Ruth Gerber Rupp was raised in the Ocooch Mountain Region of Southwest Wisconsin.  A place named for the Western Upland area of Wisconsin also known as the Driftless Region, meaning un-glaciated, lacking glacial drift or the  Paleozoic Plateau, referring to a geologic era, Greek for "ancient life". The lack of glaciated  terrain accounts for high hills, bluffs, and ridges. 

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The Chippewa, Black, La Crosse, Kickapoo, Baraboo, Lemonweir, Pine, Wisconsin, Grant, Platte and Pecatonia rivers and their tributaries create deeply eroded valleys that contrast the nearby peaks.