September 3, 2006 - Wisconsin Dells

The Wisconsin Dells are about in the middle of the state. About 500 million years ago (give or take a million years...) this area was an inland sea about 100 feet deep. Layers of sediment settled to the bottom of the sea during this Cambrian period. During the past 1.8 million years there were several glaciers covering parts of the area. The last glacial period started 26,000 years ago and ended 18,000 years ago (again, give or take 1000 years...). The glaciers were several hundred feet thick and used so much of the earth's water that the sea level was lowered by about 400'. The last glacier dammed the Wisconsin River and since the water could not flow to the Mississippi River it backed up behind the ice dam and formed the Glacial Lake Wisconsin. As the glacier melted, the ice dam became weaker. When the water in the lake finally broke through the ice dam, all of Glacial Lake Wisconsin emptied into the Mississippi River in just a few days. The torrent of water cut a path about 100' deep through the sedimentary rock of the area. This path is now where the Wisconsin River flows into the Mississippi. The resulting cut through the sandstone is what is known as the Wisconsin Dells. It is very picturesque.

There are boat trips of the Upper and Lower Dells (a dam divides the upper from the lower), a jet boat trip of the Lower Dells and a DUCK boat trip of the Lower Dells. There are also the required number of tourist shops lining both sides of the street on both entrances to the Dells.

In the 1800's there was a lot of logging in the area. (Actually, there still is.) The lumbermen would float rafts of logs down the river. In 1856 the river was dammed to generate power. An accident happened when a lumberman tried to get his raft of logs past the dam and the men got so angry that they blew up the dam. This prompted the new dam to include a 60' wide log chute so the lumbermen could still get downstream. Of course, then the railroad came along and made the lumbermen who rode rafts obsolete.

In 1859, one of the lumberman who was out of a job decided to start the boat tours of the Dells. The first tours were in rowboats. You not only bought your ticket but one person in each boat got to row. The tour guide only guided, he did not row. This is the tour boat company that is still doing the tours today.

We took the boat tour of the Upper Dells and a DUCK tour of the Lower Dells. We have never taken a DUCK tour before even though we have seen lots of them It was fun. We went into and out of the water twice with a "drive" through the forest between the river and a pond. The commentary by the driver was excellent!

After the Civil War photographer H.H. Bennett came to the Dells and just fell in love with the area. He took thousands of photos and turned them into the "stereoscopic" photos (that are viewed with special glasses to make them look 3-D) to entice people to travel to the Dells. The railroads promoted the photos to get people to take excursions on the train to the area. He enjoyed taking photos of nature instead of people because he said "nature was easier to pose and easier to please". Soon after 1900 Bennett's son-in-law became alarmed at the development along the river and bought up much of the riverfront property. He then turned it all over to the state with the stipulation that it remain natural.

In about 1886 Bennett had his son Ashley jump across the 5' distance separating Stand Rock from the main rock mountain so that Bennett could demonstrate his new "stop-action" photography. He wanted to demonstrate how fast his new shutter was. He had Ashley jump back and forth 20 times while he took pictures to prove his new camera worked. However, when other photographers saw it they called it a trick and didn't believe him. On the boat tour they "re-enact the jump" but they use a dog instead of a person. It was truly hokey but fun!

Bennett built most of his own equipment. He built an "exposure room" that moved around in a circle so that a skylight that "followed the sun" would give him more time each day to do his work. The H. H. Bennett Museum was very well done. Mark is working with the Port Aransas Preservation and Historical Association (PAPHA) to get a museum of sorts in Port Aransas. This museum gave him some good ideas for Port Aransas...

This area was very nice. The tours were very good. The shops were omnipresent! There are some huge waterparks and an amusement park in town. It would be a very nice one or two day trip. We spend so much time that that we ended up driving back to the motorhome in the dark!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?&collid=71978771503.432854430403.1158341248252&page=1&sort_order=1&navfolderid=2006&folderid=0&ownerid=71978771503