Of Pottawatomie Indian and French ancestry, Louis Vieux was an early resident of this area. Probably born near Lake Michigan, he moved with a portion of the Pottawatomies to Iowa and later to Indianola, Kansas, near Topeka. In 1847 or 1848, he moved to this area of what became Pottawatomie County, on the Oregon Trail near the Vermillion River crossing. The Vieux family, with seven children, lived in a log cabin, and he built and operated a toll bridge over the river. He charged Oregon Trail travelers one dollar per outfit, and it was estimated that he earned as much as 300 dollars per day during the peak season of wagon travel. In 1861, he was one of the signers of a treaty allowing the Pottawatomie to hold lands in common or establish individual claims of 80 acres per person or more, depending on their position in the tribe. He served as a business agent and interpreter and occasionally represented the tribe in Washington, D.C. Near here, members of the Vieux family and other early settlers were buried in the Vieux cemetery.