Sylvanus Blackburn came to War Eagle in 1832, and by 1838 he had a saw mill, a grist mill, and a house. Peter Van Winkle came about 1850, and by 1860 the place had become a thriving crossroads. On March 8, 1862, Generals Van Dorn and Price, retreating from the battlefield, bivouacked 10 miles south of Elkhorn, and the next day they reached the Blackburn-Van Winkle area, where abandoned homes housed the sick and exhausted. While Curtis was in camp at Cross Hollows before the battle, Col. Grenville M. Dodge ground corn in Blackburn's mill.