On This Date in Minnesota History: February 20

February 20, 1855 – Faribault County, Minn., was established on this date, and “named in honor of Jean Baptiste Faribault, who was engaged during the greater part of his long life as a trader among the Sioux, at first for the Northwest Fur Company. His influence with the Indian tribes west of the Mississippi, from the Missouri to the Red river, was very great. He endeavored to teach them agriculture, and was the first white settler to cultivate the soil in [Minnesota].”

Upham, Warren; Minnesota Geographic Names, Their Origin and Historic Significance; Minnesota Historical Society (St. Paul, Minn., 1969); p. 183.

Jean Baptiste Faribault

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jean-Baptiste_Faribault_by_Rosch,_c1860.jpg