Location
Birch is in Renville County On the southwest border of this county the Minnesota River receives Hawk Creek and Sacred Heart Creek in the townships bearing these names, the first being a translation from its Dakota name, Chetamba, which is now given to a creek flowing into it from Ericson and Wang; Middle Creek in Flora; Beaver Creek, with West and East Forks, translated from the Dakota, as noted for Beaver Falls Township; Birch Cooley or Creek, also from the Dakota and before noticed for the township named from it; and Three Mile Creek in Camp, so named for its distance northwest from Fort Ridgely. Farther east, in Cairo, are Fort Creek and Mud or Little Rock Creek, flowing into Nicollet County and there tributary to the Minnesota River respectively near Fort Ridgely and near the site of a former trading post called Little Rock, adjoining an extensive rock outcrop in the Minnesota valley. From: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, First edition 1920. Third Edition 2001. Print.
