 With settlement of the region, the Des Lac river was significantly modified by drainage and channelization, and by construction of many low head dams along the river.Because of these changes, few natural riverine wetlands remain.Ethnographic accounts indicate that the Assiniboine, Sioux, Mandan, Hidatsa, Plains Ojibwa, and Atsina peoples all made use of the region for hunting or trade route purposes, though few archaeological sites have been formally identified.