The territorial legislature creates the original nine counties of Minnesota. Benton County is named for Thomas Hart Benton, a senator from Missouri who promoted settler colonialism; Dakota is for the Dakota people; Itasca for the headwaters of the Mississippi River; Ramsey for the new territory's governor; Wabasha for multiple Dakota leaders; and Washington for our nation's first president. Three of the original counties no longer appear on a Minnesota map: Wahnahta County, near Lake Traverse, was named for Wanotan, a leader of the Yankton Dakota; Pembina County included much of what would become North and South Dakota; and Mahkahta County was north of present-day Crow Wing County.