I have three lessons for you from this one place. The first is scientific. The second is national US history. The Third is major photography history. Wow, three derived from the same area and go hand in hand. Lesson one: The Wisconsin Dells was formed when the great glacier melted and caused a catastrophic flood. When the ice dams thawed they carved out the sandstone rock formations we see today. There are only three places in the world where these types of formations can be seen and this is one of them. They hypothesize that the rushing water was so loud it could be heard in 6 states. Lesson two: In the 1700's french fur traders settle the area and called it The Dalles. Later the name and pronunciation evolved into The Dells. In 1857 when the railroad arrived they formed a village known as Kilbourne. It was named after the railroad president. In 1931 it officially changed it's name to Wisconsin Dells and is now the water park capital of the world. Lesson Three: Henry Hamilton Bennett, the photographer who made the Dells famous. In 1857 Henry, his father, and uncle moved to Kilbourne. In 1865 Henry bought a photography studio. There was little demand for portraits, he set his sights on landscapes. He built himself a portable darkroom. With his equipment in tow he traveled across the countryside seeking settings for his photos. He didn't have far to go to find impressive scenery. Just outside Kilbourne was a gorge with sandstone rock formations. He loaded a boat with his equipment and set out on his adventure. Realization set in that the 3D aspect would be lost in a 2D photo. Bennett made his first stereoscope photo, which fast became popular. People from all over swarmed to settle in Kilbourne after seeing this photo. Bennett invented the stop action shutter. He wanted to be able to catch action as it was happening. To prove his shutter worked, he photographed his son Ashley jumping across two rock formations. Before Bennett shutter taking a photo took several minutes. For the tourist that come and visit, they now have a German Shepard performing this jump, every 30 minutes,poor dog. H.H. Studios still remains today and until 1999, when it was acquired by the Historical Society, remained family owned and operated by his descendants. Today the Historical Society has it opened to the public, where on display are all the priceless photos Henry had taken. This concludes today's lessons. Class dimissed. Thank you for stopping to take a look and reading my Lessons to boot. Thank you for allowing the teacher in me to come out. There are times when I miss this immensely even if they were only preschoolers. Maybe someday again when the economy picks up. Thank you for all the wonderful comments left on my previous posts,they all mean so much to me. Have a gorgeous Sunday. Your friend always, Cheri