Horicon Marsh
Encyclopedia
Marsh
In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....
located in northern Dodge
Dodge County, Wisconsin
Dodge County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of 2010, the population was 88,759. Its county seat is Juneau.-Geography:According to the U.S...
and southern Fond du Lac
Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin
Fond du Lac County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of 2000, the population was 97,296. Its county seat is Fond du Lac. The United States Census Bureau's Fond du Lac Metropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Fond du Lac County. The county name is French for "bottom of the...
counties of Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
. It is the site of both a national
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and state wildlife refuge
Wildlife refuge
A wildlife refuge, also called a wildlife sanctuary, may be a naturally occurring sanctuary, such as an island, that provides protection for species from hunting, predation or competition, or it may refer to a protected area, a geographic territory within which wildlife is protected...
. The extinct glacial lake is the largest freshwater cattail marsh in the United States.
Geological history
Horicon Marsh was created by the Green Bay lobe of the Wisconsin glaciationWisconsin glaciation
The last glacial period was the most recent glacial period within the current ice age occurring during the last years of the Pleistocene, from approximately 110,000 to 10,000 years ago....
during the Pleistocene
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
era. The glacier
Glacier
A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...
, during its advance created many drumlin
Drumlin
A drumlin, from the Irish word droimnín , first recorded in 1833, is an elongated whale-shaped hill formed by glacial ice acting on underlying unconsolidated till or ground moraine.-Drumlin formation:...
s (a type of knoll) in the region, many of which have become the islands of Horicon Marsh. The marsh and surrounding Dodge County have the highest concentration of drumlins in the world.
During the glacier's retreat, a moraine
Moraine
A moraine is any glacially formed accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris which can occur in currently glaciated and formerly glaciated regions, such as those areas acted upon by a past glacial maximum. This debris may have been plucked off a valley floor as a glacier advanced or it may have...
was created, forming a natural dam
Dam
A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...
holding back the waters from the melting glacier and forming Glacial Lake Horicon. The Rock River
Rock River (Illinois)
The Rock River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately long, in the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Illinois. It rises in southeast Wisconsin, in the Theresa Marsh near Theresa, Wisconsin in northeast Dodge County, Wisconsin approximately south of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin...
slowly eroded the moraine, and the lake drained. As the levels of silt
Silt
Silt is granular material of a size somewhere between sand and clay whose mineral origin is quartz and feldspar. Silt may occur as a soil or as suspended sediment in a surface water body...
, clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
and peat
Peat
Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter or histosol. Peat forms in wetland bogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests. Peat is harvested as an important source of fuel in certain parts of the world...
accumulated in the former lake's basin, the Horicon Marsh was formed.
The Horicon Marsh State Wildlife Area is one of nine units of the Ice Age National Scientific Reserve
Ice Age National Scientific Reserve
The Ice Age National Scientific Reserve is a collection of nine sites in Wisconsin that preserve geological evidence of glaciation. The reserve was created in 1971 to protect the scientific and scenic value of the landforms...
system, being considered to contain unique, representative evidence of the Ice Age of the Pleistocene era.
Inhabited history
The Horicon Marsh area has been inhabited by people, including the Paleo-Indians, the Hopewellian peopleHopewell culture
The Hopewell tradition is the term used to describe common aspects of the Native American culture that flourished along rivers in the northeastern and midwestern United States from 200 BCE to 500 CE. The Hopewell tradition was not a single culture or society, but a widely dispersed set of related...
and the Mound Builders, since the ending of the last Ice Age. Dozens of 1200 year old effigy mound
Effigy mound
Sites in the U.S. of similar history may be found at Indian Mounds ParkAn effigy mound is a raised pile of earth built in the shape of a stylized animal, symbol, religious figure, or human figure. Effigy mounds were only built during the Late Woodland Period .Effigy mounds were constructed in many...
s were built by the Mound builders in the surrounding low ridges. Arrowheads have been found, dating to 12,000 years ago. Later the region was inhabited by the Potawotomi, primarily to the east of the marsh, and the Ho-Chunk
Ho-Chunk
The Ho-Chunk, also known as Winnebago, are a tribe of Native Americans, native to what is now Wisconsin and Illinois. There are two federally recognized Ho-Chunk tribes, the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin and Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska....
to the west. Seven well-traveled Native American foot trails met at the southern end of the marsh at the present location of Horicon
Horicon, Wisconsin
Horicon is a city in Dodge County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 3,775 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Horicon is located at . The city of Horicon is located at the southernmost tip of the Horicon Marsh...
