This is an earthcache; you will not find a physical "cache container" here. An earthcache is designed to bring you to a geological feature.
Looking to the north and west, you will see beautiful Lake Onalaska, an 8391 acre lake with a maximum depth of 40 feet – but the vast majority of it, including almost everything you can see from where you are standing, is normally less than 8 feet deep. However, the landscape at this location used to look much different.
In the early 1900's, what is now Lake Onalaska was mostly low-lying land with poorly drained soil known as a “wet meadow.” A wet meadow is similar to a marsh; the difference being that a marsh is typically waterlogged at all times, while a wet meadow is not perpetually saturated. There were many streams that connected the Black River (to the east of your location) to the Mississippi River (to your west), and immediately to the northwest of where you are now standing was once a small lake known as Rice Lake.
Much of this area was once habitable – there were even cottages and roads throughout the meadow. Some of this land was wooded, and is still visible to the distant northwest; there were many trees that were cut down in preparation to create the lake in the 1930's. Most of these trees were cut down by hand using 2-person cross-cut saws, leaving waist-high stumps that created a great habitat for the fish would come to occupy the lake. After river sediment began filling in the lake, a dredging operation took place in the mid-1980's, and the removed material was used for highway construction.
Much of the land that is now called French Island is made of plainfield sand, which is a soil that consists of very deep, excessively drained soils formed in sandy drift on outwash plains, valley trains, glacial lake basins, stream terraces, and moraines and other upland areas. The soil's permeability make it quite flood resistant. Pockets of plainfield sand were scattered throughout the wet meadow, and are what make up several of the islands that you can see in Lake Onalaska, including Rosebud Island to the north, and Red Oak Ridge to the southwest.
The difference in the soil's ability to allow water through it porbably made a big difference between what is now land and what is under water. The sandy regions in this area are still accessible today, while the wet meadow areas were submerged.
To claim your smiley for this EarthCache, please email the answers to the following questions:
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In a grassy area of the park, pour one cup of water onto the ground. How quickly is is absorbed into the soil?
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What caused the meadow lands to permanantly disappear? (Hint: look to the south. If there is heavy vegitation, you may need to consult a map.)
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To the east of your location (on the other side of the parking lot) is what is now Bell Island. What type of soil does Bell Island feature?
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What type of land was once between what is now French and Bell Islands?
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OPTIONAL – Post a photo of yourself and/or your GPS.
For a soil map of La Crosse County from 1919, check out:
https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/AUR72RD3CCNQTN8W/full/ABUU3OJGB2F4VR8F
For a land property map from 1900, check out:
https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/AENDXDCI6V74X38B/full/AOYQ3P4QI6N6PB8G
For more information on the creation of Lake Onalaska, check out From Sawmills to Sunfish By John Dolbier. (Pg 71-76)
Permission for this EarthCache was granted by Jason Stratman, Town of Campbell Supervisor #4 - Parks and Rec.