​Lake

Lake WaConDa is a rare jewel many never find...and we don't mind that. Plotted in 1956 and gouged out in the ensuing years and filled in during the Spring of 1961 - this gem is 34 miles south of Omaha and 40 miles east of Lincoln. Lake WaConDa is so close to the Missouri River a quartermile man-made channel kisses the lower lip of the lake proper. 

Cleveland, Nebraska (now Union, NE) was chartered on July 23, 1858. Lewis and Clark reached Lake WaConDa on July 21, 1804 and according to the log, were captivated by the sight from the frowing bluffs looking down on the peaceful valley below. Legend says that an Otoe Indian Chief, looking from the bluffs to the valley below, uttered the words 'Wa-Con-Da!' meaning 'great spirit'. 

Over 150 years later, President Jim Cullinane and his chief helper, Howland

Boyer turned the 800 acres into what they called a 'hidden paradise' - a

well-fed lake of 35 acres in the bed that once felt the pounding waters of the

Missouri River. 

It took 5 years, from 1956 - 1961, for the Omaha corporate to clear the valley

floor, to bring blue clay from the towering hills to pack the lake bed, to sink

wells, build roads, string electric light wires and plot out lots. 

Directly across the river was Forney's Flats, the Iowa game refuge which each spring attracted over a million waterfowl - and in the fall still draws thousands of ducks and geese.

As a private venture, access was controlled and regulated. With only one all-weather road (now paved and known as 3-mile) led from Highway 73-72 (now known as Highway 75) into 'hidden paradise'.

'It's our answer to the crying demands for family recreation,' said former President Cullinane back in 1961. 'Year after year existing recreational facilities seem to shrivel as the desires of the outdoor-minded expand. At Lake WaConDa, we feel we have the family-type recreational desires fulfilled. We're gambling on it.'

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