Ouabache State Park near Bluffton, about 30 miles south of Fort Wayne, takes its name from an older rendering of the Wabash River, drawn from a French transcription of a Miami word meaning shining water over white stones. Established in the early 1930s as the Wells County State Forest and Game Preserve, it became the Ouabache State Recreation Area in 1962 and gained full state park status in 1983. Civilian Conservation Corps workers improved the site during the Great Depression. Long known for fishing, nature viewing, a 100-foot fire tower, and wildlife production, the park now attracts about 200,000 visitors annually.