About the Town.

Devils Lake is a small rural city of about 7,200 people in the north east corner of North Dakota. It is situated on eastern shore of the largest body of water in the state which provides the town revenue in the form of tourism. Up untill the late 19th centuary the town consisted of little more than a few land claims but the introduction of the steamboat and later the railroad brought commerce and people to the area.

The area surrounding Devil's Lake inculdes a large Indian reservation named Spirit Lake Nation and an old frontier fort called Fort Totem which is currently a historic park. The area as a whole is rich in history and local legends.

Local Legends

Devils Lake Monster

Devils Lake itself was orginally called "Bad Spirit Lake" by the local Indian population. This name came in part from a Chippewa Indians story about a lake monster who killed an entire Indian Army and destroyed all wildlife in the lake. The monster was believed to have come from Mexico.

Captain Heerman

Captain Edward Edson Heerman was the first and last man ever to operate a steamboat on Devils Lake. Born in 1834, raised in the east, he was a steamboat captain from the time he was nineteen untill the time of his death some 95 years later. He holds the record for the longest inland steamboat journey ever (some 4200 hundred miles) and is in large part responisble for bringing the town of Devils Lake to life with the commerce his steamboat brought . With much toil the good Captain constructed the Minnie H, his boat named after his only departed daughter and operated it for twenty five years untill the water levels in the lake grew too low. The Minnie H. spent its later years decaying in port.

 

The Town's Cemetery

The City of Devils Lake owns and operates its own cemetery. Most of the townspeople are buried here and below are the cost of buying/maintaining a grave site. Of special note is an area of the cemetery named "Babyland" where the towns departed infants are buried.

 

Opening and Closing	125.00
Winter Opening and Closing	240.00
Cremation (Interment)	100.00
---Cremains disinterment and re-burial	125.00
---Cremains disinterment and leave cemetery	75.00
Resident Infant Space & Opening & Closing (Babyland)	125.00
Nonresident Infant Space & Opening & Closing (Babyland)	175.00
Nonresident Maintenance Fee	250.00
Storage Fee, Anyone not buried in Devils Lake Cemetery ---plus $1.00 per day of storage, up to $100.00 maximum charge.	50.00
Disinterment and Re-burial	300.00
Disinterment and leave cemetery	150.00