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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/3066-h.zip b/3066-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b2c913c --- /dev/null +++ b/3066-h.zip diff --git a/3066-h/3066-h.htm b/3066-h/3066-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8d42dc5 --- /dev/null +++ b/3066-h/3066-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,4081 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="us-ascii"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + The Red Man's Continent, by Ellsworth Huntington + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +Project Gutenberg's The Red Man's Continent, by Ellsworth Huntington + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Red Man's Continent + A Chronicle of Aboriginal America, Volume 1 In The + Chronicles Of America Series + +Author: Ellsworth Huntington + +Editor: Allen Johnson + +Release Date: February 22, 2009 [EBook #3066] +Last Updated: February 4, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RED MAN'S CONTINENT *** + + + + +Produced by The James J. Kelly Library of St. Gregory's +University, Alev Akman, and David Widger + + + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + THE RED MAN'S CONTINENT + </h1> + <h2> + A CHRONICLE OF ABORIGINAL AMERICA + </h2> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Ellsworth Huntington + </h2> + <h5> + NEW HAVEN: YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS <br /><br /> TORONTO: GLASGOW, BROOK & + CO. <br /><br /> LONDON: HUMPHREY MILFORD <br /><br /> OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS + <br /><br /> 1919 + </h5> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + Contents + </h2> + <h5> + <a href="#link2H_PREF"> PREFACE </a> + </h5> + <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto"> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I. </a> + </td> + <td> + THE APPROACHES TO AMERICA + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II. </a> + </td> + <td> + THE FORM OF THE CONTINENT + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III. </a> + </td> + <td> + THE GEOGRAPHIC PROVINCES OF NORTH AMERICA + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV. </a> + </td> + <td> + THE GARMENT OF VEGETATION + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V. </a> + </td> + <td> + THE RED MAN IN AMERICA + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + <p> + <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE </a> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_PREF" id="link2H_PREF"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PREFACE + </h2> + <p> + In writing this book the author has aimed first to present in readable + form the main facts about the geographical environment of American + history. Many important facts have been omitted or have been touched upon + only lightly because they are generally familiar. On the other hand, + special stress has been laid on certain broad phases of geography which + are comparatively unfamiliar. One of these is the similarity of form + between the Old World and the New, and between North and South America; + another is the distribution of indigenous types of vegetation in North + America; and a third is the relation of climate to health and energy. In + addition to these subjects, the influence of geographical conditions upon + the life of the primitive Indians has been emphasized. This factor is + especially important because people without iron tools and beasts of + burden, and without any cereal crops except corn, must respond to their + environment very differently from civilized people of today. Limits of + space and the desire to make this book readable have led to the omission + of the detailed proof of some of the conclusions here set forth. The + special student will recognize such cases and will not judge them until he + has read the author's fuller statements elsewhere. The general reader, for + whom this book is designed, will be thankful for the omission of such + purely technical details. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + THE RED MAN'S CONTINENT + </h1> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I. THE APPROACHES TO AMERICA + </h2> + <p> + Across the twilight lawn at Hampton Institute straggles a group of sturdy + young men with copper-hued complexions. Their day has been devoted to + farming, carpentry, blacksmithing, or some other trade. Their evening will + be given to study. Those silent dignified Indians with straight black hair + and broad, strong features are training their hands and minds in the hope + that some day they may stand beside the white man as equals. Behind them, + laughing gayly and chattering as if without a care in the world, comes a + larger group of kinky-haired, thick-lipped youths with black skins and + African features. They, too, have been working with the hands to train the + mind. Those two diverse races, red and black, sit down together in a + classroom, and to them comes another race. The faces that were + expressionless or merely mirthful a minute ago light up with serious + interest as the teacher comes into the room. She stands there a slender, + golden-haired, blue-eyed Anglo-Saxon girl just out of college—a mere + child compared with the score of swarthy, stalwart men as old as herself + who sit before her. Her mobile features seem to mirror a hundred thoughts + while their impassive faces are moved by only one. Her quick speech almost + trips in its eagerness not to waste the short, precious hour. Only a + strong effort holds her back while she waits for the slow answers of the + young men whom she drills over and over again in simple problems of + arithmetic. The class and the teacher are an epitome of American history. + They are more than that. They are an epitome of all history. + </p> + <p> + History in its broadest aspect is a record of man's migrations from one + environment to another. America is the last great goal of these + migrations. He who would understand its history must know its mountains + and plains, its climate, its products, and its relation to the sea and to + other parts of the world. He must know more than this, however, for he + must appreciate how various environments alter man's energy and capacity + and give his character a slant in one direction or another. He must also + know the paths by which the inhabitants have reached their present homes, + for the influence of former environments upon them may be more important + than their immediate surroundings. In fact, the history of North America + has been perhaps more profoundly influenced by man's inheritance from his + past homes than by the physical features of his present home. It is indeed + of vast importance that trade can move freely through such natural + channels as New York Harbor, the Mohawk Valley, and the Great Lakes. It is + equally important that the eastern highlands of the United States are full + of the world's finest