mileage
223 Cross Wisconsin River. This is the heart of “The Dells,” and a scenic canyon is visible to the
northeast (left if eastbound). You will likely see a couple sightseeing boats anchored fairly close to the railroad bridge. These Cambrian sandstones are cross-bedded, and, as discussed above (see MP 221 above), formed when Glacial Lake Wisconsin was drained
near the end of the Pleistocene Ice Age.
Just beyond the river, we will be crossing
U.S. 16, where a view of the downtown Dells tourist area can be had, along with its peculiar and eclectic tourist attractions.
And just past the U.S. 16 bridge, we enter COLUMBIA County, and arrive at the WISCONSIN DELLS station, Superior & La Crosse Streets. Elevation approximately 890 ft. Columbia County is named after Christopher Columbus, and also after the Columbia River of the
Pacific Northwest. The county was originally going to be named York County.
Wisconsin Dells was originally named Kilbourn City, after Byron Kilbourne. Before the establishment of Kilbourn City, the region
around the dells of the Wisconsin River was primarily a lumbering area until 1851, when the La Crosse and Milwaukee Railroad was chartered,
with Kilbourn as its President. The railroad made plans to bridge the Wisconsin River near the river's dells, and a boomtown
named Newport sprang up at the expected site of the bridge in 1853. The population of this new city quickly swelled to over 2,000,
but when the railroad finally came through the area in 1857, it took nearly everyone by surprise by crossing the river a mile upstream
from the site of Newport. As a result, Newport was rapidly turned into a ghost town as the settlers flocked to the new city
at the site of the railroad bridge, Kilbourn City. Gradually, tourism became a large part of Kilbourn City. To make it
easier for tourists to identify Kilbourn City with the natural landscape for which it was famous, the name of the city was changed
to Wisconsin Dells in 1931. As the 20th century progressed, new attractions began to draw even more tourists.
Since the late 1970’s, the Dells area has become a water park mecca. Noah's Ark Waterpark opened in Lake Delton in 1979,
and has become the largest and the 8th most visited water park in the U.S. Other outdoor amusement and water parks followed,
featuring water slides, mini golf, roller coasters, go-karts, and other attractions. In addition to Noah’s Ark, the Wilderness
Territory; and Hotel Rome at Mt. Olympus Water & Theme Park, America's largest water and theme park resort, are also located in
the Wisconsin Dells area.
225 We are now gradually leaving the Driftless Section, and are entering an area which
was significantly glaciated during the Wisconsin advance near the end of the Pleistocene Ice Age. We will not be seeing any
more bedrock exposures between here and Chicago. The deposits we are now traversing are sandy glacial deposits from the Johnstown
Moraine of the Green Bay Lobe, which advanced into this area from the northeast during the Wisconsin glacial advance. Since
the Green Bay Lobe advanced over other Cambrian-aged dolomitic rocks, the sandy till within the Green Bay Lobe is often dolomitic. It was this Johnstown Moraine which dammed the Wisconsin River before Glacial Lake Wisconsin formed (see MP 221 above).
227 Near here is where the outlet to Glacial Lake Wisconsin formed, which allowed exceptionally high volumes of water to rush into the
lake basin and create the Wisconsin Dells. (see MP’s 221 and 225 above).
229.5 The low hills on either side of the railroad are composed
of glacial drift from the Johnstown Moraine of the Green Bay Lobe (see MP 225 above).
231 Pass through Lewiston,
named after E.F. Lewis, the first settler and Sheriff of Columbia County.
234 We are continuing to traverse the flat
to rolling topography of the various moraines from the Green Bay Lobe of the Late Wisconsin glacial advance.
238.5 Pass beneath Interstate
39.
240 PORTAGE station, 400 W. Oneida Street. Elevation approximately 810 ft. The city is the county
seat of Columbia County, and was named after the portage between the Fox and Wisconsin River at this location, which is now marked
by the Portage Canal, built in the 1870’s. Early explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet made the portage here enroute
to the Upper Mississippi River area in 1673. The town developed around Fort Winnebago, which was built to protect commerce in
the area. Young Jefferson Davis, who later became the President of the Confederacy, cut logs for the barracks at Fort Winnebago
in 1829.
Both environmentalist Aldo Leopold, and John Muir, were born in Portage. The city is also the home of the Fort Winnebago Surgeon’s Quarters Renovation, and the Historic Indian Agency House.
