Wazee Diving....

[mrclean]

Here's some additional trivia/history about the area where Wazee is. The acreage that made up the area of the Jackson County Iron Mine and much of the surrounding area was originally Indian Homestead Allotments that were doled out in 40 acre parcels starting in 1881 through the Homestead Act. The Homesteads were granted because there was a group of Ho-Chunk families that kept coming back to that area every time they were moved west, first to Minnesota, then Iowa, and finally Nebraska where the official Winnebago Reservation is. There were several very controversial treaties that occurred during the so-called "Removal Period" and starting in the 1860's to the 1880's. After many attempts to ship the Winnebago families back to Nebraska, only to have them migrate back, the government allowed the families that came back 40 acre allotments on which to live east of Black River. The allotments were in "trust" or tax-free for 50 years. After 50 years they became fee-simple or taxable land and due to the next generation of families taking over, many of the families did not realize they were supposed to pay taxes on land they had not paid taxes on for 50 years. Therefore, the majority of the allotments were tax deeded to Jackson County (amongst several other counties with Ho-Chunk populations like Sauk, Juneau, Monroe, etc.) In the 1950's when serious iron ore testing and exploration occured on a large scale and large deposits of taconite were found to be viable for mining, the area was purchased by the mining company that operated the Jackson County Iron Mine for a modest sum. Then serious mining began years later until the mine closed in 1983-ish (when I was in fourth grade and lost a bunch of classmates because everybody moved after the mine closed). In recent history as the County moved to develop the mine and lake into a recreation area, the area Ho-Chunk Nation members and administration played a role in assisting with the development of the park along with assisting in choosing the name "Wazee".

Now, I'm not posting this information to start a big debate or controversy over whether the government took land from the Native Americans to the government's benefit, it is just to add a little history/trivia regarding the area that I live in and the lake that I love to dive in. I apologize if I got any of this information inaccurately, but after five years of working as a land use planner for the Ho-Chunk Nation, I picked up a little history. Thus for a few minutes, I am using my bachelors degree in history that for the last two years since I changed careers, has had little use.

Sorry if I am rambling...it's late!

Andy