Fountain Green's name is still a fitting description of the lush, green hillside village abundantly watered by what is now called Big Springs and Silver Creek which it forms. Artesian wells and later pumped water provided an ample water supply, allowing the development of agriculture and stock raising, the staple industries of the town from 1860 to the present. In 1865 a sawmill was constructed, followed in 1866 by an adobe meetinghouse and in 1867 by a flour mill. Due to hostilities and one death during the Black Hawk War of 1865-67, a rock fort was erected in 1866. After peace was made with the San Pitch Indians, growth and progress continued unhindered and major crops of wheat, oats, and potatoes were harvested.