Kaukauna is one of Wisconsin's oldest communities. The first white explorer to see Kaukauna was Jean Nicolet, who pushed his birch bark canoe up the Fox River from Green Bay in search of a water passage to the Orient. Nicolet made allies with the Winnebago Indians that he found in the region. Trappers, hunters, missionaries, and merchants soon followed with additional expeditions to the new territory.

Because travelers had to carry their boats and cargoes over the three waterfalls at what is now Kaukauna, that spot was destined by nature to become a way-station and settlement on this important waterway. When Father Claude Allouez paused there on April 18, 1670, he noted in his journal, "we passed the portage called by the natives KeKaling, our sailors dragged the canoe among the rapids: while I walked on the Riverbank, where I found apple trees and vine-stocks in great numbers."

Thousands of bales of furs were carried over the KeKalin Falls during the ensuing fur trading period and log dwellings were erected at the site to house the portagers and travelers. By 1760, Charles de Langlade had a fur trading post at the falls.