Robbins Island was formed about 25,000 years ago during the Wisconsin glaciation period. Early people used it as a refuge from prairie fires and their enemies. Artifacts, including a copper projectile point about 3 thousand years old, have been found here. Swan Swanson and family took refuge here from the Dakota, or Sioux, Indians during the Uprising on August 21, 1862. Before becoming part of the Willmar park system in 1934, the island was owned by J.S. Robbins, a pioneer business family of Willmar, from whom it received its name.