Lac qui Parle State Park near Watson, Minnesota, lies beside a widening of the Minnesota River whose name comes from the French rendering of the Dakota Mde Iyedan, or “lake that speaks.” The park emerged from the Lac qui Parle Flood Control Project, centered on a dam at the lake’s south end built by the Works Progress Administration. Related development included the Watson Wayside, the Lac qui Parle Parkway, and the reconstruction of the Lac qui Parle Mission. The park’s New Deal-era structures, especially the Model Shelter, kitchen shelter, and sanitation building, connect it to a broader historic public-works effort along the Minnesota River.