Beaver Lake (Newton County, Indiana)
Former lake
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Beaver Lake is a former lake, which was once the largest in Indiana, and part of the Grand Kankakee Marsh. It was drained due to land speculation that followed the Swamp Land Act of 1850. Since 2016, the dry lake bed has been part of the Kankakee Sands nature preserve.
| Beaver Lake | |
|---|---|
The dry lake bed, 2019 | |
| Location | Newton County, Indiana |
| Coordinates | 41.062397°N 87.449167°W |
| Type | Former lake |
| Part of | Grand Kankakee Marsh |
| Location | |
 Interactive map of Beaver Lake | |
History
Beaver Lake was a shallow lake covering tens of thousands of acres and did not exceed fifteen feet in depth. It was home to scores of species of fish, waterfowl, and mammals. Among the animals native to the area was a healthy bald eagle population. Before European settlement of Newton County, it provided resources for Native Americans. During Indiana's frontier days, the lake continued to provide food and furs for the early settlers. Due to its remoteness, criminals were known to hide out on the lake's infamous Bogus Island.[1]
The name Beaver Lake was first recorded by U.S. surveyors in 1834, who deemed it and the surrounding area "of little value." Due to the Swamp Land Act of 1850, Indiana received 1,265,000 acres (5,120 km2) of wetlands, but only about 9,000 acres (36 km2) near Beaver Lake, consisting mostly of its surrounding marshland.[2]
In 1853, state swampland engineer Amizi Condi and State Auditor John Dunn purchased the shoreline of the lake. They then sold this land to lawyer Michael Bright, brother of Jesse D. Bright, a U.S. Senator from Indiana. The drainage process began in 1854, when a ditch running from Beaver Lake to the Kankakee River was dug. The Indianapolis Journal correctly predicted that Michael Bright intended to drain the lake and claim ownership of the land. Indeed, once Bright purchased the entire shoreline of the lake, he declared that he owned, "the bed of said lake, and of all the islands covered by the waters thereof."[2]
Decades of legal challenges and court cases followed, during which three-quarters of the lake bed was purchased by Lemuel Milk and his partners Algy Dean and Henry Cooley, who continued draining the lake. In 1873, Congress granted the title to the lands to the state of Indiana, and after more court challenges, Indiana divested itself of the land for cheap in 1889. At this point, the lake was gone and was being used for agriculture.[2]
Nature Conservancy purchase
The land was farmed until the late 1990s. At that time the Nature Conservancy purchased 7,200 acres in and around the lake basin and began restoring the area to native prairie. The land where Beaver Lake once stood has been part of Kankakee Sands since 2016.[3] The Conservancy maintains a trail along what was once the lake's shore.[4]
