Henry Hamilton Bennett, a pioneer photographer, discovered, pictured, and named many scenic spots in The Dells, including The Witches Gulch. George H. Crandall and his wife, Nellie Bennett Crandall, acquired, preserved, and reforested hundreds of acres surrounding the river and held it in trust for future generations, declaring that no one can own The Dells. Phyllis Crandall Connor and Lois Crandall Musson, with their husbands, Ralph W. Connor and H. Howard Musson, transferred these properties in 1954 to the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation so they might be kept beautiful for posterity.