Our History
2010 - Swan Lake Association, INC. - 45 Years Old!
In the summer of 2010 the Swan Lake Association, Inc. celebrated 45 years of protecting Swan Lake by being involved in multiple issues concerning the quality of the lake and the prudent use of it by residents and all who enjoy its inviting waters. Since the following history was printed in the April 1999 SLA Newsletter, the Association has continued to implement the stated goals and has also achieved other important milestones.
In 2003 and 2004 the SLA and Columbia County put in place a system to implement a “Slow-No-Wake” order for boats during high water by establishing a high water mark to be used as the basis for activating the order and taking it off. The SLA had signs made that are posted at entries to Swan Lake informing residents and users of the lake about the order/implementation of the County ordinance.
For a number of years former Saddle Ridge resident, Howard Rasmussen, promoted blue birds by erecting numerous blue bird houses in the Saddle Ridge area and on the OPortage Country Club as 150 yard markers. He also generously gave houses away as door prizes at many SLA Annual Meetings and provided blue bird information for publication in the SLA newsletter.
The Association continues to support any endeavors that protect wetlands in the area such as the DNR purchase of the Lauterbach property on the west end of the lake and continuing downstream on the Fox River that became part of the Swan Lake Wildlife Area.
Sensible shoreline lighting has been another endeavor, informating lakeshore residents of practices that preserve the beauty of the night on waterfronts. Light pollution by “dusk to dawn” lights has been discouraged and alternatives suggested through brochures the SLA has received from the University of Wisconsin-Cooperative Extension. Anyone wanting information contact Dorothy Rebholz.
The SLA Board spent the past year working on revisions to certain Articles in the Bylaws adopted in 1998. Assistance was received from Attorney, David Carlson regarding the proper wording of the proposed changes and to make sure the revisions did not conflict with what is required to maintain the Association’s tax exempt status as a 501(c)(3) organization. These revisions were approved at the July Annual Meeting. The Association completes tax filing requirements (now electronic) for small exempt organizations each year with the IRS.
Currently, the SLA Board is working with the DNR to erect one or two osprey platforms around the lake for the enjoyment of the residents. Members or residents with any questions, concerns or comments are asked to contact any Board member - names, addresses and phone numbers are on the back of this newsletter.
History of the Swan Lake Association
-Compiled by Dorothy Rebholz and printed in April 1999 SLA Newsletter-
The organizational meeting of the Swan Lake Association was held on Wednesday evening, July 21, 1965 at 7:30 pm at the Portage Country Club with Mr. William Rhyme presiding. Mr. George Nagle moved "we band together and form a Swan Lake Association." Seconded by Harold E. Rebholz; motion carried.
The following were elected to the Board of Directors: Glenn Blackburn, President; Ellsworth Jones, Vice President; Barbara Taylor, Secretary/Treasurer; Jeanette Lennon, David Eulberg, Dan O'Connor, and Robert Kashinske, Directors.
The minutes of that meeting indicate a major concern was the contamination of the lake from septic systems with the possibility of having each cottage put fluorescein dye in their systems to see if there was seepage into the lake. Also discussed were the algae bloom, the number of carp in the lake, and the detergent problem.
Over 100 people attended the meeting. It was agreed that each landowner would be assessed $1.00 to cover immediate expenses and periodic mailings during the winter.
Throughout the years,concerns addresses by the Association included water quality, fishing,wetland protection, boating regulations/safety, and monitoring Pardeeville sewage treatment and Park Lake.
Water Quality - In the 60's and 70's, the SLA conducted periodic dye tests to check if septic sytems were polluting the lake. In 1979 a DNR water Quality analysis was conducted by taking water samples at 10 sites around the lake with the results reflecting there was no problem regarding fecal pollution. Water Quality tests have been conducted annually for a number of years by volunteers and are analyzed by the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point and the Wisconsin DNR.
Fishing - The SLA has monitored fish stocking and sampling provided by the DNR and members have worked with DNR officially to provide approved fish habitat (fish cribs) as an on-going activity. Money has been donated to the Portage Area Musky Club for their fish stocking activities, including stocking fish in Swan Lake.
Wetland Protection - In the late 1970's and the 1`980's, the SLA became involved protecting wetland and shorelines by providing input into various applications made to the DNR and the Army Corps of Engineers by Swan Lake property owners, proposing activities which would have altered and adversely affected these areas. The preservation of contiguous wetland and the integrity of the shoreline continue to be a focus of the Association.
