The forests and rivers of north-central Wisconsin were home to various Native Americans since shortly after the last glacier receded. The Ojibwe were the final native group to dominate the area, but they sold their land rights to the U.S. in the 1837 Treaty of St. Peters, also known as the "White Pine Treaty". This treaty was part of a general effort to move natives west of the Mississippi, to secure the east for mining, logging and white settlers. Most of the Ojibwe eventually withdrew to reservations to the north. By the late 1800s few Indians of any tribe were left in Taylor County, except for a few employed in the logging industry.