coal, while the central plains raise some of the + world's most lavish crops. Yet it is probably even more important that + because of his inheritance from a remote ancestral environment man is + energetic, inventive, and long-lived in certain parts of the American + continent, while elsewhere he has not the strength and mental vigor to + maintain even the degree of civilization to which he seems to have risen. + </p> + <p> + Three streams of migration have mainly determined the history of America. + One was an ancient and comparatively insignificant stream from Asia. It + brought the Indian to the two great continents which the white man has now + practically wrested from him. A second and later stream was the great tide + which rolled in from Europe. It is as different from the other as West is + from East. Thus far it has not wholly obliterated the native people, for + between the southern border of the United States on the one hand, and the + northern borders of Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay on the other, the vast + proportion of the blood is still Indian. The European tide may in time + dominate even this region, but for centuries to come the poor, + disinherited Indians will continue to form the bulk of the population. The + third stream flowed from Africa and was as different from either of the + others as South is from North. + </p> + <p> + The differences between one and another of these three streams of + population and the antagonisms which they have involved have greatly + colored American history. The Indian, the European, and the Negro + apparently differ not only in outward appearance but in the much more + important matter of mentality. According to Brinton * the average brain + capacity of Parisians, including adults of both sexes, is 1448 cubic + centimeters. That of the American Indian is 1376, and that of the Negro + 1344 cubic centimeters. With this difference in size there appears to be a + corresponding difference in function. Thus far not enough accurate tests + have been made upon Indians to enable us to draw reliable conclusions. The + Negro, however, has been tested on an extensive scale. The results seem to + leave little doubt that there are real and measurable differences in the + mental powers of races, just as we know to be the case among individuals. + The matter is so important that we may well dwell on it a moment before + turning to the cause of the differences in the three streams of American + immigrants. If there is a measurable difference between the inherent brain + power of the white race and the black, it is practically certain that + there are also measurable differences between the white and the red. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * D. G. Brinton. "The American Race." +</pre> + <p> + Numerous tests indicate that in the lower mental powers there is no great + difference between the black and the white. In physical reactions one is + as quick as the other. In the capacity of the senses and in the power to + perceive and to discriminate between different kinds of objects there is + also practical equality. When it comes to the higher faculties, however, + such as judgment, inventiveness, and the power of organization, a + difference begins to be apparent. These, as Ferguson * says, are the + traits that "divide mankind into the able and the mediocre, the brilliant + and the dull, and they determine the progress of civilization more + directly than do the simple fundamental powers which man has in common + with the lower animals." On the basis of the most exhaustive study yet + made, Ferguson believes that, apart from all differences due to home + training and environment, the average intellectual power of the colored + people of this country is only about three-fourths as great as that of + white persons of the same amount of training. He believes it probable, + indeed, that this estimate is too high rather than too low. As to the + Indian, his past achievements and present condition indicate that + intellectually he stands between the white man and the Negro in about the + position that would be expected from the capacity of his brain. If this is + so, the mental differences in the three streams of migration to America + are fully as great as the outward and manifest physical differences and + far more important. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * G. O. Ferguson. "The Psychology of the Negro," New York, 1916. +</pre> + <p> + Why does the American Indian differ from the Negro, and the European from + both? This is a question on which we can only speculate. But we shall find + it profitable to study the paths by which these diverse races found their + way to America from man's primeval home. According to the now almost + universally accepted theory, all the races of mankind had a common origin. + But where did man make the change from a four-handed, tree-dwelling little + ape to a much larger, upright creature with two hands and two feet? It is + a mistake to suppose that because he is hairless he must have originated + in a warm climate. In fact quite the opposite seems to be the case, for + apparently he lost his hair because he took to wearing the skins of slain + beasts in order that he might have not only his own hair but that of other + animals as a protection from the cold. + </p> + <p> + In our search for the starting-place of man's slow migration to America + our first step should be to ascertain what responses to physical + environment are common to all men. If we find that all men live and thrive + best under certain climatic conditions, it is fair to assume that those + conditions prevailed in man's original home, and this conclusion will + enable us to cast out of the reckoning the regions where they do not + prevail. A study of the relations of millions of deaths to weather + conditions indicates that the white race is physically at its best when + the average temperature for night and day ranges from about 50 to 73 + degrees F. and when the air is neither extremely moist nor extremely dry. + In addition to these conditions there must be not only seasonal changes + but frequent changes from day to day. Such changes are possible only where + there is a distinct winter and where storms are of frequent occurrence. + The best climate is, therefore, one where the temperature ranges from not + much below the freezing-point at night in winter to about 80 degrees F. by + day in summer, and where the storms which bring daily changes are frequent + at all seasons. + </p> + <p> + Surprising as it may seem, this study indicates that similar conditions + are best for all sorts of races. Finns from the Arctic Circle and Italians + of sunny Sicily have the best health and greatest energy under practically + the same conditions; so too with Frenchmen, Japanese, and Americans. Most + surprising of all, the African black man in the United States is likewise + at his best in essentially the