Wisconsin School for the Deaf - Tattler Yearbook (Delavan, WI)

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Page eighteen rival to the well-known falls of the Yellowstone. The many lakes of the State are surrounded by cottages and summer homes of Wisconsin and out of state people. Wisconsin is the chief play ground of Chicago's millions. Here near Deiavan lie some of the most popular summer resorts in the Middle West. Lake Geneva is one of the loveliest lakes of this region. Many costly summer homes of Chicago people are built on its shores. The lake with its high wooded banks, is very beautiful and its waters crystal clear. Thousands of visitors find health and happiness there. Deiavan Lake which is about three miles from Deiavan is not so large as Lake Geneva but it is just as popular. Lake Como is the name Legends of By IRENE A LIST of Wisconsin topics would hardly be complete without “Legends of Wisconsin'’. a subject which has suffered some neglect until recent years, when people have become interested in Indian lore and have carefully accumulated and preserved all legends that could be obtained. As many of these weird, fantastic. Indian tales have been carried down through generations, and since they are usually based on historical facts, we can gain through them ideas of the early history of Wisconsin. Sometimes it was a war between enemy tribes that prompted a legend. Often it was the personal affair of Indian lovers, who had to compete against the greatest of odds in attempts to meet. This was true of Indian braves who loved Indian maidens of an enemy tribe, or maidens who had their husbands chosen for them by their stern father-chiefs. Much, perhaps most, of Indian lore is founded on some outstanding peculiarity of a place or district. It is for these reasons that many of our Wisconsin names are of Indian origin. Of all the legends, the one presenting the Indian’s idea as to how the Wisconsin River was formed is, perhaps, the most interesting. It is of Chippewa origin and is related as follows : The Wisconsin River bed was formed by a The Tattler given to a third lake near by all of which get their names from three famous lakes in Switzerland. The hills, valleys, rivers, and lakes of Wisconsin extend a friendly hand to man. Its hills are not too large to climb nor its valleys too wide to walk across. One can row across its lakes. There is nothing remote or inaccessible about Wisconsin. It invites one to stay ami live there. Southern Wisconsin, with its fertile farms is the garden spot of the earth and can well be described by Scott’s lines: “Far to the south and east where lay. Extending in succession gay, Deep waving fields and pastures green. With gentle slopes and groves between. Wisconsin IVERSON gigantic serpent that lived in the dark forests, which surrounded a great lake in Northern Wisconsin. No other animal dared venture near him. so huge and powerful he was. One time when this monster left the forest and started for the sea. every creature that saw him trembled with fear. As he moved along, a deep groove was made in the ground by his heavy body. This filled immediately with water. In crawling the serpent would Hap his tail so hard that the water splashed far and wide, leaving a small lake wherever it happened to fall. When the other animals heard him. they made their eseupe to the right and left. This explains the origin of the numerous rivers and streams that empty into the Wisconsin River. Often rocks were in this monster’s way so he crawled over them making water falls. The rugged beauty at Wisconsin Dells is the result of this animal’s passing through that region. There being so much rock, instead of going over it as he had done previously when encountering such formations, he thrust his head through cracks tearing the rocks in two. The distorted movements made to get through can be easily guessed by the queer shnpes of the rocks. In some places the banks of the river are wider than in others owing to the fact that in these he rested.

