Horicon Marsh

Horicon Marsh, an area of 31,653 acres, was scoured out by the Wisconsin glacier, at least 10,000 years ago. Gradually the upper Rock River made deposits which slowed its current and spread its waters over the marshland. The Marsh became a haunt of the earliest Indians whose mounds remain. To promote lumbering, trans­portation, and agriculture white pioneers built a dam in 1846. Horicon Lake, cov­ering 51 square miles, became famous for hunting and fishing. The dam was removed in 1869, restoring the Marsh, which was subjected to various development schemes that changed its character. Climaxing a twenty year struggle by conserva­tionists, Horicon National Wildlife Refuge was established July 16, 1941. The State controls the south 10,857 acres; the Federal government, the north 20,796. A wide range of wild fowl, many varieties of small birds, and numerous fur-bearing animals constitute the population of Horicon Marsh.