Name of Chain

Waupaca Republican

September 17, 1880

The original name of our Waupaca chain of lakes has been ascertained by authority. County Treasurer Chamberlain wrote to a party at Shawano familiar with the Menominees, and he, or rather his Indian clerk, interviewed some of the oldest Indians familiar with this section, from whom it is learned that the Indian name of the lakes is She-she-pe-ko-niew, signifying Stretching Waters. Some of the old Indians say there is an old story that there is in one of the lakes a deep hole infested with water snakes with heads as large as an otter, but the inquirer suggests that that may be a mistake, and that probably there are no snakes there larger than some of the guests would carry around in their boots.