same kind of weather that is most favorable + for his white fellow-citizens, and for Finns, Italians, and other races. + For the red race, no exact figures are available, but general observation + of the Indian's health and activity suggests that in this respect he is at + one with the rest of mankind. + </p> + <p> + For the source of any characteristic so widespread and uniform as this + adaptation to environment we must go back to the very beginning of the + human race. Such a characteristic must have become firmly fixed in the + human constitution before primitive man became divided into races, or at + least before any of the races had left their original home and started on + their long journey to America. On the way to this continent one race took + on a dark reddish or brownish hue and its hair grew straight and black; + another became black skinned and crinkly-haired, while a third developed a + white skin and wavy blonde hair. Yet throughout the thousands of years + which brought about these changes, all the races apparently retained the + indelible constitutional impress of the climate of their common + birthplace. Man's physical adaptation to climate seems to be a deep-seated + physiological fact like the uniformity of the temperature of the blood in + all races. Just as a change in the temperature of the blood brings + distress to the individual, so a change of climate apparently brings + distress to a race. Again and again, to be sure, on the way to America, + and under many other circumstances, man has passed through the most + adverse climates and has survived, but he has flourished and waxed strong + only in certain zones. + </p> + <p> + Curiously enough man's body and his mind appear to differ in their + climatic adaptations. Moreover, in this respect the black race, and + perhaps the red, appears to be diverse from the white. In America an + investigation of the marks of students at West Point and Annapolis + indicates that the best mental work is done when the temperature averages + not much above 40 degrees F. for night and day together. Tests of school + children in Denmark point to a similar conclusion. On the other hand, + daily tests of twenty-two Negroes at Hampton Institute for sixteen months + suggest that their mental ability may be greatest at a temperature only a + little lower than that which is best for the most efficient physical + activity. No tests of this sort have ever been made upon Indians, but such + facts as the inventiveness of the Eskimo, the artistic development of the + people of northern British Columbia and southern Alaska, and the + relatively high civilization of the cold regions of the Peruvian plateau + suggest that the Indian in this respect is more like the white race than + the black. Perhaps man's mental powers underwent their chief evolution + after the various races had left the aboriginal home in which the physical + characteristics became fixed. Thus the races, though alike in their + physical response to climate, may possibly be different in their mental + response because they have approached America by different paths. + </p> + <p> + Before we can understand how man may have been modified on his way from + his original home to America, we must inquire as to the geographical + situation of that home. Judging by the climate which mankind now finds + most favorable, the human race must have originated in the temperate + regions of Europe, Asia, or North America. We are not entirely without + evidence to guide to a choice of one of the three continents. There is a + scarcity of indications of preglacial man in the New World and an + abundance of such indications in the Old. To be sure, several skulls found + in America have been supposed to belong to a time before the last glacial + epoch. In every case, however, there has been something to throw doubt on + the conclusion. For instance, some human bones found at Vero in Florida in + 1915 seem to be very old. Certain circumstances, however, suggest that + possibly they may not really belong to the layers of gravel in which they + were discovered but may have been inserted at some later time. In the Old + World, on the contrary, no one doubts that many human skulls and other + parts of skeletons belong to the interglacial epoch preceding the last + glacial epoch, while some appear to date from still more remote periods. + Therefore no matter at what date man may have come to America, it seems + clear that he existed in the Old World much earlier. This leaves us to + choose between Europe and Asia. The evidence points to central Asia as + man's original home, for the general movement of human migrations has been + outward from that region and not inward. So, too, with the great families + of mammals, as we know from fossil remains. From the earliest geological + times the vast interior of Asia has been the great mother of the world, + the source from which the most important families of living things have + come. + </p> + <p> + Suppose, then, that we place in central Asia the primitive home of the + thin-skinned, hairless human race with its adaptation to a highly variable + climate with temperatures ranging from freezing to eighty degrees. Man + could not stay there forever. He was bound to spread to new regions, + partly because of his innate migratory tendency and partly because of + Nature's stern urgency. Geologists are rapidly becoming convinced that the + mammals spread from their central Asian point of origin largely because of + great variations in climate. * Such variations have taken place on an + enormous scale during geological times. They seem, indeed, to be one of + the most important factors in evolution. Since early man lived through the + successive epochs of the glacial period, he must have been subject to the + urgency of vast climatic changes. During the half million years more or + less of his existence, cold, stormy, glacial epochs lasting tens of + thousands of years have again and again been succeeded by warm, dry, + interglacial epochs of equal duration. