ABSTRACT
Physical features and human uses of land vary. The combination of environmental and sociopolitical conditions gives rise to special cultural landscapes or regions. Native Americans have occupied the northern section of the state for over 20,000 years. In the first part of the sixteenth century, they began trading furs for European products, first with the French, later with the British, and finally with US traders. In 1889 lumbering and woodworking industries employed over 25 percent of all industrial workers in the state, and these industries dominated the state economy until 1900. With the industrialization of the logging mills, labor disputes intensified and strikes became common. Mining towns are ephemeral settlements. Because the existence of mining communities is derived from the exploitation of finite resources, the depletion of resources means that unless other economic activities replace the towns' original function, the enclaves will cease to exist as viable settlements.