Boating Regulations and Safety - As early as 1972, the July 29th Annual Meeting minutes (written by Florence Jones, Sec'y/Treas.) express concern regarding "violations that include speeding, skiers too close to other boats, swimmers and piers, winter fishermen leaving debris causing hazards to snowmobilers and summer boaters asked not to dump containers inn the lake." These same concerns continue today. The SLA board has recommended to lake users a boat traffic pattern on the west end of the lake to promote sage boating in that area. A map indicating the suggested traffic pattern is periodically published in newsletters.
Monitoring Pardeeville Sewage Treatment and Park Lake - Swan Lake is unique because, as part of the Fox River, it is one of the few natural flow-through type lakes left in Wisconsin-especially southern Wisconsin. An important focus for the Swan Lake Association in the mid 1970's and early 1980's was sewage treatment for the city of Pardeeville. The system at the time released effluent into the Fox Rivera which flowed directly into Swan Lake. Because of the increase in nutrients, water quality deteriorated aand algae and weed growth increased. In1977-78, SLA records indicate input given by members at a hearing with a committee formed to give continuous vigilance to this problem affecting Swan Lake. In 1984, the new wastewater treatmenplant in Pardeeville was operational, greatly improving the water quality in Swan Lake in subsequent years. Also monitoring the pertinent issues at Pardeeville's Park Lake has continued through the years with various SLA members attending meetings to give and receive input into matters that could eventually affect Swan Lake.
Non-Profit/Tax Exempt Status and Moving Into the 21st Century - At the Annual Meeting on July 13, 1994 t, the SLA voted to pursue the process of becoming a tax-exempt organization. Dues were increased from $5 to $10 to allow the Association to be recognized by the State of Wisconsin, making it eligible for State aid, grants, etc. Articles of Incorporation were filed in 1996 and the Board began the actual application process in 1997. Exemption from federal income tax as a 501(c)(3) organization was achieved in January, 1999 with an application filed with the Wisconsin Dept. of Revenue for Wisconsin Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exempt status.
In the future, as Swan Lake Association, Inc. moves into the 21st century, goals include becoming involved as a non-profit organization in the preservation of valuable land/habitat in the area. This may involve working with property owners to preserve land vital to maintaining the quality of Swan Lake and providing long-term property tax relief through conservation easements.
An important focus of Swan Lake Association, Inc. continues to be to provide educational information to members and non-members through periodic newsletters and meetings. This information typically relates to general safety of water-related activities, such as boating, water skiing, and /or environmental issues. This is often done by providing a forum to representatives of environmental and governmental organizations at annual meetings. On September 11, 1997, the Board decided to send newsletters to all property owners and to all pier tenants of the Saddle Ridge Marina and the Portage Country Club pier facility who are not currently members of the Association in order to provide them with the important information relating to Swan Lake and the purposes and goals of Swan Lake Association, Inc,.
Brief History and Description of Swan Lake
-By Jim Watson, Jr. for the 2010 SLA Newsletter-
At 406 acres, almost 2 1/2 miles long and, nearly 1/2 mile wide, over 80 feet deep with most of the mid-lake regions over 50 feet deep, Swan Lake lies within glacial moraine deposits, high above an ancient river valley. The bedrock rims of the ancient, rocky, V shaped valley can be seen 1/2 mile south and 2 miles north of the lake. The river at the bottom of this valley flowed into the pre-glacial Wisconsin River near Portage and on to the west, through the Baraboo Mountains, Devils Lake and on south to the Gulf of Mexico.
Ten thousand years ago, mile thick ice bulldozed across this area and, when it melted, left thick layers of sand, silt, clay, rock, and gravel, filling in the deep valleys. Giant blocks of ice buried in this debris left holes in the land that became our lakes. River drainages changed and now the small Fox River flows through Swan Lake. The Fox originates south of Dalton, flows through Park and Spring Lakes in Pardeeville to Swan, on to Portage where it no longer enters the Wisconsin but, instead turns northeast to flow to Green Bay on Lake Michigan.
