The history of Horicon
marsh reflects the vital, abundant
life within it. the marsh's story
is a tale of life, death and rebirth
as the area changed from wetland to
wasteland and back again.
It was born as a
by product of the great glaciers of
the last Ice Age about 12.000 years
ago. The marsh is renowned for its
Canada geese and other wildlife, but
is equally recognized as a place where
visitors can clearly see an extinct
glacial lake so valued that the state
portion of the marsh's 32,000 wetland
acres, waterways, islands, wooded
and prairie shorelines forms a unit
of the Ice Age National Scientific
Reserve.
Archeological records
confirm this marsh has been a great
hunting ground, used by prehistoric
Indians since its waters first thawed
out of the Ice Age. nearly every prehistoric
Indian culture known to the upper
Midwest lived here at one time or
another.
More recent tribes
also called the marsh home. Horicon's
vast areas of open water and the headwaters
of the Rock River formed a natural
boundary between the forest-dwelling
Potawatomi tribe, who came to the
marsh's eastern border from Michigan,
and the Winnebago tribe, who settled
on the prairie lands to the west of
the marsh. In fact, the first recorded
name for the marsh was "The Great
Marsh of the Winnebagos," giving
credit to its early inhabitants.
For nearly 12,000
years the marsh sustained Native Americans.
In stark contrast to the European
settlers who followed, the Indians
only took what they needed from the
marsh to live, never changing the
marsh itself.
Solomon Juneau,
Milwaukee founder and explorer established
a town site on the south end of the
marsh in 1838. The first European
settlers arrived in the early 1840s.
The City of Horicon was officially
established in 1845. The first change
to the marsh came only one year later.
European
Settlement
In 1846, the marsh
outlet was dammed to provide power
for a sawmill, a grist mill and the
area's first iron works. This 150-foot-wide
dam impounded a huge area that hadn't
been under water since the Ice Age.
The dam held back enough water to
flood Horicon Marsh nine feet above
the level we see today. The resulting
50 square mile Lake Horicon was proclaimed
the largest man-made lake in the world.
It became such a
popular spot for commerce and tourism
that by the 1869, disputes arose among
local landowners whose land was flooded
and made unsuitable for farming. The
landowners took their case to the
State Supreme Court and the Court
ruled in their favor. In 1869, the
dam was removed and the area returned
to marshland.
Market Hunting
The 1870s to the
early 1900's marked another era in
Horicon's history. Private hunting
clubs began to establish on the marsh;
the rest was open to unregulated hunting
and market hunting.
In those days, wildlife
came in such number's as the settlers
had never see. Ducks, shorebirds and
the now extinct passenger pigeon appeared
in seemingly limitless numbers. Settlers
hunted without restrictions and pushed
wildlife resources beyond their limits
in only 25 to 30 years.
Hunting techniques
of the day have been mostly forgotten.
The birds were often baited. Going
out into the marsh with sacks of grain,
market hunters scattered food about
to lure the birds to the site. Once
the birds had established a feeding
habit, the hunters would wait in their
blinds. They shot with punt guns -
2- and 4- gauge shotguns. These guns
could kill 30 to 50 ducks in a single
shot. In 1876, the Mayville newspaper
ran an article in which one fellow
claimed he'd killed 96 ducks with
one shot on Horicon Marsh. Downed
birds were packed into barrels, 200
at a time, and entire freight cars
filled with barrels of birds were
shipped to Milwaukee and Chicago for
sale.
Hunting continued
in the spring and fall. Spring hunting,
which was finally banned in 1905,
was particularly devastating because
birds were nesting. By the turn of
the century, skies once filled with
endless clouds of birds remained empty.
Given time, protected
habitat and restricted hunting in
spring, the birds could slowly add
to their numbers and might have recovered,
but the marsh itself would suffer
further disaster.
Ditch andTtill
By the turn of the
century, the land around Horicon had
begun to change. Solid hardwood forest
had been cut over to make room for
farms, cities, towns a roads. The
rich soil beneath the prairies was
plowed under. In the middle of all
this development lay Horicon Marsh,
now depleted of its wildlife. People
saw one more opportunity to "improve"
the marsh for human purposes.
