From the earliest Indigenous people in the area to the fur traders, lumbermen, railroads, merchants, and settlers, people have been drawn to the lake — Bemidjigamaag — a place where the river runs through; a place on which to live, to stay for a while or to settle for good; a lake for fishing and sustenance; a lake and river for paddling, moving people, moving logs; a lake for recreation and sport; a lake for sunrises, sunsets, walks through Diamond Point Park, bike rides along the Paul Bunyan Trail; a lake to enjoy, to protect, to preserve. To live on such a lake has been the good fortune for the City of Bemidji for 125 years. The story of Bemidji, named for the lake, is inseparable from the story of the lake. In Bemidji 125, this 125th Anniversary of the City of Bemidji honors the lake, the people, and the city on the lake.