After the glaciers, various cultural groups of Native Americans visited or lived in the area. They left behind many stone, bone and pottery artifacts that have been found on high ground areas along the north shore and even in the lake itself. Also, left behind, but mostly obliterated or obscured, are burial and ceremonial mounds. Mounds on the golf course, north shore and near the log cabin on the southeast shore are no longer visible. There were many burial mounds in a grove of trees that stood out in the middle of the long point on the north side. Called Skunk Island, because the grove looked like an island in the open meadow, many bones and artifacts were spread about when the mounds were bulldozed to fill the surrounding marsh and shoreline for building sites. Long mounds can still be seen in the grove of trees behind the Saddle Ridge Marina. The appearance of the landscape around the lake has changed a great deal in the last 50-100 years. Before Europeans settled here the Native Americans often burned off the land periodically to suppress woody brush and trees creating a park-like landscape of prairie grasses and wildflowers with open groves and scattered oaks. Even the early farmers grazing cattle and the first builders of cottages as well as the old trains starting fires maintained the same landscape. The Portage Country Club golf course is somewhat reminiscent of that landscape although the grass is much shorter. Without the regular spring burn offs, the oak groves have turned into thick forest. Shrubs and trees grow thick even in some wetland areas that were once open.
The shoreline has also changed. Once rimmed with deep stands of reeds and wild rice where officers from the Old Ft. Winnebago hunted ducks, changes in water levels due to man’s activities (deepened channel of the Fox River, the Portage levee blocking regular floodwater from the Wisconsin River, etc.) and introduction of carp and other foreign species have changed the aquatic vegetation. The soft marshy shoreline, exposed to wind and waves, eroded rapidly in the first half of the 1900s. Some areas have receded 75 to 100 or more feet! The rock riprap you see along residential shores is there for a reason.
During the late 1800s and early 1900s a few farms bordered the lake with few cabins and cottages. There once was a dance hall on top of the bluff where Saddle Ridge condos are now. For winter fun there was an iced toboggan chute down that steep hill onto the frozen lake. Some Portage businessmen built themselves a clubhouse which became a sailing club, popular picnic, camping area and eventually golfing became popular, so it is now the Portage Country Club’s clubhouse. Cottages were moved or built nearby. In the early years, many lake and club visitors rode the train back and forth from Portage on north side railroad tracks that went from Portage on to Cambria and places to the east. During the 1920s more groups of cottages were built around the lake and during the 1960’s until now these were being converted or replaced with year round homes. Other homes have also been built. Swimming, fishing and, sailing were always an attraction. Now we also have motor boating and water ski sports.
Being part of the Fox/Winnebago waterway, and with connections at times to the Wisconsin River system, Swan Lake has a huge variety of fish species. The most popular for the fishermen would be the abundant bluegill, crappie, perch, largemouth bass, yellow and white bass, walleye, northern pike, catfish, and the small population of stocked musky which have proven to grow to trophy size on the abundant forage. The gizzard shad and carp are unwelcome newcomers to the area along with many native rough fish species such as buffalo suckers, quillback, suckercarp, white suckers, longnore gar, dogfish, yellow and black bullhead. Many small fish species we all just call minnows but some are actually darters, dace, troutperch, etc. We even have a few sturgeons in this lake.
Originally the fishery was mostly bass and bluegills with a few northern pike. Walleye do very well in this lake but cannot reproduce here due to soft claylike bottom so are stocked by the DNR. The Portage Musky Club along with the DNR established a limited population of these large gamefish in Swan Lake as well as some other southern Wisconsin waters in the 1980s. Common carp were imported from Asia by way of Europe in the 1800s and have become a huge problem most places.
Special visitors to our lake include bald eagles and osprey who come here most days to catch fish. Spring and fall migration times bring loons, various ducks, grebes, egrets, occasionally pelicans and swans. Wolves and bear wander by the lake area from times to time. With the extensive wetlands and forests surrounding Swan Lake we enjoy an abundance of wildlife.
Remember When?...
-By Jim Watson, Jr. for the Spring 1997 SLA Newsletter-
In response to reader interest, we are devoting a majority of this issue to the history of Swan Lake: early activities, structures and how the area has evolved throughout the years. We are especially grateful for the photographs provided to us by Frank Rhyme, whose grandfather was one of those mentioned in early reports on the recreational mecca the lake became in the early 1900’s.
An article in the June, 1969 issue of the “Daily Register" written by Dorothy G. McCarthy, chronicles the Lake’s development. A brief synopsis follows, information which gives a wonderful perspective on development in the area.
