the word "wisconsin" comes from the name that one of the algonquian speaking american indian groups living in the area gave to the wisconsin river. they named the wisconsin river at the time that the european contact happened. jacques marquette, a french , was the first european (or person from europe) to get to the wisconsin river and write down the name. he reached the wisconsin river in 1673. he wrote the name of the river as "meskousing" in his journal. over time, other explorers from france this name into "ouisconsin". this is now the french name for the wisconsin river. as of 1845, the government of the wisconsin territory gave the name "wisconsin" to the wisconsin river.