Indian Lake is a small lake located in Indian Lake Township, Nobles County. The lake is an oblong body of water that extends north-to-south for approximately 3/4 mile. The width is approximately 1/2 mile. The lake area is . The average depth is , and the maximum depth is . The elevation of the lake is , or 468.17 meters. Nobles county won't take care of it. So it's full of seaweed .

History

The lake was named Indian Lake due to the fact that settlers found Native Americans encamped along the lake's shores when they first arrived in 1869. A dozen years earlier, a band of Indians led by

Inkpaduta Inkpaduta ( Dakota: Iŋkpáduta, variously translated as "Red End," "Red Cap," or "Scarlet Point") (about 17971881) was a war chief of the Wahpekute band of the Dakota (Eastern or Santee Dakota) during the 1857 Spirit Lake Massacre and later W ...

, the group responsible for the 1857

Spirit Lake Massacre The Spirit Lake Massacre (March 8–12, 1857) was an attack by a ''Wahpekute'' band of Santee Sioux on scattered Iowa frontier settlements during a severe winter. Suffering a shortage of food, the renegade chief Inkpaduta (Scarlet Point) led 14 ...

, lived along the shores of the lake. Indeed, the women and children of Inkpaduta's band were camped at Indian Lake when the massacre was taking place.

later fled westward, joining up with the

Lakotas The Lakota (; or ) are a Native American people. Also known as the Teton Sioux (from ), they are one of the three prominent subcultures of the Sioux people, with the Eastern Dakota (Santee) and Western Dakota (). Their current lands are in N ...

. He became a close friend of

Sitting Bull Sitting Bull ( ; December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota people, Lakota leader who led his people during years of resistance against Federal government of the United States, United States government policies. Sitting Bull was killed by Indian ...

, and participated in the

Battle of the Little Bighorn The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota people, Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota Si ...

and the defeat of

George Armstrong Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Custer graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point ...

. It is believed that Inkpaduta died in Canada in 1881 or 1882. Issac Horton, a pioneer settler, was the first to take up permanent residence along the shores of Indian Lake. He had been renting a farm near

Spirit Lake, Iowa Spirit Lake is a city in Dickinson County, Iowa, United States. The population was 5,439 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Dickinson County. The town is located along the western shore of East Okoboji Lake, in the Iowa Great Lakes ...

and frequently came to the Indian Lake region to hunt elk. On May 6, 1869, he filed a preemption claim to the eastern half of section 34 of Indian Lake Township. His claim included the eastern shore of Indian Lake. He erected a cabin of logs cut from his claim, and resided there for 17 years. Horton eventually sold his claim and purchased the southwest quarter of Indian Lake Township section 22 where he resided until his death in 1892. Throughout the years, Indian Lake has remained entirely rural. It is surrounded by farm land, and several farm families have built homes overlooking the lake. Nobles County maintains one park, Hawkeye Park, along the shores of Indian Lake.

Fishing in Indian Lake

Despite being fairly shallow, Indian Lake is well-stocked with several varieties of fish. Black crappies and white crappies are the most common fish. Black crappie lengths range from 7.4 to and average just over . White crappies range from 8.1 to 12.6 and average . The lake is stocked yearly with fingerling-sized walleye, and the total lengths range from 12.6 to and averaged . Northern pike have only been stocked once (February 2001) in the last 14 years. Total lengths range from 17.3 to and average . A total of 12 species of fish have been sampled in Indian Lake, including bigmouth buffalo, black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, common carp, freshwater drum, northern pike, walleye, white crappie, white sucker, yellow bullhead, and yellow perch.

Public access

Public access to Indian Lake can be found on the southwestern side of the lake at Hawkeye Park. This park is maintained by Nobles County and consists of developed and 35.7 undeveloped acres. The park includes a paved boat ramp.Nobles County Parks

References

{{authority control Lakes of Nobles County, Minnesota Lakes of Minnesota