History
Archaeologists indicate that it is one of the earliest known sites of human settlement in the state. The Rum River drains from Lake Mille Lacs into the Mississippi River to the south in Anoka, Minnesota. Father Hennepin State Park, Mille Lacs Kathio State Park, and portions of the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation are along the lake. On early French maps, the lake was also known as Lac Baude or Minsisaugaigun. In the Dakota language, the lake is known as Mde Wakan (Spiritual/Mystic Lake), which was the basis for the name of the Mdewakanton division of the Santee Sioux. It is the largest lake in the Brainerd Lakes Area (or in French: Il est le plus grand lac dans la Pays de Mille Lacs), thus it was named “Mille Lacs Lake” as the Brainerd Lakes Area was called “Region of Thousand Lakes” (Pays de Mille Lacs) in French.