The Mail-Journal, Volume 6, Number 18, Milford, Kosciusko County, 4 June 1969 — Page 20

The Time Has come Tor (WWW IM 3

From Turkey And Nine Mile To Romantic Wawasee

The history books tell us that in the early days Wawasee was called Turkey Lake or Nine Mile Lake. Thousands of area residents have now grown to know and respect the Indian ring of Wawasee which comes from the Pottawatomie chief Wau-wa-aus •see or Wavias or Wawiassi. But for the terms of an Indian treaty signed in 1826 and the burning of the Cedar Beach club house we relight still be calling the lake either Turkey or Nine Mile. Turkey Lake came from the wild turkey that was common to Indiana in the early days of its settlement and from the shape of the lakes, Many smaller lakes in the state were given the same name by the early settlers. Nine mile came from the size of; the lake — it’s nine miles long. It’s appropriate that the state’s largest natural inland lake should have been renamed with a designation of historical significance. By 1938 the name Wawasee was known throughout the state and an article in the Indianapolis News stated “The growing popularity iof Wawasee, Indiana’s largest lake, may persuade Syracuse to change its corporate name to Wawasee. A postoffice with that name was maintained at the lake for several years.”} There have been many explanations on how the Lake was named. This rejwrter likes the one that appeared in the SyracuseWawasee Journal some years back which credits the naming of the lake to the members of the old Cedar Beach club. After the burning of the old Cedar Beach club house which was located on the northeastern shores of the lake it was determined to form a new club, however, some of the members did not like the name Cedar Beach, for it was often confused with

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Cedar Lake, a resort which did not have the best of reputations at the time. At one of the club meetings it was resolved that Colonel Eli Lilly should rename both the club and the lake. He learned of the existance of chief Wawas, whose name meant “Shape of the Moon.” Neither the colonel nor any red skin had ever traced any resemblance to the moon in the shape of the lake but Wawas sounded smooth to the gentleman charged with the double rechristening, he added to it; and there you have the euphonious Wawasee. Lying the proposed name before several members of the club, they greeted it so enthusiastically that it was adopted then and there. The next step was the baptism of the infant; its formal christening. This was accomplished by painting two signs and nailing them on the railway station over in the cornfield back of Riddles, which was where the passengers on the Baltimore and Ohio landed in those days. As it seemed a good enough name, the railroad company also adopted it and worked it into its literature. Daniel Ransdall, one of the members of the old Cedar Beach club, was then marshal of the District of Columbia, and in touch with the Harrison administration, and through his good offices the post office department also changed the name of the post office to Wawasee. The Turkey In Jacob P. Donn’s “Indiana and Indianans,” the famous chief’s name was Wawiassi. The word meaning “full moon,” or “the round one.” The name Turkey came from the shape formed by the two lakes (now Wawasee and Syracuse) with the main lake being the body of the turkey, the chan-

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EARLY WAWASEE — The mud scow which was operated by the Syracuse Cement plant is shown above as it made its way across Lake Wawasee in the early days of the lake. Patrons of Wawasee objected when the operation of the cement plant disturbed the lake’s fish and the cement plant soon ceased operations.

nel between the lakes the neck and the smaller lake the head. Residents of the territory were at first not concerned about a name. They were satisfied to fish, hunt and trap the plentiful game. In the eighties the first cottages were built and a few years later the protective association was formed, largely to war against the fish pirates who were taking great quantities of game fish for market. The lake’s value as a fishing place was menaced some years ago when a cement factory was built at Syracuse. The small lake was dredged and the marl deposits made into cement. When dredging was begun in the larger lake, owners of shore property protested, the state intervened and the dredging was stopped. Vegetation has grown again and the lakes became popular with fishermen once again. Wawasee In 1895 A report from data collected during the summer of 1895 at the Indiana university biological station at Vawter Park under the direction of Dr. Carl H. Eigenmann listed the name of the lake as Turkey. The report stated the lake was made up of two parts, connected by a channel. The channel was three quarters of mile in length and from one hundred feet to a half mile in width. It varied in depth from one to five feet. The part of the lake north of the channel was even then known as Syracuse Lake. It included an area of three-fourths of a square mile, which was approximately one-eighth, of the area of the entire lake. The larger part of the lake, to the south and east of the channel, was known as the main lake. general direction of the lake is from southeast to northwest. In 1895 the lake was five and a-half miles and its greatest width at a right angle to its length was one and a half miles. The entire shore line was between 20 and 21 miles in length and the area of the lake was a little more than five and one half square miles. Recent figures list the lake as being 27 miles around, nine miles long and three miles wide. The report of 1895 showed no

