About five blocks north stood an important river crossing for the early settlers of this area, connecting the Shetek Trail on the south with Old Leavenworth and New Ulm on the north side of the Cottonwood River. It was named for John Jackson, the first settler on this farm, who lived here at the time of the Sioux Indian conflict in August 1862. Around 1868, Jackson also erected the first water-powered sawmill about four blocks northwest of this point. In 1872, he drowned in the Cottonwood River while fording the stream with a team of horses. John Jackson was married to Bertha, daughter of John Schneider, an early settler of Leavenworth township.