About one hundred years ago, there were two Native American tribes in the town of Wasioja. They were the Wazi-Oju and the Waupaconta.
The Waupaconta split off from the Wazi-Uju when one member of the Wazi-Oju tribe wanted to be chief. Chief Wazi-Oju said not until he had earned it. So the offended tribal member formed a splinter tribe, renaming them the Waupaconta after himself. He, of course, elected himself as chief.
Soon the Waupaconta and the Wazi-Oju were at war. The final battle between the two tribes placed the Wazi-Oju at the top of the "staircase," a ravine running up the hill, and the Waupaconta were at the bottom of the staircase.
Climbing the staircase, Chief Waupaconta was wearing a buffalo skin hat with horns protruding out the top and, according to legend, looked like the devil. He killed Chief Wazi-Oju and some of his warriors.
One surviving warrior of the Wazi-Oju tribe sprinted at Waupaconta,
hitting the Chief as hard as possible, toppling him, his warriors,
and himself into the river. The Native Americans all drowned,
but the name "Devil's Staircase" survived.
Trails, originally used by the Native Americans, set the original locations of many townsites in Dodge County. The first town that was settled in Dodge County, Concord, or "Old Town", was along a Native American Indian trail. Another trail ran south of West Concord and later became a stagecoach road. Another trail ran just south of Claremont.The trail south of West Concord is believed to have gone through Wasioja.
A story exits of a group of Native American Indians who were chased by the federal soldiers to the edge of a small cliff. The Native American were forced to fight or jump. They started making their way down the cliff on what looked like stairs. The stairs came to a halt and they had no choice but to jump. Their bodies were never seen again.
Today, the Wasioja cemetary sits next to that very same cliff.
People say that if one goes down by the water and looks in, one
sees nothing but a black hole. It is called the Devil's Staircase--the
step into Hell.
Once an Indian chief had a daughter who died of a mysterious disease. She was buried where the Wasioja cemetary now stands. Each evening, at sunset, the grief-striken chief visited the gravesite. Whenever he walked down the "staircase" down to the river, his buffalo cape and antler headgear made him look to early settlers like the devil. He visited her grave every evening until his own death.
It is said that a person can still see the old chief's shadow once a year, exactly at sunset, still visiting the site of his beloved daughter's grave.
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