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * W. D. Matthew. "Climate and Evolution," N. Y. Acad. Sci., 1915. +</pre> + <p> + During the glacial epochs the interior of Asia was well watered and full + of game which supplied the primitive human hunters. With the advent of + each interglacial epoch the rains diminished, grass and trees disappeared, + and the desert spread over enormous tracts. Both men and animals must have + been driven to sore straits for lack of food. Migration to better regions + was the only recourse. Thus for hundreds of thousands of years there + appears to have been a constantly recurring outward push from the center + of the world's greatest land mass. That push, with the consequent + overcrowding of other regions, seems to have been one of the chief forces + impelling people to migrate and cover the earth. + </p> + <p> + Among the primitive men who were pushed outward from the Asian deserts + during a period of aridity, one group migrated northeastward toward the + Kamchatkan corner of Asia. Whether they reached Bering Sea and the + Kamchatkan shore before the next epoch of glaciation we do not know. + Doubtless they moved slowly, perhaps averaging only a few score or a + hundred miles per generation, for that is generally the way with + migrations of primitive people advancing into unoccupied territory. Yet + sometimes they may have moved with comparative rapidity. I have seen a + tribe of herdsmen in central Asia abandon its ancestral home and start on + a zigzag march of a thousand miles because of a great drought. The grass + was so scanty that there was not enough to support the animals. The tribe + left a trail of blood, for wherever it moved it infringed upon the rights + of others and so with conflict was driven onward. In some such way the + primitive wanderers were kept in movement until at last they reached the + bleak shores of the North Pacific. Even there something—perhaps + sheer curiosity—still urged them on. The green island across the bay + may have been so enticing that at last a raft of logs was knotted together + with stout withes. Perhaps at first the men paddled themselves across + alone, but the hunting and fishing proved so good that at length they took + the women and children with them, and so advanced another step along the + route toward America. At other times distress, strife, or the search for + game may have led the primitive nomads on and on along the coast until a + day came when the Asian home was left and the New World was entered. The + route by which primitive man entered America is important because it + determined the surroundings among which the first Americans lived for many + generations. It has sometimes been thought that the red men came to + America by way of the Kurile Islands, Kamchatka, and the Aleutian Islands. + If this was their route, they avoided a migration of two or three thousand + miles through one of the coldest and most inhospitable of regions. This, + however, is far from probable. The distance from Kamchatka to the first of + the Aleutian Islands is over one hundred miles. As the island is not in + sight from the mainland, there is little chance that a band of savages, + including women, would deliberately sail thither. There is equally little + probability that they walked to the island on the ice, for the sea is + never frozen across the whole width. Nevertheless the climate may at that + time have been colder than now. There is also a chance that a party of + savages may have been blown across to the island in a storm. Suppose that + they succeeded in reaching Bering Island, as the most Asiatic of the + Aleutians is called, the next step to Copper Island would be easy. Then, + however, there comes a stretch of more than two hundred miles. The chances + that a family would ever cross this waste of ocean are much smaller than + in the first case. Still another possibility remains. Was there once a + bridge of land from Asia to America in this region? There is no evidence + of such a link between the two continents, for a few raised beaches + indicate that during recent geological times the Aleutian Islands have + been uplifted rather than depressed. + </p> + <p> + The passage from Asia to America at Bering Strait, on the other hand, is + comparatively easy. The Strait itself is fifty-six miles wide, but in the + middle there are two small islands so that the longest stretch of water is + only about thirty-five miles. Moreover the Strait is usually full of ice, + which frequently becomes a solid mass from shore to shore. Therefore it + would be no strange thing if some primitive savages, in hunting for seals + or polar bears, crossed the Strait, even though they had no boats. Today + the people on both sides of the Strait belong to the American race. They + still retain traditions of a time when their ancestors crossed this narrow + strip of water. The Thilanottines have a legend that two giants once + fought fiercely on the Arctic Ocean. One would have been defeated had not + a man whom he had befriended cut the tendon of his adversary's leg. The + wounded giant fell into Bering Strait and formed a bridge across which the + reindeer entered America. Later came a strange woman bringing iron and + copper. She repeated her visits until the natives insulted her, whereupon + she went underground with her fire-made treasures and came back no more. + Whatever may have been the circumstances that led the earliest families to + cross from Asia to America, they little recked that they had found a new + continent and that they were the first of the red race. + </p> + <p> + Unless the first Americans came to the new continent by way of the Kurile + and Aleutian Islands, it was probably their misfortune to spend many + generations in the cold regions of northeastern Asia and northwestern + America. Even if they reached Alaska by the Aleutian route but came to the + islands by way of the northern end of the Kamchatkan Peninsula, they must + have dwelt in a place where the January temperature averages -10 degrees + F. and where there are frosts every month in the year. If they came across + Bering Strait, they encountered a still more severe climate. The winters + there are scarcely worse than in northern Kamchatka, but the summers are + as cold as the month of March in New York or Chicago. + </p> + <p> + Perhaps a prolonged sojourn in such a climate is one reason for the stolid + character of the Indians. Of course we cannot speak with certainty, but we + must, in our search for an explanation, consider the conditions of life in + the far north. Food is scanty at all times, and starvation is a frequent + visitor, especially in winter when game is hard to get. The long periods + of cold and darkness are terribly enervating. The nervous white man goes + crazy if he stays too long in Alaska. Every spring the first boats + returning to civilization carry an unduly large proportion of men who have + lost their minds because they have endured too many dark, cold winters. + His companions say of such a man, "The North has got him." Almost every + Alaskan recognizes the danger. As one man said to a friend, "It is time I + got out of here." + </p> + <p> + "Why?" said the friend, "you seem all right. What's the matter?" + </p> + <p> + "Well," said the other, "you see I begin to like the smell of skunk + cabbage, and, when a man gets that way, it's time he went somewhere else." + </p> + <p> + The skunk cabbage, by the way, grows in Alaska in great thickets ten feet + high. The man was perfectly serious, for he meant that his mind was + beginning to act in ways that were not normal. Nowhere is the strain of + life in the far north better described than in the poems of Robert W. + Service. + </p> + <p> + Oh, the awful hush that seemed to crush me down on every hand, As I + blundered blind with a trail to find through that blank and