For thousands of  years, the Nygren property was inhabited by indigenous people whose lives depended on the rich diversity of plants and animals present in wetlands, forests, and prairies.  The land lay at the confluence of two wild rivers.  Archeological research has revealed shell middens, or piles of the remains of clam and mussel harvests, from the Rock and Pecatonica rivers.  Research also shows remnants of serpentine, conical, and turtle effigy mounds built by indigenous people from prehistoric times.  Other artifacts, including stone and flint tools, chert and charcoal, reveal that the area was continuously used.

Claimed by the French, then the English, and finally transferred to the United States as part of the Treaty of Paris in 1783, the area became part of the Northwest Territory.  Sauk, Fox, Potowatomi, and Winnebago Indians at different times inhabited the land, but their claims to the land ended after the Black Hawk skirmishes of 1832.  In 1836, Colonel William Talcott, commonly known as the founder of Rockton, Illinois, filed a land claim on the Nygren property with the United States government.  

William Talcott’s son, Thomas, built a log cabin at the confluence of the Pecatonica and Rock rivers.  After two years, he moved to higher ground in Rockton, having learned first hand of what we now refer to as annual, five, 20, and 100-year flood events.  Thomas Talcott later served as a state senator from the Rockton area.

In 1838 the Rockton mill race conceived by William Talcott was dug by hand.  The Nygren land surely was used to produce lumber for the saw mill built along the mill race.  As forests gave way to fields, a railroad was built across the lowlands of the Nygren property.  The first train ran on the Racine and Mississippi Railroad line in 1856. The railway was officially abandoned, and track ties and structures were removed in the late 1970s.

Some native plant species have survived on this property.  Oak trees hundreds of years old have witnessed transition of land use by Indian people to use by present-day farmers.

Changes in agricultural uses on the Nygren Preserve reflect changing agricultural economics over the years.  Each effort has met with declining success given the unpredictable flooding of the Rock and Pecatonica rivers and Raccoon Creek.  Dairy farming, which used the land for both pasture and crops, gave way to raising beef cattle.  Beef production was later replaced by crop farming alone, with corn 
and bean crops rotated throughout the fields.  Utilizing the most up-to-date 
techniques, landowners and managers added dikes, channels, and 
terraces.  The terrain was changed to make it possible to remove 
surface water as quickly as possible.  The most recent owner’s 
intention was to convert the land from corn and soybean 
production to sod farming and nursery uses.

In 1998, three events began to converge to make the 
Nygren Wetland Preserve project possible.  First, the 
owner indicated his willingness to sell the property.  
Second, the Natural Resources Conservation Service 
determined that the land could be enrolled in the 
Wetland Reserve Program, which removes 
floodable lands from agricultural production.  
Finally, Carl and Myrna Nygren bequeathed 
their estate to the Natural Land Institute with
the expressed purpose of protecting land
in Winnebago County.

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