Lake Hendricks was named for Thomas A. Hendricks, Commissioner of the General Land Office from 1855 to 1859, when the state boundary was surveyed and the lake named. Hendricks later served as a Member of Congress from 1851 to 1855, U.S. Senator from 1863 to 1869, Governor of Indiana from 1873 to 1877, and Vice President in 1885. The park opened in 1951, and a log cabin was moved there as a memorial to the pioneers who settled this part of Brookings County in the 1870s and 1880s. Built in 1874 by Nils Bogen from well-hewn oak logs taken from the shore of Oak Lake, the cabin originally stood a quarter mile west of Oak Lake, was taken apart and moved 2 1/2 miles south in 1884, was occupied by Even Anderson's family until about 1893 and then by Theodor Sand's family from about 1895 to 1903, was joined to Esten Johnson's frame house about 1906, and after the farm passed to Marvin Vizecky, was bought in 1960, moved again, and rebuilt there in the fall of 1960. Brookings County was home to roving Indians until 1862. Nicollet and Fremont visited Oakwood Lakes in July 1838, leaving the first reliable record. The region east of the Big Sioux was ceded by the Santee Sioux in 1851 and that to the west by the Yankton Sioux in 1859. A breastwork was made at Oakwood Lakes in 1859 and occupied again from 1862 to 1864. Nobles' wagon road was built through the county in 1857, crossing the Big Sioux over an improved ford, and the settlement of Medary existed there in 1857 and 1858 until Sioux forced its abandonment. Permanent settlement began nearby in 1869 by 10 Norwegians, with Medary serving as the county seat from 1871 to 1879, and another colony of 31 settled at Lake Hendricks in July 1873. Population increased rapidly after 1877, reaching 4965 in 1880 and 10,132 in 1890. Brookings County was created in 1862 and named for Wilmot W. Brookings, a pioneer judge and legislator; until 1873 it included parts of Moody, Lake, and Kingsbury Counties. It was organized on July 3, 1871, in Martin N. Trygstad's cabin 4 miles northwest of Medary. Most towns began in 1879 when the Northwestern R. R. crossed the county, and others followed when roads pushed north in 1884, while Medary, Oakwood, and Fountain became ghost towns and Brookings became the county seat. State College was established in Brookings in 1881 and opened in 1884.