bitter land; + Half dazed, half crazed in the winter wild, with its grim heartbreaking + woes, And the ruthless strife for a grip on life that only the sourdough + knows! North by the compass, North I pressed; river and peak and plain + Passed like a dream I slept to lose and waked to dream again. River and + plain and mighty peak—and who could stand unawed? As their summits + blazed, he could stand undazed at the foot of the throne of God. North, + aye, North, through a land accurst, shunned by the scouring brutes, And + all I heard was my own harsh word and the whine of the malamutes, Till at + last I came to a cabin squat, built in the side of a hill, And I burst in + the door, and there on the floor, frozen to death, lay Bill. * + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * From "Ballads of a Cheechako." +</pre> + <p> + The human organism inherits so delicate an adjustment to climate that, in + spite of man's boasted ability to live anywhere, the strain of the frozen + North eliminates the more nervous and active types of mind. Only those can + endure whose nerves lack sensitiveness and who are able to bear long + privation and the strain of hunger and cold and darkness. Though the + Indian may differ from the white man in many respects, such conditions are + probably as bad for him as for any race. For this reason it is not + improbable that long sojourns at way stations on the cold, Alaskan route + from central Asia may have weeded out certain types of minds. Perhaps that + is why the Indian, though brave, stoical, and hardy, does not possess the + alert, nervous temperament which leads to invention and progress. + </p> + <p> + The ancestors of the red man unwittingly chose the easiest path to America + and so entered the continent first, but this was their misfortune. They + could not inherit the land because they chose a path whose unfavorable + influence, exerted throughout centuries, left them unable to cope with + later arrivals from other directions. The parts of America most favorable + for the Indian are also best for the white man and Negro. There the + alerter minds of the Europeans who migrated in the other direction have + quickly eliminated the Indian. His long northern sojourn may be the reason + why farther south in tropical lands he is even now at a disadvantage + compared with the Negro or with the coolie from the East Indies. In + Central America, for instance, it is generally recognized that Negroes + stand the heat and moisture of the lowlands better than Indians. According + to a competent authority: "The American Indians cannot bear the heat of + the tropics even as well as the European, not to speak of the African + race. They perspire little, their skin becomes hot, and they are easily + prostrated by exertion in an elevated temperature. They are peculiarly + subject to diseases of hot climates, as hepatic disorders, showing none of + the immunity of the African. Furthermore, the finest physical specimens of + the race are found in the colder regions of the temperate zones, the + Pampas and Patagonian Indians in the south, the Iroquois and Algonkins in + the north; whereas, in the tropics they are generally undersized, + short-lived, of inferior muscular force and with slight tolerance of + disease." * "No one," adds another observer, "could live among the Indians + of the Upper Amazon without being struck with their constitutional dislike + to heat. The impression forced itself upon my mind that the Indian lives + as a stranger or immigrant in these hot regions." * * Thus when compared + with the other inhabitants of America, from every point of view the Indian + seems to be at a disadvantage, much of which may be due to the path which + he took from the Old World to the New. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * D. G. Brinton, "The American Race," pp. 34, 35. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * * H. W. Bates, "The Naturalist on the River Amazons." vol.II, +pp. 200, 201. +</pre> + <p> + Before the red man lost his American heritage, he must have enjoyed it for + thousands upon thousands of years. Otherwise he never could have become so + different from his nearest relative, the Mongol. The two are as truly + distinct races as are the white man and the Malay. Nor could the Indians + themselves have become so extraordinarily diverse except during the lapse + of thousands of years. The Quichua of the cold highlands of Peru is as + different from the Maya of Yucatan or the Huron of southern Canada as the + Swede is from the Armenian or the Jew. The separation of one stock from + another has gone so far that almost countless languages have been + developed. In the United States alone the Indians have fifty-five + "families" of languages and in the whole of America there are nearly two + hundred such groups. These comprise over one thousand distinct languages + which are mutually unintelligible and at least as different as Spanish and + Italian. Such differences might arise in a day at the Tower of Babel, but + in the processes of evolution they take thousands of years. + </p> + <p> + During those thousands of years the red man, in spite of his Arctic + handicap, by no means showed himself wholly lacking in originality and + inventive ability. In Yucatan two or three thousand years ago the Mayas + were such good scientists and recorded their observations of the stars so + accurately that they framed a calendar more exact than any except the one + that we have used for the last two centuries. They showed still greater + powers of mind in inventing the art of writing and in their architecture. + Later we shall depict the environment under which these things occurred; + it is enough to suggest in passing that perhaps at this period the + ancestors of the Indians had capacities as great as those of any people. + Today they might possibly hold their own against the white man, were it + not for the great handicap which they once suffered because Asia + approaches America only in the cold, depressing north. + </p> + <p> + The Indians were not the only primitive people who were driven from + central Asia by aridity. Another group pushed westward toward Europe. They + fared far better than their Indian cousins who went to the northeast. + These prospective Europeans never encountered benumbing physical + conditions like those of northeastern Asia and northwestern America. Even + when ice shrouded the northern part of Europe, the rest of the continent + was apparently favored with a stimulating climate. Then as now, Europe was + probably one of the regions where storms are most frequent. Hence it was + free from the monotony which is so deadly in other regions. When the ice + retreated our European ancestors doubtless followed slowly in its wake. + Thus their racial character was evolved in one of the world's most + stimulating regions. Privation they must have suffered, and hardihood and + boldness were absolutely essential in the combat