Driftless Area History

The Driftless Area of southwestern Wisconsin is unique. It’s the only place in the northeastern United States that the glacial ice did not flow over when the last Ice Age occurred. This occurred about 110,000 to 10,000 years ago between the Paleolithic and Mesolithic ages.

Because of this lack of flattening from the ice, Wisconsin has a more varied topography than other Midwestern states with elevations ranging from around 600’ to 1800’. This creates some interesting hills and valleys, what we refer to has rolling hills and high views.

Where the ice lay and melted, the land was barren. The Driftless Area, not having this, was lush with vegetation and provided the seeds and plants that reached out to populate this barren area. I suspect the mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and other land and water critters were also supplied from this area to other parts nearby.

This is just a brief touch on the subject to explain the name of our place and its history. To explore it further, check out some of these resources:

• The Mysteries of the Driftless Zone is a video documentary about this area.
• Wikipedia has some good technical info