In the 1830’s, the area now occupied by the Portage Country Club was laid out as a platted city and given the name, “Ida” by Larned B. Harkness. He hoped that people, especially from the East, would invest in these homesites. Because of the oak woods, lake beauty and six mile distance to what was then the growing community of Ft. Winnebago, Ida was expected to thrive and prosper. Only Poynette, one of the halfdozen or so cities platted as Ida had been, came to prosper. (Frank Rhyme shares the following, additional detail about the development during this time): In 1867, Henry Merrill sold the property surrounding the North Side to Charles Lindsay and his wife. Over the years, the Lindsays sold off various parcels and, until late in the 1930’s, Charles Lindsay’s heirs still owned a fair amount of the land from the Lake Shore to Hwy 33.
A mile or so up the lake, (approximately where the Berst home stood) was the John Cuff Resort; a 3 story white brick building with an elegant veranda. There were rooms and cottages available for rental and even a “shoot the chute” which carried “screaming passengers” down the hill onto the lake. A launch carried visitors between Cuffs and Oakwood landing, side of the present country club.
However, in the 1900’s, a group of sailing enthusiasts who had been gathering at the lake each summer to sail from Cuff’s Resort, moved their club to Oakwood Park (which eventually evolved to become the Portage Country Club). Among the leaders were Frank A. Rhyme (grandfather of current Country Club member, Frank A. Rhyme) and T.H. Cochrane. They bought three 28” long, 6’ wide custom boats of identical size and design to avoid unfair advantages in their races.
The Portage Country Club area came into being in 1897-98 when Harry Purdy platted it as “Oakwood Park”. Pleasure seekers reached Oakwood via twice daily trains that travelled between Portage and Horicon, or by horse and buggy or bicycle. (Fare one-way to Oakwood from Portage was 11 cents!) Camping was popular at Oakwood Park and groups of young people spent long vacations in the tranquil setting.
Harry Purdy built a two-story wooden building between the railroad tracks and the lake shore on what is now the Country Club parking lot. This building was originally intended as a resort hotel. It was eventually purchased by a group of Portage men who moved the building closer to the lake, dug a basement and new foundation and opened it as the Swan Lake Yacht Club. Interesting to note is that this original building, with some alterations, is used today as the Portage Country Club Restaurant and locker rooms. Dr. Stewart Taylor recalls that there was an ice house in the basement of this building which kept ice for use during the summer months.
The early 1900’s were a time of great social activity, including sailboat racing, fishing, swimming and general recreation. A few cottages were moved from Cuff’s resort, over the ice to Oakwood Park and to another development to the West: Lakeside Park. (Identified by Jim Watson, Sr. as Warren & Dorothy Rebholz’s “old” green cottage and the one currently owned by Dr. Gary Kuhl two houses to the East were two of these cottages.) In Oakwood Park, the Taylors bought a home in 1926 (which had been built around 1897 for the Roehms who used it as a get-away for fishing and hunting). There were also two cottages between this house and the Club House: “Swance” and “Dublin Inn” (used by two families, hence “dublin inn”).
After WWI, “a few of the fellows began batting a few golf balls around the adjacent pastures.” Named as these first golfers were H.B. Rogers, W.S. Stroud, Wm. Rhyme and the Rev. Herman Rockstroh. Sailing was on the wane and when the club nearly floundered in 1919, something new had to be dreamed up to keep interest alive! A five-hole golf club emerged, later enlarged to nine holes. (Until the course was laid out, the golfers practiced at the fairgrounds.)
James A. Carroll was said to be one of the officers who kept the club solvent and progressive; also being responsible for the new road access to Hwy 33 and acquisition of property for holes 7 & 8 across the tracks.
The Portage Country Club survived the depression years, refinancing and problems so common to clubs over the years. Today, it is a thriving center of social and recreational activity with an ever-improving 18 hole course, floating dock and sand beach in addition to a popular restaurant. It’s a long glance backward to the Oakwood Park days of mosquito netter campers and kerosene stoves!
In talking with Jim Watson, Sr., he recalls, among other things, how ice boats raced on the lake, that the slide described in Cuff Hotel history was a wooden structure with pilings on the lake bed that, perhaps, could be found today. The “Wee House” in the photograph at the train stop was located at the side of the tracks at the approximate location of #18 tee box. Eventually, the Wee House ended up on property owned by Jerry Van Ness, who recently gave the structure to the Country Club and it can be found today on the hill near the #7 tee box and #8 green.
Another interesting aspect of Swan Lake is the marl bottom, with the shells, which was removed from the two bays adjacent to Saddle Ridge in the early 1900’s. The marl was used as a fertilizer for soils deficient in lime and also as feed for chickens.