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“Twain, however, was not as enamored with the legend behind the lake’s name as he was with the region itself. “Connected with White-bear Lake is a most idiotic Indian legend …â€� he wrote. It is a perplexing business. First, she fell down out of the tree—she and the blanket; and the bear caught her and fondled her—her and the blanket; then she fell up into the tree again—leaving the blanket; meantime the lover goes war-whooping home and comes back “heeled,â€� climbs the tree, jumps down on the bear, the girl jumps down after him—apparently, for she was up the tree—resumes her place in the bear’s arms along with the blanket, the lover rams his knife into the bear, and saves—whom? The blanket? No—nothing of the sort. You get yourself all worked up and excited about that blanket, and then all of a sudden, just when a happy climax seems imminent, you are let down flat—nothing saved but the girl! Whereas, one is not interested in the girl; she is not the prominent feature of the legend. Nevertheless, there you are left, and there you must remain; for if you live a thousand years you will never know who got the blanket. A dead man could get up a better legend than this one.”
― Barry Siegel, A Death in White Bear Lake: The True Chronicle of an All-American Town