.
When European
European ethnic groups
The ethnic groups in Europe are the various ethnic groups that reside in the nations of Europe. European ethnology is the field of anthropology focusing on Europe....
s first arrived in the area, they named the marsh "The Great Marsh of the Winnebagos". The first permanent modern settlement along the marsh was the town of Horicon
Horicon, Wisconsin
Horicon is a city in Dodge County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 3,775 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Horicon is located at . The city of Horicon is located at the southernmost tip of the Horicon Marsh...
. In 1846, a dam
Dam
A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...
was built to power the town's first sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
. The dam held the water in the marsh, causing the water level to rise by nine feet. The "marsh" was called Lake Horicon, and was, at the time, called the largest man-made lake in the world (although it is unclear whether this was literally true).
In 1869, the dam was torn down by order of the State Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of landowners whose land was flooded. The area became a marsh once more. In 1883, two sportsmen's clubs reported huge flocks of geese in the marsh, and that 500,000 ducks hatched annually, and that 30,000 muskrats and mink were trapped in the southern half of the marsh. Both bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s and hunters
Hunting
Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
flocked to the area, and the local duck
Duck
Duck is the common name for a large number of species in the Anatidae family of birds, which also includes swans and geese. The ducks are divided among several subfamilies in the Anatidae family; they do not represent a monophyletic group but a form taxon, since swans and geese are not considered...
population was devastated. From 1910 to 1914, an attempt was made to drain the marsh and convert it into farmland; these attempts failed, however, and afterwards the land was widely considered to be useless.
Horicon National Wildlife Refuge
Conservation movement
The conservation movement, also known as nature conservation, is a political, environmental and a social movement that seeks to protect natural resources including animal, fungus and plant species as well as their habitat for the future....
beginning in 1921, passed the Horicon Marsh Wildlife Refuge Bill, providing for the construction of a dam to raise the water to normal levels and for the acquisition of the land by the government. During the 1940s, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
United States Fish and Wildlife Service
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is a federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats...
bought the northern portions of the marsh.
Presently, the marsh is 32000 acres (129.5 km²) in area, most of it open water and cattail marsh. The southern third, approximately 11000 acres (44.5 km²), forms the Horicon Marsh State Wildlife Area (sometimes just Horicon Marsh Wildlife Area or, locally, the "State Area") which was established as a nesting area for waterfowl
Waterfowl
Waterfowl are certain wildfowl of the order Anseriformes, especially members of the family Anatidae, which includes ducks, geese, and swans....
and resting area for migratory birds
Bird migration
Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...
. Millions of waterfowl, including over 200,000 Canada geese, migrate through the marsh. It is owned by the state of Wisconsin and controlled by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is an agency of the state of Wisconsin. Its purpose is to preserve, protect, manage and maintain the natural resources of the state. The WDNR has the authority to set policy for itself and to recommend regulations for approval by the State Legislature...
(DNR).
The northern two-thirds, approximately 21000 acres (85 km²), forms the Horicon National Wildlife Refuge (locally called the "Federal Refuge"). Originally created as a nesting area for the redhead duck, it is controlled by the Fish and Wildlife Service.
The refuges are known for their many species of bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s, especially ducks, great blue heron
Great Blue Heron
The Great Blue Heron is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North and Central America as well as the West Indies and the Galápagos Islands. It is a rare vagrant to Europe, with records from Spain, the Azores and England...
s, and Canada geese (which have become increasingly common since the 1980s), as well as fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
, frog
Frog
Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...
s, snake
Snake
Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...
s, turtle
Turtle
Turtles are reptiles of the order Testudines , characterised by a special bony or cartilaginous shell developed from their ribs that acts as a shield...
s, mammal
Mammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
s, insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s and plant
Plant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...
s.
Horicon Marsh was designated a Ramsar site on December 4, 1990.
External links
- Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources - Horicon Marsh Wildlife Area
- Horicon National Wildlife Refuge
- Enjoy Horicon Marsh - information about the Horicon Marsh and the communities that surround it