Nestled in the small circus town of Baraboo, Wisconsin is Devil’s Lake State Park. The park is named for the large lake that sits at its center. Devil’s Lake is located in the middle of a deep chasm, with no visible inlet or outlet. Rather than any religious origins, its name actually comes from a misinterpretation of a term from the Ho-Chunk Nation, the region’s Indigenous inhabitants. The Ho-Chunk term Tawacunchukdah, sometimes spelled Da-wa-kah-char-gra, is more accurately translated as “Sacred Lake.” The lake sits between two quartzite-filled mountains that cover hundreds…
