Cooling Our Heels in Lake Waconia

Cooling Our Heels in Lake Waconia

by jesse norman bergstrom

Over the years, there have been many stories told about the lands and lakes of Minnesota. From the Mdewakanton to the Gichi Onigaming to the French Voyageurs to the loggers and settlers who turned the Big Woods into farmland, every culture that has lived in Minnesota has told stories of how our beautiful lakes came to be. This is but one of those tales, but it is a tall one.

Has anyone ever told you to cool your heels because you're rushing from one thing to the next? Well, this is a tale of how our town wouldn’t even be here if people didn’t sit down and cool their heels every once in a while. Now, many of you have heard about the mighty lumberjack Paul Bunyan and Babe, his Blue Ox. What you might not have heard about is the day that he left his mark in Carver County right here in Waconia.

Now, Waconia is right on the edge of the Big Woods, and Paul had been given the task of cutting down all them big trees. Settlers were coming, and they needed room. And those new folks would need a railroad to bring them supplies and take their grain to Duluth and then to all the folks back east. So, in the morning, after eating a mountain of pancakes, Paul started by clearing the Minnesota portion of the Great Northern Railway connecting St. Paul, Duluth, to Seattle. He even cleared a portion right here that has now become the Dakota Rail Trail.

But boy, it was a hot one that day! It was one of those sweltering July Minnesota days. To cool off at lunch, he and Babe sat on a hill by the banks of the Minnesota River and drank until the river was dry. After drinking all that water, they lay down for a short nap. Crushing the trees on that hill, they opened the land for what would be the first town in the area. Being the town, the Dakota living nearby called the place Chaska, a name they often give to their firstborn sons.

After their siesta, Paul and Babe got back to work, truly clearing them big woods. Swing after swing, Paul’s mighty axe made way for the new farmers. Paul’s sweat started streaming, and quickly, it swelled the creeks feeding the Minnesota River. Babe hauled trees back to the refilling river to be shipped back east and build the great cities of America. That day, they chopped down trees in what would later be Scott, Wright, and Carver counties. At the end of the day, they were proud of a job well done, but they were also very hot and very tired.

Boy howdy, did they need to cool down. Now, when you are bigger than the trees, it is difficult to sit in their shade. And since Paul’s bootprints made most of the lakes in these here parts they would need something bigger if they wanted anything more than a toe swim. So, taking his axe, Paul dug out a hole big enough for Babe to lay in. Needing water, Paul stabbed the ground with his pike pole and created a spring to feed the lake. Because of that, the nearby Dakota people named the place Waconia, which means “spring.”

But he wasn’t quite done. Paul, being tired and wanting a sit-down, decided he needed to have a seat in the middle of his new lake. With his big hands, he dug a hole and threw the dirt in the middle of the lake. Moving that dirt, he made both Coney Island and Burandt Lake in one fell swoop. Then Paul sat down and dipped his feet in while Babe waded in and turned the cool waters blue.

That day, Paul and Babe were the first to enjoy our wonderful lake and island. Ever since, people have been cooling their heels in our town and in our lake, and if you look closely on hot July days, you can still see hints of Babe’s blue rippling in the cool waters of Lake Waconia.