Trempealeau 713 |
Adjacent to Trempealeau to the northwest is Perrot State Park. (I've been there.) Just across the waters of the Trempealeau River, which joins the Mississippi here, is Trempealeau Mountain. It seems to be a "mountain soaked in water", which is what the Indians first called it. In French, trempealeau (trempe l'eau) means "soaked in water".
The original settlement was first called Reed's Landing or Reed's Town for James Reed. William Hood later changed it to Montoville or Mountainville. Timothy Burns called it Montoville-Trempealeau, a name that lasted only a few weeks before being shortened to Trempealeau.