In the early days of the settlement, several families lived by the banks of the river in the shadow of Joshua Mountain. Some farmed and others practiced trades such as wagonmaking. The Owen family operated a trading post, and Joshua Bryant operated a boarding house. Glazener, Whitmire, Paxton, and Galloway were among the other names in the settlement. According to local story, Joshua Bryant once shot a deer while hunting on the mountain, but when he approached it, the deer sprang up and ran. He grabbed hold of it so his family would not lose the meat, and it dragged him down the mountain before throwing him off. Battered and bruised, he returned home empty-handed, and his amused neighbors began calling the height Joshua's Mountain.