All Topics  
Lake Pepin

 
Lake Pepin

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Lake Pepin
 
 
  Topics Lake Pepin Topic Home

Lake Pepin is a naturally occurring lake
Lake

A lake is a terrain feature , a body of liquid on the surface of a world that is localized to the bottom of basin and moves slowly if it moves at all....
, and the widest naturally occurring part of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the longest river in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico....
. It is a widening of the river on the border between Minnesota
Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States of the United States. The twelfth largest state by area in the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with just over five million residents....
 and Wisconsin
Wisconsin

Wisconsin is one of the fifty U.S. state in the United States of America, located in the north central part of the United States. It borders two of the five Great Lakes and four U.S....
. The formation of the lake was caused by the backup of water behind the sedimentary deposits of the Chippewa River's
Chippewa River (Wisconsin)

The Chippewa River in Wisconsin flows approximately 183 miles through west-central and northwestern Wisconsin. It was once navigable for approximately 50 miles of its length, from the Mississippi River, by Durand, Wisconsin, northeast to Eau Claire, Wisconsin....
 delta
River delta

A delta is a landform that is created at the mouth of a river where that river flows into an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, flat arid area, or another river....
. It has a surface area of about and an average depth of .

The first written history of the area documents a French fort (or fur post) built on its shores.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Lake Pepin'
Start a new discussion about 'Lake Pepin'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Lake Pepin is a naturally occurring lake
Lake

A lake is a terrain feature , a body of liquid on the surface of a world that is localized to the bottom of basin and moves slowly if it moves at all....
, and the widest naturally occurring part of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the longest river in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico....
. It is a widening of the river on the border between Minnesota
Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States of the United States. The twelfth largest state by area in the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with just over five million residents....
 and Wisconsin
Wisconsin

Wisconsin is one of the fifty U.S. state in the United States of America, located in the north central part of the United States. It borders two of the five Great Lakes and four U.S....
. The formation of the lake was caused by the backup of water behind the sedimentary deposits of the Chippewa River's
Chippewa River (Wisconsin)

The Chippewa River in Wisconsin flows approximately 183 miles through west-central and northwestern Wisconsin. It was once navigable for approximately 50 miles of its length, from the Mississippi River, by Durand, Wisconsin, northeast to Eau Claire, Wisconsin....
 delta
River delta

A delta is a landform that is created at the mouth of a river where that river flows into an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, flat arid area, or another river....
. It has a surface area of about and an average depth of .

The first written history of the area documents a French fort (or fur post) built on its shores. Fort Beauharnois
Fort Beauharnois

Fort Beauharnois was a French fort built on the shores of Lake Pepin, a wide part of the upper Mississippi River, in 1727. The location chosen was on lowlands and the fort was rebuilt in 1730 on higher ground....
 was built in 1727 on lowlands and the fort was rebuilt in 1730 on higher ground.

In 1890 it was the sight of one of the worst maritime disasters on the Mississippi and known as the Sea Wing disaster when the Sea Wing ferry boat capsized in a bad storm killing 98 people.

In 1922, Ralph Samuelson
Ralph Samuelson

Ralph Wilford Samuelson was the inventor of water skiing, which he first performed in the summer of 1922 in Lake City, Minnesota, just before his 19th birthday....
 invented the sport of water skiing
Water skiing

Water skiing is a sport where an individual is pulled behind a motor boat or a Cable skiing on a body of water wearing one or more skis. The surface area of the ski keeps the person skimming on the surface of the water allowing the skier to stand upright while holding the tow rope....
 on the lake. The largest city on the waterfront is Lake City
Lake City, Minnesota

Lake City is a city in Goodhue County, Minnesota and Wabasha County, Minnesota counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It lies along Lake Pepin, a wide portion of the Mississippi River....
, Minnesota. The wide area of the lake stretches from Bay City
Bay City, Wisconsin

Bay City is a village in Pierce County, Wisconsin, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 465 at the 2000 census....
, Wisconsin, in the north, down past Pepin
Pepin, Wisconsin

Pepin is a village in Pepin County, Wisconsin, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 878 at the 2000 census. The village is located within the Pepin , Wisconsin....
, Wisconsin, in the south, with Pepin being just upstream from where the Chippewa River enters the Mississippi. The villages of Maiden Rock
Maiden Rock, Wisconsin

Maiden Rock is a village in Pierce County, Wisconsin, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 121 at the 2000 census. The village is located within the Maiden Rock , Wisconsin....
 and Stockholm
Stockholm, Wisconsin

Stockholm is a village in Pepin County, Wisconsin, Wisconsin, United States, founded in 1854 by immigrants from Karlskoga, Sweden. The population was 97 at the 2000 census....
 also border on the Wisconsin side, while Frontenac State Park
Frontenac State Park

Frontenac State Park is a Minnesota List of Minnesota state parks on the Mississippi River, southeast of Red Wing, Minnesota. The park is notable both for its history and for its birdwatching opportunities....
 takes up a large part of the Minnesota side. There are three marina
Marina

A marina is a sheltered harbor where boats and yachts are kept in the water and where services geared to the needs of recreational boating are found....
s 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.

Lake Pepin appears as 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.

Sailboat
Sailboat

A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails. The term covers a variety of boats, larger than small vessels such as sailboards and smaller than sailing ships, but distinctions in size are not strictly defined and what constitutes a sailing ship, sailboat, or a smaller vessel varies by region and culture....
s are common on the lake in summer. In the winter, there are ice road
Ice road

Ice roads or ice crossings are frozen man-made structures formed on the surface of Headlands and bayss, inlets, rivers, lakes, or seas. They are linked from frozen waterway to frozen waterway by overland portages or winter roads that are usually consistently used from year to year....
s that cross the lake.

Legends claim that the lake is home to a lake monster
Lake monster

Lake monster or loch monster is the name given to large unknown animals which have reportedly been sighted in, and/or are believed to dwell in fresh waters, although their existence has never been confirmed scientifically....
, Pepie, which was first seen on April 28, 1871. More recently, it has been photographed.

Lakepepinmississippiriver2006 07 08