Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas; 1961.
By Charles M. Russell (1864-1926) – Humanities Texas, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Mark Oppold with an American agriculture history minute explains that there were a lot of agricultural discoveries in the travels of Lewis and Clark, not just discovering new lands.
Historians note that as the expedition journeyed up the Missouri River in search of the Northwest Passage, members of the expedition took careful notes on agricultural practices they encountered.
Native American Indians developed those practices, and notes indicate Lewis and Clark found many permanent Indian villages, some the size of St. Louis or greater, and not the nomadic tribes that were thought to follow buffalo herds. The reason? Agriculture. These Native Americans could feed themselves and survive and thrive without moving on.
That’s today’s American Agriculture History Minute. I’m Mark Oppold. Thanks for reading. I’ll see you next time.