Little is known of the first inhabitants of the region. Indications of their presence appear in artifacts of stone, bone, and clay. Some of the Kaskaskia and Shawnee Indians may have lived in the Crab Orchard area, but it is more likely they used it as part of their hunting grounds.

The earliest frontiersmen came into the area in the late 1700’s. By the 1840’s, homesteaders had established farms throughout the area that now makes up the Refuge. Utilizing the abundances of game, homesteaders dined on buffalo, deer, quail and passenger pigeons. Continue reading →