 The Central Basin plateau was settled in the late 1800s by immigrants of Russian-German (Bessarabian) ancestry who homesteaded in the area and farmed dryland wheat.Prior to this the area had been inhabited by local Native American Salish tribes that had contact with the early Spanish and British traders.The Milwaukee Railroad arrived in the early 1900s and attracted additional settlers, including Doc Harris who established a drug and sundries store with physician services in Warden about 1905.