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Driftless AreaThe Driftless Area is an area of about 20,000 square miles in southwestern Wisconsin and northeastern Iowa which was by-passed by the continental glaciers. As a result, the topography is less flat and more rugged than that usually associated with the Middle West. The Area in Wisconsin parallels the Mississippi River to the Illinois state line in a band 60 to 80 miles wide. About halfway a lobe extends farther northeast into Wisconsin. In Iowa the Area also parallels the Mississippi River from the Minnesota state line to about Dubuque in a band approximately 20 miles wide. Small portions of southeast Minnesota and northwest Illinois are also included in the Area. Other than rugged topography, the driftless Area has no one single unity of landscape. In the north there is a " North Woods" visual appearance. The Dells of the Wisconsin River are a unique, specially formed scenic attraction in their own right. In southwestern Wisconsin there is a more pastoral, semi-wooded landscape with many prosperous farms and gentle rural by-ways. The portion of the Mississippi River that flows through the Area is noted for its high bluffs and dramatic river scenery. In Iowa the Driftless Area takes the appearance of low, rugged hills covered with pine woods, a landscape not usually associated with that state. In Illinois the Driftless Area contains the highest point in that state. An interesting connection with the landscape of the Driftless Area is Taliesin (studio), the home of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, who advocated organic integration of a structure with its natural surroundings. Taliesin itself is built from local limestone and set on the brow of a rugged hill for the specific purpose of emphasizing its ties to the Driftless Area of southwestern Wisconsin. In the past the Driftless Area was noted for its many lead and zinc mines; in fact, the state seal of Wisconsin shows a miner in honor of that historic era. Today, however, there are no metallic mines in this region. Agriculture, where it can be done, tends toward dairying. In southwestern Wisconsin this specialty is combined with the characteristic feedlot system of the Corn Belt, and beef cattle plus specialty crops are raised there . Some ethnic communities have concentrated across the land in the Driftless Area, such as Swiss- and Czech-Americans. In Wisconsin the Driftless Area is the original source of the Swiss cheese industry in the USA ( although most of the Wisconsin cheese industry is concentrated elsewhere in state outside the Driftless Area). The Driftless Area National Wildlife Refuge has been established in this region for the purpose of preserving a rare snail and rare flower that have made this region a specialized ecological niche for themselves. The Refuge is located in several dispersed sites among the states that make up the Driftless Area. The principal settlements in the Driftless Area are La Crosse, Baraboo, and Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin; Galena, Illinois; and Winona, Minnesota. Dubuque, Iowa and Rochester, Minnesota are on the edges of the Area. It is noted that most of these places are on large rivers, suggesting the comparative difficulty of overland travel across the rugged topography for the early settlers.
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