For hundreds of years, the Potawatomi village of Ma-Kah-Da-We-Kah-Mich-Cock, or Black Earth, stood at this spot. The people lived in huts made of bark, raised crops of corn, beans, pumpkin, and squash, and lived off abundant fish and game. Chief War Thunder led a band from this place to help the Americans at Fort Detroit during the Revolutionary War. In 1862, white settlers fought with the Potawatomi and drove them from this village, and they eventually resettled in Northern Wisconsin.