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Nineteen thirty-eight Page seventeen Beauty Spots of Wisconsin Bjr GENEVIEVE PERHAI HUNDREDS of millions of years ago Wisconsin was very hilly. Erosion slowly wore the hills down and glaciers covered it and ground the hills lower still. Various kinds of soil such as gravel, sand, and mud were brought and dropped here and there. River valleys were filled in places so that the water was backed up to form numerous marshes and lakes. The largest lake in Wisconsin is Lake Winnebago, thirty miles long and ten miles wide. There are thousands of others. The Driftless Area is that part of western and southwestern Wisconsin which the glaciers did not cover. Valleys and hills here give us a very good idea of how the whole state looked before the glaciers came. Castle Mound near Black River Falls is one of the fantastic rock formations found in the driftless area which reminds one of Wyoming scenery. Two natural bridges are in this area— one at Rockbridge, which is an arch spanning a stream and the other near Iceland in Sauk County. The gorge of the Mississippi along the western border of the Driftless Area furnishes the most rugged and interesting scenery to be found in Wisconsin. The charm of green ridges and grassy narrow valleys broken by deep, uneven’coulees in middle western Wisconsin, has been given everlasting life in descriptions by Hamlin Garland. a famous author and native of western Wisconsin. In an effort to preserve and make accessible to its people the beauty spots in the state, Wisconsin has built a system of state parks which protect some of the scenic areas and a few places of special historic interest. The Dell's Region of the Wisconsin River is one of the most wonderful scenic places in Wisconsin. Today it is a vacation land, widely advertised and highly commercialized. Thousands of visitors come from ull over the United States to see the Dells. One of the most beautiful places in the state is Copper Falls state park, four miles from Mellen, Ashland County. A small stream named the Bad River, throws itself sixty-five feet down into a rugged gorge forming what is called Copper Falls. The spray from tumbling water on shiny rocks looks like a rainbow when seen from a point on a pine-covered hill at a bend lower down the river. The Bad River is very interesting in spite of it not having great depth. Many forest trails lead through the nine hundred twenty acres included in this park, showing splendid views of the river’s gorge. Rib Mountain, an ancient landmark about six miles from Wausau is now a state park. This mountain, the highest point in Wisconsin, rises eight hundred feet above the Wisconsin River. On the top fresh, cool breezes cheer the summer visitors. A good road leads to the top of the mountain and hundreds of people drive up this highway to see the beautiful and glorious sunsets. Devil's Lake State Park in the rocky Bara-boo range shows true mountain scenery. Devil’s Lake lies in a gorge which was cut by the Wisconsin River before it was changed to its present course by glaciers many thousands of years ago. This jewel-like mountain lake with its rocky shore line attracts geology classes from many universities who spend several weeks each year in the park and surrounding area. Forests and Indian Mounds also attract interest to the park which has become a famous recreational area. Peninsula State Park in Door County, the thumb of Wisconsin, is very interesting. On the way one passes through forests of cherry trees which have become famous as the “Cherry-land” of Wisconsin. One has fine views of Green Bay from the park, particularly the view of Eagle Island from Eagle Bluff. There are many kinds of trees in this park. Beautiful roads and trails lead through the three thousand four hundred acre tract. Three bluffs make picturesque cliffs rising high above the waters of the Bay. Pattison Park which is twelve miles south of Superior is a favorite place for travelers, who stop there for camping, swimming, and picnicking. Manitou Falls in this park is just a beauty. It plunges one hundred sixty-five feet down dark rocks. It is Wisconsin's chief

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Nineteen thirty-eight After reaching the Dells he turned West, consequently the Wisconsin River empties into the Mississippi. Another legend is connected with the forming of l.ake Michigan. It furnishes an amusing explanation as to why that lake is so rough at times. It was believed by the Sauk Indiana that when the world was created, the area where hake Michigan now lies was occupied by small lakes. Since they varied greatly in size, it wasn't long before they began quarreling. Each wanted to be situated in the best place. For a long time this continued; until wearying of the constant dispute, they at last held a meeting, where it was decided that the only solution to the problem was to form one groat lake. This would bring satisfaction to all. This body of water we now call taike Michigan. While it is usually quiet, it at times seems to put forth an effort to destroy boats traveling on its surface. The reason for this is supposed to be that the smaller lakes are trying to break themselves free again. The following story enables us to see the methods that the Indian used in making his wants known and how he saw them through: We find that a tribe called the Noquets for many years had possession of the islands off the shores of Green Bay. These islands were rich in game and fish, on which the Noquets lived, never knowing the pangs of hunger. Theirs was a quiet, peaceful life. All of a sudden one day a Potawatomi tribe, upon finding out that the Noquets were away, landed on the islands claiming them as their own. With the return of the Noquets trouble began. There was nothing by which the intruding tribe could prove any claim, so the Noquets took the invasion as a serious insult and vowed revenge. This, of course, meant war. Their method of proclaiming it was filling their canoes with Indian warriors and heading for the pen- Pagc nineteen insula with intentions of raiding the Potawatomi village. They had not gone far. however, when a terrible wind swept the waters. Every canoe sank beneath the mighty waves and not one Noquet survived. Their people waited in vain for their return. Sometime later bodies were found on Detroit Island, so here the Noquet braves were given a mass burial. A legend concerning the love of an Indian maiden gives us the name Maiden Rock, a name borne by a bluff and a village which are located a few miles east of Red Wing. Minnesota. Wenona. the daughter of Red Wing, a Dakota chief, was loved by many a young Indian brave; and to one she gave her heart. This brave. White Eagle, happened to be one from an enemy tribe with which her father’s people were almost constantly at war. Wenona pleaded in vain for her father's permission to marry White Eagle. He so strongly opposed the marriage that he said he would prefer seeing his daughter dead than to have her wedded to an enemy tribesman. Her father had alread r chosen for her husband an old Dakota chief. One day while White Eagle was waiting on a bluff for Wenona, her father called all his warriors together and commanded them to find and kill this Chippewa brave. The girl ran to warn her lover. While talking to him. an arrow pierced his heart Refusing to give herself up to her own people, she ran to the edge of the bluff and jumped before anyone could prevent her. Rather than become the wife of one she didn't love, she preferred following her true lover into eternity. The above legends are a mere fraction of the number collected. Nevertheless, these may give some idea of Indian lore connected with Wisconsin and how it originated. Reading them, we realize that our own state, too, once knew primitive life and the superstition associated with it. MARY ANN I.AKKN was forced to withdraw from school on account of Mines , and. therefore, was unuble to complete her e jtay for putilication.