Wah-Sha-She Park, formerly named Wah-Sha-She State Park, is on the shore of Hulah Lake in

Osage County, Oklahoma Osage County is the largest county by area in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Created in 1907 when Oklahoma was admitted as a state, the county is named for and is home to the federally recognized Osage Nation. The county is coextensive with the Os ...

. The park offers recreational activities including boating, fishing, swimming and camping. Hunting is allowed in the adjacent Wildlife Management Area. There is also a Waterfowl Refuge where birdwatching is allowed. Regarding the name, one version has it coming from the Osage language, meaning "the water people." Another version claims the tribe called itself ''Wah-Zha-Zhe'' when French explorer

Jacques Marquette Jacques Marquette S.J. (June 1, 1637 – May 18, 1675), sometimes known as Père Marquette or James Marquette, was a French Jesuit missionary who founded Michigan's first European settlement, Sault Sainte Marie, and later founded Saint Igna ...

encountered them in the 17th Century. The map he produced in 1673 translated the name into the French as ''Ouchage''. In effect, the park is named for the Osage people.

History

This park was established in 1973."Osage County."
''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''. May, Jon D. Retrieved July 23, 2014. It is northwest of

Pawhuska, Oklahoma Pawhuska ( osa, 𐓄𐓘𐓢𐓶𐓮𐓤𐓘 / hpahúska, ''meaning: "White Hair"'', iow, Paháhga) is a city in and the county seat of Osage County, Oklahoma, United States. It was named after the 19th-century Osage chief, ''Paw-Hiu-Skah'', wh ...

Oklahoma State Highway 99 State Highway 99, abbreviated SH-99, is a north–south state highway through central Oklahoma. It runs from the Texas border at Lake Texoma to the Kansas border near Lake Hulah. It is long. The highway overlaps US-377 for over half its ...

, then east on State Highway 10. It is west of

Copan, Oklahoma Copan is a town in Washington County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 733 at the 2010 census, a decline of 7.9 percent from the figure of 796 recorded in 2000. History The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway built a station at this s ...

Oklahoma State Highway 10 State Highway 10 (abbreviated SH-10) is a state highway in northeastern Oklahoma. It makes a crescent through the northeast corner of the state, running from SH-99 in Osage County to Interstate 40 (I-40) near Gore. It has two lettered spur rout ...

Closure threatened

In 2011, the state announced its intention to close Wah-Sha-She State Park as part of its budget-cutting program. That Labor Day, the

Osage Nation The Osage Nation ( ) ( Osage: 𐓁𐒻 𐓂𐒼𐒰𐓇𐒼𐒰͘ ('), "People of the Middle Waters") is a Midwestern Native American tribe of the Great Plains. The tribe developed in the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys around 700 BC along ...

took over management of the park, which is owned by the

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

. Chief John Red Eagle said,

"The Osage people have made it clear that one of their priorities is to expand and improve water recreation on the reservation, including swimming, boating, camping and fishing. This one step enables the Osage Nation to begin realizing that goal.""Come Labor Day, Osage Nation Will Run Wah-Sha-She State Park"
News9.com, 12 July 2011

Chief Red Eagle of the Osage Nation signed a management agreement with the Corps of Engineers in May 2012, although the Osage legislative branch had previously voted down funding the take-over. The agreement extends through 2016, at which time the Osage Nation will reevaluate whether to extend it.Polacca, Benny. ''Osage News''. "Osage Nation takes over Wah-Sha-She State Park." June 6, 2012. Retrieved May 26, 201

/ref> A news report in 2013 indicated that the tribe had upgraded the park. It attracted 15,000 visitors in 2012 and the number in mid 2013 had surpassed that of the previous year. Unfortunately, revenues declined in 2014 to $24,000 from $50,000 in 2013. Operating expenses rose from $140,000 in 2014 to about $150,000 in 2015. Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear notified the Corps of Engineers that the Osage Nation would terminate its lease for the park.

Compromise

In October, 2014, a group of local residents organized the non-profit Hulah Lake Osage Association (HLOA) to save the park from permanent closure. The Corps of Engineers said that the Osage Nation could not lease the park to a private entity, but that if the Nation continued to hold title, the Corps could approve a sublease to a private entity. So, the Osage Nation subleased to HLOA, while HLOA agreed to "...operate and maintain the park, collect camping fees, (and) keep track of the revenue..." while also pledging to "maintain the park, keep it clean, keep it mowed, all on a volunteer basis." As of 2020 HLOA still had the park open, supported by campground fees.

References

{{Reflist Protected areas of Osage County, Oklahoma Parks in Oklahoma Protected areas established in 1973