Explorer Jean Nicolet traveled down the Fox River in 1634 and explored an area of three waterfalls. Settlers arrived and began trading at this natural way station in 1760, establishing what became Kaukauna—one of the oldest settlements in the state. In fact, the first land deed ever recorded in Wisconsin happened here. The first state road followed in the 1820s, connecting Kaukauna with Green Bay, and people trickled in to work at the sawmills. Locks and dams were built to harness the river, and the paper mills were not far behind. It was then that Kaukauna was nicknamed the Lion on the Fox, and the boom of a great city began. It is a thriving community today that maintains a small-town feel. Thilmany Pulp and Paper has been the leading employer in the area for more than a century. At the heart of the city remains the Fox River, dividing north and south, and Kaukauna remains the Lion on the Fox.