Lake Papakeechie

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Lake Papakeechie with Lake Wawasee's Buttemilk Bay just north

Red line shows location of of Papakeechie's dam and outflow into Lake Wawasee

Lake Papakeechie is a small man-made lake of 179 acres (.072 km²) located in Kosciusko County, Indiana, United States. The lake is situated south of and drains into Lake Wawasee. The lake is owned by the Papakeechie Protective Association.

1 History
2 Papakeechie mystery
3 Hydrology and characteristics
4 Books on Papakeechie
5 Sources

[edit] History

Lake Papakeechie is named after Miami chief Papakeecha or Pa-hed-ke-teh-a, the most influential chief in the region around Lake Wawasee.

Papakeechie was created just before 1910 in the same location and in a basin where 6 small lakes once occupied this area. The small lakes were named Jarret's, Gan's, Hooper's and 3 named Hartzell's. Early in the 19th century a fish trap or fish weir was constructed at the outlet where water flowed to Lake Wawasee where settlers would easily catch fish. The lake (with dam) was deemed completed in 1913.

When an 8-foot earthen dam was constructed by Charles A. Sudlow of Indianapolis on that north side, the water level rose elevating large masses of vegetation. These were loaded with rocks and filled with holes and sunk to the bottom.

[edit] Papakeechie mystery

From the 1950s through late 1960s an aluminum airplane wheel with tire measuring some 7 to 8 feet across lay on the shore of Papakeechie just to the east of the dam. It was never known how the piece of landing gear got there as it would have had to have been rolled up hill and over the earthen part of the dam. Some said it was dropped from a airplane but that theory was never confirmed.

[edit] Hydrology and characteristics

Papakeechie has a drainage area of 5.36 sq. mi. (13.7 km²). The dam length is 2460.00 feet (749 m). It has a maximum discharge of 291 cu ft/second. Normal storage is 890 acre-feet. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources is the state regulating agency.

See also: Watersheds of Indiana

[edit] Books on Papakeechie

Giese, Vincent J., Lead Thou Me on: Reflections from Lake Papakeechie. Our Sunday Visitor, Huntington, Indiana, U.S.A., 1993.
Leffers, Laura. Dance on the Water. Book World/Blue Star, 1996. ISBN-10: 1881542106 and ISBN-13: 978-1881542100.