with storms, cold, wild + beasts, fierce winds, and raging waves. But under the spur of constant + variety and change, these difficulties were merely incentives to progress. + When the time came for the people of the west of Europe to cross to + America, they were of a different caliber from the previous immigrants. + </p> + <p> + Two facts of physical geography brought Europe into contact with America. + One of these was the islands of the North, the other the trade-winds of + the South. Each seems to have caused a preliminary contact which failed to + produce important results. As in the northern Pacific, so in the northern + Atlantic, islands are stepping-stones from the Old World to the New. Yet + because in the latter case the islands are far apart, it is harder to + cross the water from Norway and the Lofoten Islands to Iceland and + Greenland than it is to cross from Asia by way of the Aleutian Islands or + Bering Strait. Nevertheless in the tenth century of the Christian era bold + Norse vikings made the passage in the face of storm and wind. In their + slender open ships they braved the elements on voyage after voyage. We + think of the vikings as pirates, and so they were. But they were also + diligent colonists who tilled the ground wherever it would yield even the + scantiest living. In Iceland and Greenland they must have labored mightily + to carry on the farms of which the Sagas tell us. When they made their + voyages, honest commerce was generally in their minds quite as much as was + plunder. Leif, the son of that rough Red Eric who first settled Greenland, + made a famous voyage to Vinland, the mainland of America. Like so many + other voyagers he was bent on finding a region where men could live + happily and on filling his boats with grapes, wood, or other commodities + worth carrying home. + </p> + <p> + In view of the energy of the Norsemen, the traces of their presence in the + Western Hemisphere are amazingly slight. In Greenland a few insignificant + heaps of stones are supposed to show where some of them built small + villages. Far in the north Stefansson found fair-haired, blue-eyed + Eskimos. These may be descendants of the Norsemen, although they have + migrated thousands of miles from Greenland. In Maine the Micmac Indians + are said to have had a curious custom which they may have learned from the + vikings. When a chief died, they chose his largest canoe. On it they piled + dry wood, and on the wood they placed the body. Then they set fire to the + pile and sent the blazing boat out to sea. Perhaps in earlier times the + Micmacs once watched the flaming funeral pyre of a fair-haired viking. As + the ruddy flames leaped skyward and were reflected in the shimmering waves + of the great waters the tribesmen must have felt that the Great Spirit + would gladly welcome a chief who came in such a blaze of glory. * + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * For this information I am indebted to Mr. Stansbury Hagar. +</pre> + <p> + It seems strange that almost no other traces of the strong vikings are + found in America. The explanation lies partly in the length and difficulty + of the ocean voyage, and partly in the inhospitable character of the two + great islands that served as stepping-stones from the Old World to the + New. Iceland with its glaciers, storms, and long dreary winters is bad + enough. Greenland is worse. Merely the tip of that island was known to the + Norse—and small wonder, for then as now most of Greenland was + shrouded in ice. Various Scandinavian authors, however, have thought that + during the most prosperous days of the vikings the conditions in Greenland + were not quite so bad as at the present day. One settlement, Osterbyden, + numbered 190 farms, 12 churches, 2 monasteries, and 1 bishopric. It is + even stated that apple-trees bore fruit and that some wheat was raised. + "Cattle-raising and fishing," says Pettersson, "appear to have procured a + good living.... At present the whole stock of cattle in Greenland does not + amount to 100 animals." * In those days the ice which borders all the east + coast and much of the west seems to have been less troublesome than now. + In the earliest accounts nothing is said of this ice as a danger to + navigation. We are told that the best sailing route was through the strait + north of Cape Farewell Island, where today no ships can pass because of + the ice. Since the days of the Norsemen the glaciers have increased in + size, for the natives say that certain ruins are now buried beneath the + ice, while elsewhere ruins can be seen which have been cut off from the + rest of the country by advancing glacial tongues. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * O. Pettersson, "Climatic Variations in Historic and Prehistoric +Times." Svenska Hydrogrifisk—Biologiska Kommissioneur Skrifter, Haft V. +Stockholm. +</pre> + <p> + Why the Norsemen disappeared from the Western Hemisphere we do not exactly + know, but there are interesting hints of an explanation. It appears that + the fourteenth century was a time of great distress. In Norway the crops + failed year after year because of cold and storms. Provinces which were + formerly able to support themselves by agriculture were obliged to import + food. The people at home were no longer able to keep in touch with the + struggling colony in Greenland. No supplies came from the home land, no + reenforcements to strengthen the colonists and make them feel that they + were a part of the great world. Moreover in the late Norse sagas much is + said about the ice along the Greenland coast, which seems to have been + more abundant than formerly. Even the Eskimos seem to have been causing + trouble, though formerly they had been a friendly, peaceable people who + lived far to the north and did not disturb the settlers. In the fourteenth + century, however, they began to make raids such as are common when + primitive people fall into distress. Perhaps the storms and the advancing + ice drove away the seals and other animals, so that the Eskimos were left + hungry. They consequently migrated south and, in the fifteenth century, + finally wiped out the last of the old Norse settlers. If the Norse had + established permanent settlements on the mainland of North America, they + might have persisted to this day. As it was, the cold, bleak climate of + the northern route across the Atlantic checked their progress. Like the + Indians, they had the misfortune of finding a route to America through + regions that are not good for man. + </p> + <p> + Though islands may be stepping-stones between the Old World and the New, + they have not been the bringers of civilization. That function in the + history of man has been left to the winds. The westerlies, however, which + are the prevailing winds in the latitude of the United States and Europe, + have not been of much importance. On the Atlantic side they were for many + centuries a barrier to contact between