FOOD AND FIBER PLANTS OF THE INDIANS. 33 



unknown in Europe before it was received from America, and that is 

 probably true of other varieties. Among the Pueblo Indians of the 

 table-lands, and the Mohaves on the Colorado, we found many differ- 

 ent kinds of beans in cultivation. Some of these were of excellent 

 quality, more delicate in texture and flavor than any cultivated by the 

 whites. 



Among the Mexicans and the inhabitants of our Territories border- 

 ing on Mexico the frijole is the most important article of diet, and in 

 all campaigns and exploring expeditions in the West our people have 

 come to consider beans as the most useful element in the commis- 

 sary department. In making forced marches -where the least possible 

 weight could be carried, two articles of food were chosen in preference 

 to all others, viz., beans and coffee ; if only one could be taken, that 

 was always the bean, which possesses more and more varied nutritious 

 elements than any other fruit or seed cultivated by man. 



3. Psoralea esculenta {pontine blanche). The root of this legu- 

 minous plant has been for centuries an article of food among the Indi- 

 ans inhabiting the Rocky Mountains and the plains bordering them. 

 It is frequently referred to by the earlier travelers in that region, and 

 was sometimes their main subsistence during the intervals when for 

 any reason game was not to be had, and transported supplies had been 

 exhausted. The root is white and farinaceous, but has a negative fla- 

 vor, and as it nowhere exists in great quantity, it has been rather a 

 make-shift than a staple, and its use has been abandoned wherever the 

 supplies furnished by the white man have been attainable. The plant 

 is about a foot high, with hairy stems and leaves, and with compact 

 spikes, of bluish-white flowers. The root is tuberous, an inch or more 

 in diameter, white, farinaceous, and wholesome, 



4. Camassia esculenta [camass). Over all the country drained 

 by the Columbia River, and especially the plains and mountain valleys 

 about its sources, the camass grows in considerable abundance, and it 

 has been not only a common resource for the Indians inhabiting that 

 region, but certain localities where it is found in large quantities have 

 taken their names from it, and they are places of resort for the pur- 

 pose of gathering it. One of these is the somewhat noted Camass prai- 

 rie on the line of travel from the Upper Missouri to the Columbia. 

 The plant is liliacioug, has linear leaves, a scape usually twelve to 

 eighteen inches in height, bearing pretty blue or white flowers. The 

 bulb is about an inch in diameter, mucilaginous, sweetish, and quite 

 nutritious. Where it abounds it is gathered in large quantities, baked, 

 and stored for winter use. 



5. Peucedaynim. farinosinn (biscuit-root, couse). In the country 

 bordering the Columbia and in Northern California there are many 

 plants which belong to the umbelliferous genus Peucedaimm, some 

 with yellow and a few with white flowers. The foliage is much dis- 

 sected, sometimes capillary like that of the fennel. Among these is 



VOL. XXXII. — 3 



