White Bear Lake, named by Dakota people for the legendary white bear killed by a warrior, has attracted people from ancient times onward. Its resort era began in 1853 when Villeroy B. Barnum built the first hotel, and hundreds arrived by wagon and, after 1868, by train to picnic, fish, and boat as hotels and cottages spread along the shore. In 1882, Mark Twain praised the lake in Life on the Mississippi as a lovely summer resort with a clubhouse, hotel, fine summer residences, fishing, hunting, and pleasant drives, and a direct rail line from the Twin Cities built in 1889 brought a dozen tourist-filled trains each day. Five resort hotels lined the shoreline in 1890, and although automobiles and changing vacation habits ended its golden resort era, its romantic past and recreational attractions still draw thousands of visitors each year. Dakota tradition tells of a young warrior and a chief’s daughter who loved one another but were refused permission to marry; when a large white bear seized the maiden on an island, the warrior rushed back with his knife, killed the bear, saved her, gained honor, and soon married her.