SHELL RIVER Township gets its name from the mussel or clam shells of this river and of Shell Lake, at its source in Becker County. The Ojibwe, according to Gilfillan, call the lake by a different name, meaning "the lake lying near the mountain," that is, near a portage crossing the water divide between the Crow Wing and Otter Tail Rivers. Thence they also give that name to the Shell River.

Blueberry River and Lake, and Leaf, Redeye, Shell, and Wing Rivers, from which townships are named, have been noticed in the preceding pages, and the French and English names of Partridge River are translations of its Ojibwe name. The origin of the name of Union Creek is not known.

The Twin Lakes, on the course of the Shell River, are crossed by the north line of this county.

Stocking Lake, named from its shape, outflows by Stocking Creek to the Shell River.