Stephen Mack came from New England to the West; he later stated he had lived with the Indians about sixteen years when found near Rockton, Illinois, in 1837. The passages disagree on precision: P21 says he "must have made his home" in the Far West "as early as 1820"; P57 states he "came from New England as early as 1820."

The evidence

• “H. This adventurer must have made his home in the "Far West" as early as 1820, as he was found living at Rockton, in Illinois, at the mouth of the Pecatonica (a western tributary of Rock River), in the spring of 1837, with a squaw wife and quite a family, and stated that he had been living with the Indians for more than sixteen years. This man figures as the hero of the only really romantic incident which illuminates these " tales of the grandfathers " of Beloit.”

  1879-history-of-rock-county/15-rock-county-ch09-beloit.md, PDF p. 603

  Butterfield, C. W., et al. The History of Rock County, Wisconsin: its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc. Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879. Cornell University Library via the Internet Archive, archive.org/details/cu31924028871585.

  Grade A: Found on a page of one of our sources

• “The first white man who settled in the region contiguous to the present site of Beloit was Stephen Mack. He came from New England as early as 1820, for to settlers who saw him in his home near Rockton, 111., with his squaw wife and numerous children, in 1837, he stated that he had then lived with the Indians about sixteen years. Having traded much of this time with various Indian tribes, and, because of his acquired knowledge of their manners and customs, having come to be regarded by them as of superior wisdom, he had finally settled among a tribe of the Winnebagoes as confidential adviser to their chief.”

  1908-brown-rock-county/06-history-of-beloit.md, Vol. 1, PDF p. 142 / book p. 127

  Brown, William Fiske, editor. Rock County, Wisconsin: A New History of Its Cities, Villages, Towns, Citizens and Varied Interests, from the Earliest Times, Up to Date. Chicago: C. F. Cooper & Co., 1908. 2 vols. archive.org/details/rockcountywiscon01brow, archive.org/details/rockcountywiscon02brow.

  Grade A: Found on a page of one of our sources · may repeat 1879-history-of-rock-county, so not counted as independent