It is the reason that tourists first started coming to Wisconsin Dells. Today, amusement parks, ghost tours, animal attractions, theatrical shows, and other attractions almost overshadow why people first started coming here. What first brought people here was the Wisconsin River and the beautiful rock formations formed along its course.
The first people to value the river were the Ho-Chunk. The French trappers called these Native Americans the Winnebago. Today, there are around five thousand Ho-Chunk in the area around the Dells. They consider the river as a sacred place and still gather for pow-wows and spiritual rituals. One of their most sacred places is Stand Rock. We visited this location while taking the Upper Dells Boat Tour. When we walked up to Stand Rock, I sat beside an older Native American man. He is part of the Ho-Chunk Nation. He told me that as a teen, he used to take part in Ho-Chunk rituals there at Stand Rock. He would “jump the rock.” Stand Rock is 350 feet tall and is adjacent to an equally tall cliff about six feet away. This gentleman had made the jump many times as a youth.
The first large “boats” to make their way down the Wisconsin River were great log rafts guided by raft pilots. The railroad eventually eliminated the need for the log rafts. But one of the pilots of the log rafts, Leroy Gates, began offering tours of the river. Gates would load tourists into a rowboat and then require them to row the boat as he told them about the river. The photography of H.H. Bennet of the Dells spread across the country and drew hundreds of people to the area. Soon, the river was full of boats. Later, steam-driven paddle boats began to take tourists on the river. Today, the river is enjoyed by people on tour boats, duck boats, jet boats, and hundreds of privately owned boats.
“Wisconsin” is derived from the Native American word meaning “dark rushing waters,” and “Dells” mimicking the French word “dalles” which means “layers of flat rock” to describe the bluff rock formations. It is this combination that makes the river so attractive. Sandstone cliffs rise over a hundred along the course of the river, looking like great stacks of flat stone.
Mary and I took the Upper Dells Boat Tour. We enjoyed the tour a great deal. We saw the immense beauty and learned about the history of the river. We also took a duck boat tour on the lower Dells. This, too, was enjoyable. This amphibious vessel was designed and used by the military and has now been re-purposed for tourist purposes. But our favorite tour of the river was with friends on the pontoon on the upper dells of the Wisconsin River.
The weather was perfect. It was a sunny afternoon in the mid-seventies. The surface of the river was smooth as glass. The traffic on the river was very light. The six of us sailed south along the river all the way to the dam and back north on the river through the “narrows” back to where the river widens into a lake. As we sat on the surface of the east side of the river, we watched the sunset across the river. Along the way, we enjoyed the variety of rock formations, the many small canyons creasing into the river, and saw a bald eagle perched high above the river in a pine tree. What a great way to spend an afternoon. Cruising the river with good friends. The river that first brought people to Wisconsin Dells is still its greatest feature.
2nd Chance Vagabonds 