Amo township comprises all of congressional township 106, range 37, west. It is situated south of Storden township, west of Dale, north of Springfield and east of Rose Hill township. Its thirty-six sections contain some of the finest land in southern Minnesota. It is settled by an industrious class of citizens, mostly of foreign birth, who have made a prairie wilderness blossom like the rose. The principal lake within the township is Lake Augusta. With the passing of years much of the former swampy land has been transformed into beautiful pastures. The schools and churches of the township are mentioned at length in other chapters of this volume.

The population in 1895 was 296; in 1900 it was 385, and according to the census taken by the United States in 1910, the township contained a population of 395.

There are no towns or villages within this township and it is purely an agricultural and dairy section, where the people vie one with another in making substantial improvements and beautifying their places. Many of the old homesteads of the county were located in Amo and have long years since come to be valuable farms. The hundreds of artificial groves seen here and there over this township, lend a charm once seen never to be forgotten. It was the wisdom and foresight of the pioneer band of settlers, which caused to be planted out the cottonwood, the elm, the ash, the willow and the maple trees, which today weave in the winds with their branches extending far and wide, as so many living, growing monuments to those hardy pioneers who set them out. These groves have for years provided fire-wood for the farmer and made an excellent wind-break in winter time, as well as a cooling retreat in the hot summer months.

ORGANIZATION.

Amo was formed as a civil township of Cottonwood county in February, 1873, at a special meeting of the board of county commissioners. It was effected through a petition signed by the legal voters of township 108, ranges 37 and 38, asking that they be set off as a separate civil township, to be known as Amo, the territory formerly being included in Westbrook township. The first election was held March 4, 1873, at the school house in district No. 4, in township 108, range 37, west.

The record shows that it was first named "Georgetown," but soon changed. It is believed that W. H. Benbow named it "Amo," which in Latin means "I love."