Lake Pepin
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| Lake Pepin | |
|---|---|
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| Location | Minnesota/Wisconsin |
| Coordinates | 44°29′54″N 92°18′05″W / 44.4982°N 92.3013°WCoordinates: 44°29′54″N 92°18′05″W / 44.4982°N 92.3013°W |
| Primary inflows | Mississippi River |
| Primary outflows | Mississippi River |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Surface area | 40 sq mi (100 km2) |
| Average depth | 18 ft (5.5 m) |
| Frozen | winter |
| Settlements | Lake City, Bay City, Pepin, Maiden Rock, Stockholm, Maple Springs, Camp Lacupolis, Reads Landing |
Lake Pepin is a naturally occurring lake, and the widest naturally occurring part of the Mississippi River. It is a widening of the river on the border between Minnesota and Wisconsin. The formation of the lake was caused by the backup of water behind the sedimentary deposits of the Chippewa River's delta. It has a surface area of about 40 square miles (100 km2) and an average depth of 18 feet (5.5 m).
The wide area of the lake stretches from Bay City, Wisconsin, in the north, down past Pepin, Wisconsin, in the south, with Pepin being just upstream from where the Chippewa River enters the Mississippi. The villages of Maiden Rock and Stockholm border on the Wisconsin side, while Frontenac State Park takes up a large part of the Minnesota side. The largest city on the waterfront is Lake City, Minnesota.
There are three marinas on the lake: the Lake City Marina, and Hansen's Harbor, both in Lake City, and Dan's Pepin Marina in Pepin, Wisconsin. There is also a private dock for the customers of the Pickle Factory restaurant in Pepin. Sailboats are common on the lake in summer. In the winter, there are ice roads that cross the lake.
Maiden Rock, on Lake Pepin, is one site said to be the locale where a Dakota woman named Winona leapt to her death.
[edit] History
The first written history of the area documents a French fort (or fur post) built on its shores. Fort Beauharnois was built in 1727 on lowlands and the fort was rebuilt in 1730 on higher ground.[1][dead link]
In 1890 it was the site of one of the worst maritime disasters on the Mississippi, known as the Sea Wing disaster when the Sea Wing ferry capsized in a bad storm, killing 98 people.[2]
In 1922, Ralph Samuelson invented the sport of water skiing on the lake.[citation needed]
[edit] Popular culture
Lake Pepin is the lake that Laura and her family visit in the "Going to Town" chapter of Little House in the Big Woods, the first book in Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie series.
Legends claim that the lake is home to a lake monster, Pepie, which was first seen on April 28, 1871. More recently, it has been photographed.[3]
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.mississippi-river.org/lakepepin.html
- ^ "Day-long excursion on Lake Pepin turns into one of the deadliest disasters on Upper Mississippi". ECM Publishers. http://www.hometownsource.com/features/SeaWingDisaster/SeaWing.html. Retrieved on 2009-05-08.
- ^ "Pepie the aquatic creature living in the depths of Lake Pepin". http://www.pepie.net/Photo_Gallery.html. Retrieved on 2009-05-08.
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