 1887 and later incorporated as a city in 1896. A post office named Thief River operated February-May 1884 while still part of Polk County and was then reestablished in 1891. The city was a former terminus for the Great Northern and Soo Line railroads.

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