City of Winona’s Prairie Island Park

Part 2: Stories of the Land 1916-1940

John A. Latsch (1861-1934) acquired and gifted thousands of acres of river bottom land in 1916 to the City of Winona in order to realize his vision for a City of Winona Island Park Preserve, which included Prairie Island Park.  At this time, Latsch could not have imagined how the US War department’s future project to develop a nine-foot deep river channel for commercial traffic could alter the land and his vision.     

Upon completion of the dam in 1934, half of what is referred to on the Winona County plat maps of 1894 and 1914 as Prairie Island was flooded.  Around 1935, the City of Winona, the War department, and the Latsch Memorial Board were testifying in the federal court to determine what the compensation should be for the “condemned” lands.  At the same time, a group of sportsmen were opposed to the area being brought under the Biological Survey restrictions of the federally managed Wildlife Refuge (WRH, 1940).   Eventually, by June 16th, 1939, the Latsch Memorial Board received a check for $41,423, and the lands upriver from the Winona Dam were transferred to the War department (WRH, 1939).  By 1940, these lands were handed over to the Upper Mississippi Wildlife and Fish Refuge (WRH).  

What is the origin of the name “Prairie Island” and which island is it referencing, exactly?   The plat maps of 1894 and 1914 named the island that ran six-miles all the way to Fountain City as Prairie Island.  However, during the 1920’s, vacation cottages were being built, and the name “Winnebago Island” began to surface.  On the 1930 US War department’s Plan for Flooding, “Prairie Island” was used to reference just the grassy area between Straight and Crooked Slough and Winnebago Island was just below the locks.  Had the land surveyors been mistaken?  

In 1916, the Latsch Memorial Board targeted what is currently thought of as Prairie Island for “improvement” through planting trees (WRH).  In 1926, a writer for the Winona Republican Herald’s column, Voice of the Outdoors, paddled to Prairie Island to learn more about the tree nursery efforts of Victor A. Lynne.  Lynne ironically was dedicated to planting hundreds of trees into the island of prairie that existed within the islands of floodplain forest.  While admiring his work, the columnist also supposes that Prairie Island is “ideal corn growing land.  The water on each side protects it from early frosts.  For this reason the Indians kept it clear of trees by burning it regularly,” (WRH, October 7th, 1926).  The slightly higher sand and gravel soils of this area, cleared of trees and shrubs, had become well known among the European settlers of Winona as a place for growing produce early in the season.  In the spirit of John Latsch in 1917, the Reverend Keller led groups of Boy Scouts on Prairie Island to grow cucumbers and onions (WRH, 1917).  They even had a contract with the Pepin Pickling Company.  

When considering this perspective alongside looking at the map produced by the “Exploring the Ecological History of Winona, Minnesota” project (2020), the island of prairie (orange) surrounded by floodplain forest (green) appears out of step.  Is the island of prairie a natural phenomenon or a cultural landscape?  Does the name “Prairie Island” signal a unique place along the river that had been managed with fire for centuries?  

Researched and written by Anne Conway. Printed in The Argus, Volume 24, No.2, 2023.