How Churubusco got its name.(Chicago Tribune)

Long before it was Turtle Town U.S.A., Churubusco was Indian territory inhabited by the Miami tribe and their chief named _ no lie _ Little Turtle. A distinguished leader, Little Turtle met with U.S. presidents George Washington, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.

When white settlers came in the 1830s, one chunk of town was originally dubbed Franklin.

But after a post office permit was denied in 1847 because another Indiana locale had that name, a new moniker had to be picked.

According to contemporary accounts, this caused fierce debate between three immigrant settlers.

"The German proposed the name Brunswick and the Englishman wanted it to be Liverpool. But the furious Irishman insisted that the name should be Maloney," according to the Tri-County Truth newspaper.

It almost came to fisticuffs when a Mrs. Jackson, in an appeal to patriotism, suggested Churubusco, after the Mexican site where U.S. forces had just won a climactic military campaign. The Irishman said he could not pronounce the name, but supported it if it was patriotic. Not knowing it was Mexican, he added: "But I'll never permit a foreign name for my town."

Even more tongue-twisting is the original Aztec name of the Mexican town, Huizilopochoo (named for the Aztec war god ...