Thousands of years ago, rivers of water flowing from hills of melting glacial ice just north and east of here formed this plain. Summer flood waters first deposited gravel, which was later covered by four feet of fertile windblown silt. Forest roots and leaf fall slowly transformed the silt into productive soil, and since settlement farmers have further enriched it through careful management, supporting a versatile agricultural and forestry economy. Antigo silt loam, first identified in a 1933 resource inventory in Langlade County, was named for the nearby city and occurs across areas in a dozen counties from Green Bay to Minnesota. In 1983, the Wisconsin legislature designated Antigo silt loam the official state soil to represent Wisconsin's soil resources, which serve as the foundation of life for plants, animals, and human beings.