Before building the mill, however, there dwelt in a recess of the solid sandstone, an ingenious and eccentric character whose presence and unusual behavior gave the name to the place. In his "Outline Sketches" W. H. Canfield, local historian, who located on Skillet Creek in 1842, says the abode of this individual was ten feet above a deep pool of water, dug out by the fail of the creek over the crest of the resisting formation. The approach to this nearly secreted habitation was either through a trap door in the roof, or a trap-door in the floor. If one entered through the roof it was by clambering down the rocky wall to the opening, and if through the floor it was by means of a floating bridge upon the pool, a ladder at its end leading to the trap-door in the floor. The little shop could not be seen from the mouth of the canyon, or from the top, or from any direction but one, hence by the early settlers was dubbed the "Pewee" or "Pewit's Nest." Here the recluse repaired watches, clocks, guns, and occasionally farming utensils, even essaying to manufacture the latter in a rude way. Lathes he had for turning iron and wood, the power for propelling being provided from an old fashioned centrifugal water wheel, itself as much of a curiosity as its owner. A large coffee mill, likewise a grindstone, was arranged to operate by the water that was forever collecting in the upper valley and pouring through the shady dell. It is said that this hermit of the hill could tell a lively tale and dispelled the gloom of loneliness by playing upon a violin. At times, forsooth, he was persuaded to preach for the Mormon church, although his activities in this direction were never pronounced. Among his other accomplishments, he posed as a doctor and prescribed as remedies the herbs and shrubs growing in the valleys and on the hills about. His favorite place of abode seems to have been the border of a new country and when the settlements among the Baraboo Bluffs became too numerous, he as quietly and mysteriously disappeared from his queer home at Pewit's Nest as he had come. [Illustration: SKILLET FALLS] Skillet Falls Skillet Falls is located about a mile above where the stream tumbles into the pool at the head of the peaceful valley and may be reached by following the creek through woods and fields, or by approaching through the farmyard of Dwight Welch on Trunk Line 12. This place of interest was named by Levi Moore from the "Skillets" or water-worn holes in the sandstone rock, looking much like basins or iron vessels used in cooking. Stream With Two Beds