the Old World and the New. On the + Pacific side they have been known to blow Japanese vessels to the shores + of America contrary to the will of the mariners. Perhaps the same thing + may have happened in earlier times. Asia may thus have made some slight + contribution to primitive America, but no important elements of + civilization can be traced to this source. + </p> + <p> + From latitude 30 degrees N. to 30 degrees S. the tradewinds prevail. As + they blow from the east, they make it easy for boats to come from Africa + to America. In comparatively recent times they brought the slave ships + from the Guinea coast to our Southern States. The African, like the + Indian, has passed through a most unfavorable environment on his way from + central Asia to America. For ages he was doomed to live in a climate where + high temperature and humidity weed out the active type of human being. + Since activity like that of Europe means death in a tropical climate, the + route by way of Africa has been if anything worse than by Bering Strait. + </p> + <p> + By far the most important occurrence which can be laid at the door of the + trade-winds is the bringing of the civilization of Europe and the + Mediterranean to the New World. Twice this may have happened, but the + first occurrence is doubtful and left only a slight impress. For thousands + of years the people around the Mediterranean Sea have been bold sailors. + Before 600 B.C. Pharaoh Necho, so Herodotus says, had sent Phenician ships + on a three-year cruise entirely around Africa. The Phenicians also sailed + by way of Gibraltar to England to bring tin from Cornwall, and by 500 B.C. + the Carthaginians were well acquainted with the Atlantic coast of northern + Africa. + </p> + <p> + At some time or other, long before the Christian era, a ship belonging to + one of the peoples of the eastern Mediterranean was probably blown to the + shores of America by the steady trade-winds. Of course, no one can say + positively that such a voyage occurred. Yet certain curious similarities + between the Old World and the New enable us to infer with a great deal of + probability that it actually happened. The mere fact, for example, that + the adobe houses of the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico are strikingly like + the houses of northern Africa and Persia is no proof that the civilization + of the Old World and the New are related. A similar physical environment + might readily cause the same type of house to be evolved in both places. + When we find striking similarities of other kinds, however, the case + becomes quite different. The constellations of the zodiac, for instance, + are typified by twelve living creatures, such as the twins, the bull, the + lion, the virgin, the crab, and the goat. Only one of the constellations, + the scorpion, presents any real resemblance to the animal for which it is + named. Yet the signs of the zodiac in Mediterranean lands and in + pre-Columbian America from Peru to southern Mexico are almost identical. + Here is a list showing the Latin and English names of the constellations + and their equivalents in the calendars of the Peruvians, Mexicans, and + Mayas. * + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * See S. Hagar, "The Bearing of Astronomy on the Problems of the +Unity or Plurality and the Probable Place of Origin of the American +Aborigines, in American Anthropologist," vol. XIV (1912), pp. 43-48. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Sign English Peruvian Mexican Maya + ———————————————————————————— + Aries Ram Llama Flayer — + + Taurus Bull (originally Stag) + Stag Stag or Deer Stag + + Gemini Twins Man and Woman Twins Two Generals + + Cancer Crab Cuttlefish Cuttlefish Cuttlefish + + Leo Lion Puma Ocelot Ocelot + + Virgo Virgin (Mother Goddess of Cereals) + Maize Mother Maize Mother Maize Mother + + Libra Scales (originally part of Scorpio) + Forks Scorpion Scorpion + + Scorpio Scorpion Mummy Scorpion Scorpion + + Sagittarius Bowman Arrows or Spears + Hunter and War God Hunter and War God + + Capricornus Sea Goat Beard Bearded God — + + Aquarius Water Pourer Water Water Water + + Pisces Fishes(and Knot) Knot Twisted Reeds — +</pre> + <p> + Notice how closely these lists are alike. The ram does not appear in + America because no such animal was known there. The nearest substitute was + the llama. In the Old World the second constellation is now called the + bull, but curiously enough in earlier days it was called the stag in + Mesopotamia. The twins, instead of being Castor and Pollux, may equally + well be a man and a woman or two generals. To landsmen not familiar with + creatures of the deep, the crab and the cuttlefish would not seem greatly + different. The lion is unknown in America, but the creature which most + nearly takes his place is the puma or ocelot. So it goes with all the + signs of the zodiac. There are little differences between the Old World + and the New, but they only emphasize the resemblance. Mathematically there + is not one chance in thousands or even millions that such a resemblance + could grow up by accident. Other similarities between ceremonies or + religious words in the Old World and the New might be pointed out, but the + zodiac is illustration enough. + </p> + <p> + Such resemblances, however, do not indicate a permanent connection between + Mediterranean civilization and that of Central America. They do not even + indicate that any one ever returned from the Western Hemisphere to the + Eastern previous to Columbus. Nor do they indicate that the civilization + of the New World arose from that of the Old. They simply suggest that + after the people of the Mediterranean regions had become well civilized + and after those of America were also sufficiently civilized to assimilate + new ideas, a stray ship or two was blown by the trade-winds across the + Atlantic. That hypothetical voyage was the precursor of the great journey + of Columbus. Without the tradewinds this historic discoverer never could + have found the West Indies. Suppose that a strong west wind had blown him + backward on his course when his men were mutinous. Suppose that he had + been forced to beat against head winds week after week. Is there one + chance in a thousand that even his indomitable spirit could have kept his + craft headed steadily into the west? But because there were the + trade-winds to bring him, the way was opened for the energetic people of + Europe to possess the new continent. Thus the greatest stream of + immigration commenced to flow, and the New World began to take on a + European aspect. