De Soto was a town platted in 1899 by the Minneapolis & St. Louis railroad one mile northeast of this site. A St. Paul resident in charge of the road's town site named it for Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto, identified as the discoverer of the Mississippi River. Because the Spanish-American War had just concluded, citizens of Lake Fremont Township resented having their rail station named for a Spaniard. Since De Soto was accessible only from the east, residents raised $1,500 to move farther south and create the nearby community of Dunnell. De Soto existed only for a few months before yielding to public sentiment and a better location, and the land reverted to its previous owner, the Eric Olson family.