The Syracuse Standard of July 27, 1859, reported that the "accomplished artist" Augustus Rockwell of Buffalo "left yesterday afternoon for the fishing grounds of the Walton Club in Brown's Tract."

Rockwell's party was led by H.H. Thompson of Whitestown who subsequently wrote of later camping trips with Rockwell as his canoe partner. Thompson made no claim for Rockwell's talent as a hunter or fisherman but reported his quick wit when the bottom of their canoe struck a snag on a sunken log. "The water rushed in through a hole an inch in diameter, close to Rockwell's right side. He had a coat over the breach in the twinkling of an eye, and in about seven twinklings more the boat had been beached, unloaded and up...