Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota: History
The county was established by the Minnesota legislature on March 6, 1871, with Granite Falls as the county seat. Its name comes from the Yellow Medicine River, which runs through the eastern part of the county to the Minnesota. The river's name derives from the moonseed plant, Menispermum canadense, whose yellow root the native Dakota people used for medicinal purposes.
It was proposed in 1878 to create a new county, taken from the western portions of Yellow Medicine, Lincoln, and Lac qui Parle counties. The state legislature approved the petition (subject to local voter approval), and Governor Pillsbury signed the act on February 27, 1879, but the proposal failed to garner a combined majority of votes in the three counties, and the proposed Canby County did not come into being.