99 
de Vaca among the Pueblo Indians in 1528, and Alarcon on the 
Colorado in 1542. 
The Pacific Coast tribes did not cultivate the soil and depended 
entirely on the spontaneous products of land and water. It is re- 
markable that these tribes, although having more or less inter- 
course with the Missouri Indians on the east and the Pueblo Indians 
on the south, and always on the verge of starvation, failed to 
introduce and cultivate the maize or other vegetables. Lewis and 
Clarke in their memorable expedition across the continent, from 
the Missouri to the mouth of the Columbia, in 1804 and 1805, 
found plenty of maize and beans at the Mandan villages, about 60 
miles above the present town of Bismarck, N. D., but none north 
or west of that point. 
Maize (Zea Mays L.) is probably indigenous to the southern 
highlands of Mexico. Under the civilization of the Mayas, Na- 
huas and Aztecs this precious plant received special care and 
many varieties were developed. Humboldt states that the Aztecs 
began to cultivate it in 666 A. D. It rapidly spread northward 
and, it is estimated, in the year 1000 had already reached the 
eastern States. At the time of the landing of Columbus it was 
the principal and most common crop of all agricultural Indians, as 
itsoon became that of the white settlers. According to E. L. 
Sturtevant, one of our best authorities on the history of garden 
vegetables, the various agricultural species of maize: the flints, 
dents, softs, sweets and pops appear to be aboriginal forms, and 
we have no evidence that any new varieties have resulted from 
our three centuries or more of civilized cultivation. The very 
hardy form grown in Maine, and which must ripen its grain in 
three months from the day of planting, is certainly of Indian de- 
velopment, and so are the peculiar red and blue varieties culti- 
vated in New Mexico as well as on the upper Missouri. 
The common Kidney Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris Savi) is a South 
American plant; its culture under many varieties spread rapidly 
_ through Mexico and the States to Canada and was, next to Maize, 
the most important crop of farming Indians. The finding of seeds 
of this species by Professor Witmack in the prehistoric graves of 
Arizona, not only completed the demonstration of its American 
origin but likewise proved the antiquity of its culture in our own 
