History of The Marsh

HORICON MARSH GEOLOGY
The Horicon Marsh, as we see it today, has been a long time in the making. The series of events which led up to its creation have left their mark on the surrounding land. Over the past one million years or so, the great glaciers of the Ice Age have come and gone at least four times. With each glacial advance, the land lay buried under a massive continental ice sheet. Each retreat of the ice mass left behind an entirely altered landscape. Every major ice advance is named for the state where the evidence is best preserved. The oldest is known as the Nebraskan glaciation. Next came the Kansan and Illinoisan glaciations. Between each ice advance, the earth experienced a warmer climate. It is quite likely that our present climate is merely a warm period between periodic glacial advances.

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HORICON MARSH INDIAN HISTORY
The rich resources of this marsh have attracted people to the area ever since the end of the last Ice Age. Every major prehistoric Indian culture known to the upper midwest has utilized or inhabited Horicon Marsh over the past 10,000 to 12,000 years. What we know of these early inhabitants is told in the archeological record. Many area residents have found large collections of Indian spear points, arrowheads and other stone tools around Horicon Marsh.

We also know of the many Indian trails that brought people to the area hundreds and even thousands of years ago. Perhaps you followed one on your way to the marsh. Several of our roads today follow in part the past Indian trails. Highway 33, Hwy. 26, County A from Horicon to Fox Lake and County Hwy. Z along the east side of the marsh are all former trail routes.

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HORICON MARSH SETTLEMENT HISTORY
The first modern settlement on the marsh was the town of Horicon. In 1846, a dam was built at this site for powering the first sawmill. This dam held back the water in the marsh raising it nine feet. By flooding the marsh, they created Lake Horicon which, at that time, was being called the largest man-made lake in the world! After 23 years of operation, disputes led to the removal of the dam. In the years that followed, the marsh returned as a haven for wildlife. The attraction of wildlife brought with it the advent of hunting clubs and the market hunting days. From the 1870's to the early 1900's, unregulated hunting devastated the duck populations on this marsh. With the loss of these birds, this once-famous duck marsh had little value to many people. They sought to change it once more.

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