The Dells was formed during the Last Glacial Period approximately 15,000 years ago, although the rock itself is much older, dating from the Cambrian Period approximately 510–520 million years ago when the area of Wisconsin was at the bottom of a shallow sea.
Approximately 19,000 years ago, the Dells was at the extreme western margin of the continental glacier. However, the Dells itself was never covered by glacial ice sheets – it was part of the large Driftless Area that was bypassed by the ice. The melting of the glacier formed Glacial Lake Wisconsin, a lake about the size of Great Salt Lake in Utah and as deep as 150 feet (45 m). The lake was held back by an ice dam of the remaining glacier. The eventual bursting of the ice dam unleashed a catastrophic flood, dropping the lake's depth to 50 feet (15 m) and cutting deep, narrow gorges and unusual rock formations into the sandstone seen today.
The area of the Dells provides a mixture of plant communities, including northern and southern oak, pine forests, as well as oak savanna, moist cliffs, and dry cliffs.
The cliffs provide unique niches for plants, some of which are very rare in Wisconsin, including:
- Cliff cudweed (Gnaphalium obtusifolium var saxicola ), which is known in only two places on Earth – in the Dells and in the Kickapoo Valley, grows on protected rock ledges.
- Lapland azalea (Rhododendron lapponicum)
- Round-stemmed false foxglove (Agalinis gattingeri)
- Maidenhair spleenwort (Asplenium trichomanes)
- Fragrant fern (Dryopteris fragrans).
Among the rare animals in the dell are six dragonfly species, including the Royal river cruiser (Macromia taeniolata), six rare mussels and numerous species of birds.
The cultural history of the area stretches back several thousand years, from early Paleo-Indian people to the more recent Native American peoples, such as Ho-Chunk, Sac, and Menominee, who left behind effigy and burial mounds, camps and village sites, garden beds, and rock art.
The Dells were made famous in 1886 by the photographer H. H. Bennett, who took the first stop-action photo of his son jumping onto Stand Rock.[5]
The Kilbourn Dam, completed in 1909, raised the water level of the Upper Dells by about 17 feet (5.2 m), flooding some of the caves and rock formations in Bennett's photographs.[6][7]
Rock formation on the Wisconsin Dells
H.H. Bennett's photo of Stand Rock
Cliffs at the Wisconsin Dells
Forest above Witches Gulch
Rock formations at Witches Gulch
Witches Gulch with people for perspective
"The Dells of the Wisconsin River" is generally used in the singular.
Rath, Sara (2015). "A Shared Vision: Henry Hamilton Bennett and William H. Metcalf". The Wisconsin Magazine of History. 98 (4): 14–27. ISSN 0043-6534. JSTOR 24403948.