241 Cross Portage Canal, the manmade canal built to connect the Wisconsin River to the Fox River, thus eliminating the “portage” necessary
to get between the 2 watersheds.
243 This flat marshy area is part of the Swan Lake State Wildlife Area, and is a
small area of outwash deposits located between two hummocky ridges which are composed of glacial till within the Green Bay Lobe.
245 Duck Creek, a tributary of the Wisconsin River, is visible on the right (eastbound).
247 Cross Duck Creek.
249 Pass through Wyocena. The word Wyocena is a Potawatomi Indian word meaning “somebody else.” Legend has it that an early
settler named Dickason had a dream one night about an Indian maiden named Wyocena, so he chose that as the name of the village. Just north of the railroad (left if eastbound) is Wyona Lake, a man-made impoundment of the Middle Branch of Duck Creek.
251 The hills on either side of the railroad are glacial moraines, composed of glacial till from the Green Bay Lobe.
253 The hills on the left (eastbound) are composed of Ordovician-aged Prairie du Chien Group overlain by the Ordovician Ancell Formation,
then capped by glacial till.
254 Pass through Rio, which is located on an old military road connecting Fort Winnebago
(see MP 240 above) with Portage and with Fort Dearborn, in Chicago. This area was once known as Ohio Settlement, in honor of
the many settlers from Ohio who came to the area. Delos Bundy, a blacksmith who built a shop and a country store near here,
suggested the name of the new community be Ohio; however, when the communications were returned by the Federal officials, the name
had somehow been transcribed as Rio, either due to illegibility in the original communication from Bundy, or possibly the name was
objected to by federal officials since “Ohio” was such a common name at that time.
254.5 The abandoned quarry on the left (eastbound)
probably produced limestone or dolomite from the Ordovician-aged Prairie du Chien and Ancell Formations when it was active.
256 This area is another flat to hummocky area of ground moraine deposits laid down by glacial ice of the Green Bay Lobe of the last glacial
advance.
258.5-259 Pass through Doylestown, which was first settled in 1848 and originally named Otsego, after Otsego, New York, from
where many of the early setters came. In 1865, 235 acres were purchased by Lemuel H. Doyle, who platted the village and gave
it his name. Doyle offered free lots in town to anybody who would agree to build on the lot, and there was consequently a building
boom in which 30 homes were built in a one-year period. Doyle also founded several newspapers in the area.
261 For the next several miles, we will be passing numerous elongated SW-NE trending low hills known as drumlins. Some of these
features may not be readily apparent from the train, but they are also glacial features, and are composed of sand and gravel deposited
by receding glacial ice sheets. Drumlins generally are elongated in the direction of ice flow, and the steepest side is generally
the opposite end of the hill from which the glacial ice receded. In Wisconsin, the northeastern end of the drumlins are generally
steeper than the southwestern ends, which may have a gradually tapering shape caused by the northward retreat of the glacial ice.
263.5 There
are a few drumlins visible to the north here (left if eastbound).
264.5 Fall River, which was first settled in 1845 by Alfred A. Brayton. Brayton was developing a power plant on the Upper Crawfish River here, and named the new settlement after his proposed plant, and
also after Fall River, Massachusetts, from whence he and his family came.
Geologically,
we are still traversing landscapes deposited by the Green Bay Lobe of the last Pleistocene Ice Age glacial advance; however, the bedrock
beneath the glacial materials is now Ordovician-aged Prairie du Chien and Ancell Formations, as we have left the Cambrian-aged subcrop area.
265.5 Cross
Crawfish River. To the southwest (right if eastbound) is the Wisconsin Academy, a 7th Day Adventist high school.
267 Pass beneath U.S. Highway 151. More drumlins are present on either side of the railroad.
268 COLUMBUS station,
359 N. Ludington Street. Elevation approximately 850. The city is named after Christopher Columbus. The first settler
in the area was Major Dickason, who built a cottage on the bank of the Crawfish River near the present AMTRAK station. Downtown
Columbus was used to film several scenes, including a bank robbery, for the 2009 Johnny Depp movie Public Enemies. The downtown
was made to look like the 1930’s for the film. The historic Poser House was used as a brothel for the film.
The winding course of the Crawfish River through town is controlled by the locations of several drumlins, both north and south of
the railroad; however, the drumlins in town may not be readily apparent from the train in the built up urbanized area of downtown.