"When the new occupants got around to mapping the neighborhood, they took note of several open meadows scattered among the nearby forest. They referred to them as plains. Some of the plains were the result of tribal land-management practices. The native people shaped the landscape by burning prairies and meadows to increase plant and animal diversity and to improve conditions for hunting and harvesting.  The Hudson's Bay's principal operations took place on three large natural plains named Fort Plain, Lower Plain and Mill Plain, which was named for the grist mill and saw mill about a mile to the south along the river."

​