On June 2, 1837, Robert and Mary Wakely and their two young sons–Chauncey and Robert–arrived at Point Basse on a keelboat that had been poled up the Wisconsin River from Portage City (now Portage). Two years before, they had left their home in New York. The Wakelys found a wilderness basically untouched by the white hand. They began building their dream for their new life on the frontier. They built a trading post, a warehouse, an inn and a home for themselves and their family. Mary was the third white woman to brave this frontier area.