Two thousand years ago the area was inhabited by a people known as the Laurel. They hunted small game, fished and harvested native plants, including wild rice, for their food. They lived in small groups throughout the area but were centered around Rainy Lake. The ancient rock still bears the marks of the inhabitants of the region, pictograph sites are easily viewed throughout the area. The pictographs were most likely left by the Ojibwe or the Dakota Sioux within the last four or five hundred years.
Pictographs show evidence that the artists had been exposed to European explorers.
There were probably as few as 500 people living in the entire region when the Europeans arrived. The Fur Trade With the Europeans came the fur trade, and a greatly accelerated impact on the environment. Millions of pelts, many supplied by the native population, were transported across what came to be known as the voyageur highway. The image of the voyageur, singing and laughing, as he and his companions paddle a huge birch bark canoe packed with furs is an indelible part of the history of the region. The fur hat was quite fashionable in Europe and demand was high for quality furs.