Remnants of their presence remain in the prehistoric burial mounds of various shapes and sizes in the woodland areas surrounding the lake. The first European-Americans believed to have visited the lake region were two teenage boys named Joe Brown and Will Snelling, who travelled west up Minnehaha Creek by canoe. In the late 1850s, ginseng became a major commodity that played a critical role in the economy of the region, particularly during the financial depression of the Panic of 1857.
Before 1852, Lake Minnetonka was not presented on maps, but thanks to Governor Ramsey, who visited the lake and saw the potential for settlement in the region, Lake Minnetonka appeared on a map for the first time. That same year, a dam was created, and a year later, the first settlement, the town of Excelsior was created by a group of immigrants from New York. Launched in 1861, the Governor Ramsey became the first steamboat on Lake Minnetonka, and in another six years, the Saint Paul and Pacific Railroad made access to the lake much