In 1910, an effort
to ditch and drain Horicon Marsh for
agricultural production began. By
contract with a Chicago manufacturer,
a dredge was assemble on the marsh.
It took four years to dig the main
ditch: a 14-mile long scar cut down
the middle of the marsh. At the same
time, a series of lateral trenches
was dug to gather water and draw it
to the central drainage ditch. By
1916, all of the ditches were completed
and it appeared the marsh would be
converted into some of the richest
farmland in the upper Midwest.
Farmers tried to
raise root crops" onion, carrots
and potatoes. As soon as the early
1920s, the much farmers came to realize
the marsh's limited potential for
farming. In wet years, the marsh-retained
water into spring, making it impossible
to work the land. Even if corps grew,
heavy fall rains prevented harvest.
The marsh's peat soils were difficult
to drain, and farming plans quickly
faded.
Once the water was
drained away, the natural plant life
plowed under and the heavy soil tilled,
the exposed peat began to dry and
rot during summer ... and it caught
on fire! Peat fires raged on for a
12-year period. One fire reportedly
burned continuously for three years.
Devoid of water, stripped of wetland
vegetation, ditched, tilled and scorched,
the smoldering wasteland lay useless
to people and wildlife.
The Restoration
Era
Under the leadership
of Louis 'Curley' Radke, the Izaak
Walton League began the fight to restore
the marsh. Their primary battlefield
was not in Horicon, but in Madison
at the State Capitol. For seven long
years the Ikes drew support from other
conservationists and worked with the
State Legislature to forge the Horicon
Marsh Wildlife Refuge Bill of 1927.
It provided money to buy the land
and construct the dam, which is still
operated today.
Once the dam gates
were closed in 1934, the peat fires
were doused and original water levels
were restored. Marsh supporters hoped
that native wetlands plants would
grow again and the area might function
enough like a natural wetland to lure
back wildlife. It seemed like a long
shot, since no one had restored wetland
on such a grand scale. Fortunately,
nature is resilient. In only a few
short years, the water, aquatic plants
and brushy shore began to repair itself.
In 1941, the federal
government purchased the rest of the
marsh. Today, the marsh area is an
intensive restoration project.
Exploring Horicon
by canoe can take you away from the
crowds and closer to egrets, herons
and muskrats. The DNR Horicon office
can provide maps
The southern third
(11,000 acres) is a state wildlife
area, managed by the Wisconsin Department
of Natural Resources. The northern
two thirds (21,000 acres) are a national
wildlife refuge, administered by the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Altogether,
we have restored the original 13 1/2
mile long, three- to 5 1/2 mile wide
basin, covering 32,0000 acres. It
is the largest freshwater cattail
marsh in the U.S. More redhead ducks
are raised here than on any wetland
east of the Mississippi. The marsh
is managed primarily for waterfowl,
but habitat created for ducks and
geese also lures other wildlife.
How far have we
come and what kind of job are we doing?
The wildlife tell us. Every year,
more than 200 species of birds are
sighted on this marsh. Over the years,
a total of 268 species have been seen
here; among the sights are a spectacular
heron and egret rookery and several
rare, threatened and endangered species.
In addition, Horicon is home to many
mammals, frogs, turtles and fish.
What does this natural
history lesson teach us? Some places
are best left as we found them. Nature
intended these vast wet vistas remain
a mixture of water, reeds, grasses,
prairies and forests. We didn't appreciate
Horicon marsh nor recognize all its
benefits until we destroyed it. Once
the marsh was gone, we lost everything;
not just one species, but all of the
wildlife that depended on it. It has
take us decades to begin restoring
the diversity we took for granted
when this area was settle.
Today, Horicon is
much more than a Canada goose marsh.
This is a wetland ecosystem, equally
important to each of its inhabitants.
And also important to people, as a
place to enjoy, to learn about wildlife,
and to reflect on a human history
that could not unearth more abundance
that nature gave us.
by Bill Volkert
©1990, Wisconsin Natural Resources
Magazine, Wisconsin Department of
Natural
