﻿Powell.] 
  INDIAN 
  AGRICULTURAL 
  LAND. 
  41 
  

  

  way 
  of 
  living. 
  A 
  stranger 
  might 
  be 
  in 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  one 
  of 
  their 
  

   populous, 
  extensive 
  towns 
  without 
  seeing 
  half 
  a 
  dozen 
  houses 
  in 
  the 
  

   direct 
  course 
  of 
  his 
  path." 
  More 
  closely 
  grouped 
  settlements 
  are 
  

   described 
  by 
  Wayne 
  in 
  American 
  State 
  Papers, 
  1793, 
  in 
  his 
  account 
  

   of 
  an 
  expedition 
  down 
  the 
  Maumee 
  Valley, 
  where 
  he 
  states 
  that 
  

   ••The 
  margins 
  of 
  the 
  Miamis 
  of 
  the 
  Lake 
  and 
  the 
  Au 
  Glaize 
  appear 
  

   like 
  one 
  continuous 
  village 
  for 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  miles, 
  nor 
  have 
  I 
  ever 
  

   beheld 
  such 
  immense 
  fields 
  of 
  corn 
  in 
  any 
  part 
  of 
  America 
  from 
  

   Canada 
  to 
  Florida." 
  Such 
  a 
  chain 
  of 
  villages 
  as 
  this 
  was 
  probably 
  

   highly 
  exceptional; 
  but 
  even 
  under 
  such 
  circumstances 
  the 
  village 
  

   sites 
  proper 
  formed 
  but 
  a 
  very 
  small 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  total 
  area 
  occupied. 
  

   From 
  the 
  foregoing 
  considerations 
  it 
  will 
  be 
  seen 
  that 
  the 
  amount 
  

   of 
  land 
  occupied 
  as 
  village 
  sites 
  under 
  any 
  circumstances 
  was 
  incon- 
  

   siderable. 
  

  

  Agricultural 
  land.— 
  It 
  is 
  practically 
  impossible 
  to 
  make 
  an 
  accu- 
  

   rate 
  estimate 
  of 
  the 
  relative 
  amount 
  of 
  land 
  devoted 
  to 
  agricultural 
  

   purposes 
  by 
  any 
  one 
  tribe 
  or 
  by 
  any 
  family 
  of 
  tribes. 
  None 
  of 
  the 
  

   factors 
  which 
  enter 
  into 
  the 
  problem 
  are 
  known 
  to 
  us 
  with 
  sufficient 
  

   accuracy 
  to 
  enable 
  reliable 
  estimates 
  to 
  be 
  made 
  of 
  the 
  amount 
  of 
  

   land 
  tilled 
  or 
  of 
  the 
  products 
  derived 
  from 
  the 
  tillage; 
  and 
  only 
  in 
  

   few 
  cases 
  have 
  we 
  trustworthy 
  estimates 
  of 
  the 
  population 
  of 
  the 
  

   tribe 
  or 
  tribes 
  practicing 
  agriculture. 
  Only 
  a 
  rough 
  approximation 
  

   of 
  the 
  truth 
  can 
  be 
  reached 
  from 
  the 
  scanty 
  data 
  available 
  and 
  from 
  

   a 
  general 
  knowledge 
  of 
  Indian 
  methods 
  of 
  subsistence. 
  

  

  The 
  practice 
  of 
  agriculture 
  was 
  chiefly 
  limited 
  to 
  the 
  region 
  

   south 
  of 
  the 
  St. 
  Lawrence 
  and 
  east 
  of 
  the 
  Mississippi. 
  In 
  this 
  

   region 
  it 
  was 
  far 
  more 
  general 
  and 
  its 
  results 
  were 
  far 
  more 
  impor- 
  

   tant 
  than 
  is 
  commonly 
  supposed. 
  To 
  the 
  west 
  of 
  the 
  Mississippi 
  

   only 
  comparatively 
  small 
  areas 
  were 
  occupied 
  by 
  agricultural 
  tribes 
  

   and 
  these 
  lay 
  chiefly 
  in 
  New 
  Mexico 
  and 
  Arizona 
  and 
  along 
  the 
  

   Arkansas, 
  Platte, 
  and 
  Missouri 
  Rivers. 
  The 
  rest 
  of 
  that 
  region 
  was 
  

   tenanted 
  by 
  non-agricultural 
  tribes— 
  unless 
  indeed 
  the 
  slight 
  atten- 
  

   tion 
  paid 
  to 
  the 
  cultivation 
  of 
  tobacco 
  by 
  a 
  few 
  of 
  the 
  west 
  coast 
  

   tribes, 
  notably 
  the 
  Haida, 
  may 
  be 
  considered 
  agriculture. 
  Within 
  

   the 
  first 
  mentioned 
  area 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  tribes, 
  perhaps 
  all, 
  practiced 
  

   agriculture 
  to 
  a 
  greater 
  or 
  less 
  extent, 
  though 
  unquestionably 
  the 
  

   degree 
  of 
  reliance 
  placed 
  upon 
  it 
  as 
  a 
  means 
  of 
  support 
  differed 
  

   much 
  with 
  different 
  tribes 
  and 
  localities. 
  

  

  Among 
  many 
  tribes 
  agriculture 
  was 
  relied 
  upon 
  to 
  supply 
  an 
  

   important 
  — 
  and 
  perhaps 
  in 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  a 
  few 
  tribes, 
  the 
  most 
  impor- 
  

   tant 
  — 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  food 
  supply. 
  The 
  accounts 
  of 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  early 
  

   explorers 
  in 
  the 
  southern 
  United 
  States, 
  where 
  probably 
  agricul- 
  

   ture 
  was 
  more 
  systematized 
  than 
  elsewhere, 
  mention 
  corn 
  fields 
  of 
  

   great 
  extent, 
  and 
  later 
  knowledge 
  of 
  some 
  northern 
  tribes, 
  as 
  the 
  

   Iroquois 
  and 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  Ohio 
  Valley 
  tribes, 
  shows 
  that 
  they 
  also 
  

   raised 
  corn 
  in 
  great 
  quantities. 
  

  

  