 Prior to European exploration, the area of Windigo Lake was inhabited by the Ojibwa Indians.The first known visit by Europeans to the area was around 1659 when Pierre-Esprit Radisson and Médard des Groseilliers traveled from Chequamegon Bay on Lake Superior southward through the area and stayed for a period at an Indian village that has been identified as being located on nearby Lac Courte Oreilles.Windigo Lake was apparently well traveled by Indians and early traders and explorers who used it as part of the route from Lac Courte Oreilles (in the Chippewa River watershed), through Grindstone Lake and Windigo Lake and over the Namekagon Portage, to the Namekagon River (in the St. Croix River watershed).