Chris Watson began developing a tool for mapping wildness across the Georgia landscape, but as work progressed, the study's conception of the region's significance expanded beyond ecology: the floodplain's value is immeasurable to the Muscogee Indians. As the earliest people to settle the Southeast, their ancestors left a physical imprint on the land, from the remains of villages to giant earthen mounds. In turn, the land left a spiritual imprint upon the Muscogee that is still felt today.