Tom Duncan, who already had a sawmill plant at Redland, built a second mill located about three or four miles west of Cochran's Switch. It was a short distance up the slough from Shawnee's Crossing. Employing less than ten men, the living arrangements were not ideal. Water had to be carried from the river to the log house of Pete Duncan; his wife, the only woman living at the mill site, did the cooking for the men. Heat, humidity, insects, and malaria made the situation very difficult.