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very prominent irregularities occure around Syracuse lake, wiile in the main lake a number of evident indentations were to be found. The east end of the main lake, the report states, is made up of three bays, Johnsen’s Bay, extending to the north, is one mile long and three -eights of a mile wide. Ogden Point lies to the west of the entrance of this bay and Cedar Point to the east. The east end of the main lake is Crow’s Bay, with Cedar Point on its north and Morrison’s Island on its scuth. Jarrett’s Bay (Buttermilk Point) extends to the southeast, with Morrison’s Island to the Co st of its entrance and Clark’s Point to the west. In the west end of the main lake is Conkling Bay (Oakwood Park), circular in form and with the surrounding marsh a half mile in diameter. It lies south of what was called Conkling Hill. Between the channel and Ogden Point, which are two and onequarter miles apart, the shoreline curves gently northward three-quarters of a mile, forming Sinset Bay. Between Clark’s Point and Black Stump Point, one and three-quarters miles to the northwest, the shoreline bends southward one-third of a mile. Wawa see’s Land When the treaty was signed with the Pottawatomie Indians in 1826 Wau wa-aus-see’s tribe ceded its land to the United States and numerous reservations were established in the region. Chief Wau-wa-aus-see’s track was six miles square on the eastern shore of what is now Lake Wawasee. Wawasee In 1938 In 1938 the Indianapolis News reported Wawasee was 4,000 acres in area and was located or high ground, in glacial country, with a sand gravel bottom A state fish hatchery is on the eastern shore, from which the lake is stocked with bass, perch rrd pickerel. The paper continued that Wawasee is as beautiful as its melodious name would indicate. It nestles among wooded, rolling hills, the sparkling blueness of its springfed waters offering a slarp contrast to the deep green of its tree-covered shores. Wawasee In 1969 Today Wawasee is a popular simmer resort area with thousands of people coming' to her shores each year. The lake has retained all her old glory over tie years and now sparkles with the joys of persons who enjoy life for 13 weeks each year around her shores and the people who live along her banks 52 weeks of the year.

Z/MT M/r PETERSEN KALE ISLAND BAIT HOUSE

Lakeland GOLF

List Line-Up For Tee-Off At Wawasee The nine hole line-up for the Land-O-Lakes tournament currently underway at the Wawasee golf club is as follows: Tee 10 — Marie Fisher T, Rosemary Lantz M, Mary Alice Estep RF, Jeanne Trolson SS. Tee 11 — Ruth Emerick T, Pearl Herrmann SS, Bernice Graham RF, Peg Hoffer M. Tee 11 — Myrtle Anderson T, Helen Hoyt SS, Buthene Fuller RF, Ruth Snellenberger W. Tee 12 — Irene Bucher T, Lottie Zimmer RF, Sandra Walgamuth SS, Inez Beiswanger M. Tee 13 — Margaret Stutsman RF, Carla Moore T, Bertha Lehman SS, Jo Ellen McFall M. Tee 14 — Liz Snider RF, Marybelle Sharp T, Brenda Kuhn SS, Eloise Carlson M. Tee 14 — Jean Rickel RF, Helen Murchie T, Mary Lou Fries SS, June Lantz M. Tee 15 — Evelyn Alspaugh RF, Ellie Ogle SS, Vicki Arnolt T, Carol Sumpter RF. Tee 16 — Sue Erwin RF, Eleanor Moots SS, Helene Youse T, Mabel Templeton RF. Tee 16 — Marj Mitterling RF, Mildred Denzel SS, Geneva Gast T, Lois Blanchard RF. Tee 17 — Cora Wilson RF, Doris Schnidel T; Edwine Neushauser SS, Donna Turner RF. Tee 17 — Sharon Piper RF,

