Hundreds of years before white settlers came, the Potawatomi and other Indian tribes in the Midwest sought the sacred Land of the Healing Waters because of its many springs, which were thought to possess recuperative powers. They knew they had reached it when they came upon a formation of large boulders arranged in a north to south direction in the area now known as Willow Springs. A circle of boulders contained the ceremonial eternal flame kept burning by the Mascoutin Society, a religious group. Indians came to this place to be cared for until healed.