History of Lakeland
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Area History
Minnesota territory was the land of the Dakota Indians (Sioux) centuries ago. As settlers moved west, the Ojibwa (Chippewa) were pushed into the area. After years of warfare, Washington County became the land of the Chippewa's. The first white explorer in the area was Sieur du Lhut in the summer of 1680. Treaties in 1837 opened the land for permanent white settlement. The area's vast timber reserves attracted an abundance of settlers.
The first white settlers of Afton were French families from the Red River of the North. They settled at the mouth of Boles Creek about 1837. Lemuel Boles made a claim in 1843 and built the first flour mill that was operated by waterpower. German's migrated to Afton during the 1860's and 1870's, and in the late 70's and 80's Swedes arrived.
In the summer of 1840, fur traders Peter Bouchea and Louis Massey paddled their canoes into the mouth of the Willow River, which is the name they gave to the area around the river. Peter Bouchea reported killing 130 deer, 16 elk, and 3 bears, all in one autumn, the town site of Willow River. In 1848, Joel Foster changed the name to Buena Vista, meaning "beautiful view." In 1852, the first mayor A. D. Gray decided to call the town Hudson, because it resembled the Hudson River Valley in New York.