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Nedra Beebe SS, Betty Ruth Evans T. Tee 18 — Tinny Hagerlin RF, Becki Bushong SS, Sandy Carmen RF. Tee 18 — Lucy Whiteneck RF, Ginny Lamley SS, Alice Latta RF. The shot-gun tee-off will be at 8:30 a. m. on Tuesday, June 17. ‘BEST FOUR LONG HOLES’ PLAYED AT TIPPY “Best four long holes” was the play for ladies day at the Tippecanoe Country club on Thursday. Winners follow: Class A— Hulda Sawyer and Gloria Maish; low putts, Esther Brewster. Class B — Elaine Adams and Gen Thomas; low putts, Emma Korth. Class C — Winnie Marsahes and Bea Crews; low putts, Doris Anglin. Class D — Mina Stoutenour and Phyllis Landis; low putts, Ida Dimberg. SYRACUSE LOCALS Mr. and Mrs. Jay Chilcoate of Elkhart visited in the home of Mrs. Estelle Swartz one day last week. Mr. and Mrs. Chilcoate have purchased the Lake Wawasec cottage of Mrs. Swartz near Macy’s Slip. Jerry Hoopingarner of Chicago is spending some time at his Syracuse home on west Main street.

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Papakeechie. A Sister Lake The history of Lake Wawasee would not be complete /without mention of her sister lake — Papakeechie. Pa-hed-ke-teh-a translated “Flat Belly” was a brother to Wau-wa-aus-see and boasted of fighting in the battle of Tippecanoe. Pa-hed-ke-teh-a’s reservation was ceded to him in 1828, according to Eli Lilly’s “Early Wawasee Days”, and was returned to the government in 1834. It composed 36 square miles. The western boundry cf the reservation, drawn north and south, almost bisected Lake Wawasee. The historical state marker, shown here, is erected at the reservation line on the road back of the cottages about a half mile west of Wawasee Prep. Pa-hed-ke-teh-a’s village of about 75 inhabitants was near what is now Indian Village in Noble county. After 1834 Pa-hed-ke-teh-a’s reservation was included in the IVz million acres of land given to the Wabash and Erie Canal from the

CSNTORESEAND u AMERICAN FOOC Reservations Required HOURS: 4 to 10 p.m. Week Days 12 to 10 p.m. Sundays Closed Mondays foo sav e Phone: 457-3774 Wawasee Village South of Syracuse

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government. When the chief died, sometime between 1838 and 1840, he was buried with other Indians. The grave may be found by following state road 8, leading eastward from the northeast corner of the lake which now bears his name to the point where it jogs to the north. Here, to the east of the first turn is a low, swampy woodland, just beyond the southeast corner of which, on higher open ground, is the cemetery which is only indicated by slight undulations in the ground. From Six Lakes ! Lake Papakeechie is made up of six snjall lakes. About 1910 an eight foot earth dam was built and created Papakeechie from Jarett’s, Gan’s, Hooper’s three called Hartzell’s. The man who built the dam and created the lake was also largely responsible for building the little Episcopal church on the south shore of Wawasee—-Charles A. Sudlcw of Indianapolis. Mr. Sudlow came to this country from England at the age of 19. About 1890 he purchased the old Markey farm-house, He remodeled it into a low picturesque, rambling cottage. It is now owned by James B. Kirkwood. Charles was the grandfather of John Sudlow. SYRACUSE LOCALS Mrs. Melville Smith, Syracuse, has as her house guest, Mrs. Hazel Veltman of Negaunee, Mich. On Friday Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Lulu Francis entertained at Foo and Faye’s for Mr?. Veltman. Mrs. Elsa Greiger and Mrs. Irene Greiger, Syracuse, entertained at a supper - bridge Sunday evening for Mrs. Hazel Veltman who is visiting at Syracuse, from Negaunee, Mich.

TOM SOCKS SPORTSWEAR OF WAWASEE VILLAGE

ON KALE ISLAND Lake Wawasee DIAL: 457-2411 FOR RESERVATIONS