What makes Wisconsin Unique?
Unique is a good word to use for Wisconsin. From the beginning, back in prehistorical times, through the variety of cultures existing today, there have always been certain things that make this state unique.
Way back when, the glaciers came through here, but they didn't push through the entire state. Today different parts of the state are known by names that were arrived at by how the glaciers treated that particular area. The driftless area provides incredible rock formations. The driftless area of Southwest Wisconsin has ridges and valleys of incredible beauty. These areas are also called unglaciated .
When the ice melted at the edges of the glaciers lobes, the sand, silt, cobbles, and boulders frozen in it were released and formed ridges called moraines. Many of Wisconsin's lakes were formed by the melting of the buried ice that had settled in depressions formed at the edge of the glacier. These are called kettles. Today these kettle moraines form scenic hills and hollows. They are also part of the Ice Age National Scenic Trail.
There is evidence, and some theories, that the earliest immigrants to Wisconsin were copper miners who built pyramids, , temples, shrines and tombs along the Rock River about 3000 BC. When they left they deflected the water to form a lake covering all of their building. There is evidence of man made structures underwater in the lake there, but no proof has yet been found as to their beginnings.
Nearby Aztalan State Park features another pyramid. This pyramid is from about 1000 AD to 1300 AD, built by people who came from the Yucatan, up the Mississippi River to a nearby site on the Crawfish River. There is evidence that they may have been cannibalistic. Whoever these builders were, and wherever they went, they did not mingle extensively with the native population living there at the time.
The next outsiders to come to Wisconsin were the French. In 1673 Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet led the first French expedition to sight the Mississippi River. They and the French Fur traders who followed lent their names and French words to many place names in Wisconsin.
During the 1800s European immigrants began coming into the Wisconsin Territory. The Germans brought us Lutheran churches, the first kindergarten, sauerkraut, and beer. Norwegian immigrants gave us Ole and Lena jokes, lutefisk, lefse, and a love of coffee.
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