Legend of Punished Woman's Lake

The bronze calls its story a legend and names no Dakota teller, and the published accounts of the lake's name trace back to this marker and to tourism writing. The lake itself is shallow and changeable. Punished Woman Lake covers 477 acres with about four and a half miles of shoreline, averages about twelve feet deep and lies at 1,841 feet, on the edge of South Shore. The state manages it for northern pike and yellow perch, and in hard summers and winters its shallowness brings fish kills that the state restocks after.

What the plaque says

Legend of Punished Woman's Lake During the Moon of the Harvest (August) in 1773 a band of Sioux were camped on the shore of this lake. We-Wa-Ke, fairest maiden in the camp had given her heart to a brave young warrior, Big Eagle, whose courage on the hunt and in battle far surpassed that of the other young men of the tribe. When he approached their lodge with gifts and a desire to have the maiden as his wife, Big Eagle was refused by We-Wa-Ke's father. The father instead accepted the gifts of a 60 year old chief, White Tail Wolf. While the tribe was celebrating this union, We-Wa-Ke and her warrior lover tried to escape on his pony. Pursued by other warriors in the tribe the pair was quickly caught and returned to this hill overlooking the lake. Here the chagrined old chief saw the lovers proudly raise their heads and declare their love for each other and vowed to meet in the Happy Hunting Grounds. The old chief was so angry that he killed the young warrior with his knife. The young maiden was ordered bound to a tree on the shore of the lake and the old chief shot an arrow into her heart. He then ordered the lovers buried side by side on this hill overlooking the lake. He ordered stones to be placed in the form of a warrior and a maid as a shameful reminder to all Indians. As the old chief called for the Evil Spirits to take them to the Land of Ever-Lasting Sorrow the Great Spirit heard him and caused a lightning bolt to flash from the clear blue sky and strike the old chief dead. The band piled stones on the chief's body to remind all that he was a murderer and outcast from the tribe. From that time on the lake was known as "Punished Woman's Lake." Erected 1973 by the South Shore Commercial Club, S.D. Department of Highways and the S.D. State Historical Society

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Brown Earth Indian Church — 8.7 mi
• Mellette House — 16 mi
• Old M. & St. L. Depot Museum — 16 mi
• Gen. A. A. Humphrey Post — 17 mi