Medicine Lake takes its name from the nearby lake which was named by the Indians because they found many medicinal herbs and roots on its shores. They also believed that the water had medicinal qualities. The lake is now the center of Medicine Lake National Wildlife Refuge. Thousands of migrating waterfowl make their summer home at refuge. Great blue herons, white pelicans, sandhill cranes, grebes and twelve different species of ducks share the prairie lake ecosystem.