Lake Minnetonka is an inland lake located approximately 15 miles (24 km) west-southwest of Minneapolis, Minnesota. The lake lies within Hennepin and Carver Counties and is surrounded by thirteen different municipalities. At 14,528 acres (59 km²), Lake Minnetonka is Minnesota's ninth largest and is one of the state's most popular lakes among boaters, fishermen, and recreationists.

History

Early History

The first people who likely inhabited the Lake Minnetonka area were Paleo-Indians who migrated to the region at the end of the last ice age circa 8000 BCE. Later peoples who inhabited the area between 3500 BCE and 1500 CE are often referred to collectively as the "Mound Builders" because they were known to construct large land features which served spiritual, ceremonial, burial, and elite residential functions. The Mound Builder civilization reached its apex circa 1150 CE and ceased to exist circa 1500 CE.

By the 1700s Lake Minnetonka was inhabited by the Mdewakanton People, a sub-tribe of the Dakota Nation. Although their primary settlements lay within the Minnesota River Valley, the Mdewakanton frequented Lake Minnetonka to hunt, fish, and collect maple syrup. Spirit Knob, a peninsula near present-day Wayzata, also held spiritual significance for the Mdewakanton. Following the Dakota War of 1862, however, the Dakota were banished from Minnesota and forced to leave the area.