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II. THE FORM OF THE CONTINENT + </h2> + <p> + America forms the longest and straightest bone in the earth's skeleton. + The skeleton consists of six great bones, which may be said to form a + spheroidal tetrahedron, or pyramid with a triangular base, for when a + globe with a fairly rigid surface collapses because of shrinkage, it tends + to assume this form. That is what has happened to the earth. Geologists + tell us that during the thousand million years, more or less, since + geological history began, the earth has grown cooler and hence has + contracted. Moreover some of the chemical compounds of the interior have + been transformed into other compounds which occupy less space. For these + reasons the earth appears to have diminished in size until now its + diameter is from two hundred to four hundred miles less than formerly. + During the process of contraction the crust has collapsed in four main + areas, roughly triangular in shape. Between these stand the six ridges + which we have called the bones. Each of the four depressed areas forms a + side of our tetrahedron and is occupied by an ocean. The ridges and the + areas immediately flanking the oceans form the continents. The side which + we may think of as the base contains the Arctic Ocean. The ridges + surrounding it are broad and flat. Large parts of them stand above + sea-level and form the northern portions of North America, Europe, and + Asia. A second side is the Pacific Ocean with the great ridge of the two + Americas on one hand and Asia and Australia on the other. Next comes the + side containing the Indian Ocean in the hollow and the ridges of Africa + and Australia on either hand. The last of the four sides contains the + Atlantic Ocean and is bounded by Africa and Europe on one hand and North + and South America on the other. Finally the tip of the pyramid projects + above the surrounding waters, and forms the continent of Antarctica. + </p> + <p> + It may seem a mere accident that this tip lies near the South Pole, while + the center of the opposite face lies near the North Pole. Yet this has + been of almost infinite importance in the evolution not only of plants and + animals but of men. The reason is that this arrangement gives rise to a + vast and almost continuous land mass in comparatively high latitudes. Only + in such places does evolution appear to make rapid progress. * + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * W. D. Matthew, "Climate and Evolution," N. Y. Acad. Sci., 1915. +</pre> + <p> + Evolution is especially stimulated by two conditions. The first is that + there shall be marked changes in the environment so that the process of + natural selection has full opportunity to do its work. The second is that + numerous new forms or mutants, as the biologists call them, shall be + produced. Both of these conditions are most fully met in large continents + in the temperate zone, for in such places climatic variations are most + extreme. Such variations may take the form of extreme changes either from + day to night, from season to season, or from one century to another. In + any case, as Darwin long ago pointed out, they cause some forms of life to + perish while others survive. Thus climatic variations are among the most + powerful factors in causing natural selection and hence in stimulating + evolution. Moreover it has lately been shown that variations in + temperature are one of the chief causes of organic variation. Morgan and + Plough, * for example, have discovered that when a certain fly, called the + drosophila, is subjected to extremes of heat or cold, the offspring show + an unusually strong tendency to differ from the parents. Hence the + climatic variability of the interior of large continents in temperate + latitudes provides new forms of life and then selects some of them for + preservation. The fossils found in the rocks of the earth's crust support + this view. They indicate that most of the great families of higher animals + originated in the central part of the great land mass of Europe and Asia. + A second but much smaller area of evolution was situated in the similar + part of North America. From these two centers new forms of life spread + outward to other continents. Their movements were helped by the fact that + the tetrahedral form of the earth causes almost all the continents to be + united by bridges of land. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * Unpublished manuscript. +</pre> + <p> + If any one doubts the importance of the tetrahedral form, let him consider + how evolution would have been hampered if the land of the globe were + arranged as isolated masses in low latitudes, while oceans took the place + of the present northern continents. The backwardness of the indigenous + life of Africa shows how an equatorial position retards evolution. The + still more marked backwardness of Australia with its kangaroos and + duck-billed platypuses shows how much greater is the retardation when a + continent is also small and isolated. Today, no less than in the past, the + tetrahedral form of the earth and the relation of the tetrahedron to the + poles and to the equator preserve the conditions that favor rapid + evolution. They are the dominant factors in determining that America shall + be one of the two great centers of civilization. + </p> + <p> + If North and South America be counted as one major land mass, and Europe, + Asia, and Africa as another, the two present the same general features. + Yet their mountains, plains, and coastal indentations are so arranged that + what is on the east in one is on the west in the other. Their similarity + is somewhat like that of a man's two hands placed palms down on a table. + </p> + <p> + On a map of the world place a finger of one hand on the western end of + Alaska and a finger of the other on the northeastern tip of Asia and + follow the main bones of the two continents. See how the chief mountain + systems, the Pacific "cordilleras," trend away from one another, + southeastward and southwestward. In the centers of the continents they + expand into vast plateaus. That of America in the Rocky Mountain region of + the United States reaches a width of over a thousand miles, while that of + Asia in Tibet and western China expands to far greater proportions. + </p> + <p> + From the plateaus the two cordilleras swing abruptly Atlantic-ward. The + Eurasian cordillera extends through the Hindu Kush, Caucasus, and Asia + Minor ranges to southern Europe and the Alps. Then it passes on into Spain + and ends in the volcanoes of the Canary Islands. The American cordillera + swings eastward in Mexico and continues as the isolated ranges of the West + Indies until it ends in the volcanoes of Martinique. Central America + appears at first sight to be a continuation of the great cordillera, but + really it is something quite different—a mass of volcanic material + poured out in the gap where the main chain of mountains breaks down for a + space. In neither hemisphere, however, is the main southward sweep of the + mountains really lost. In the Old World the cordillera revives in the + mountains of Syria and southern Arabia and then runs southward along the + whole length of eastern Africa. In America it likewise revives in the + mighty Andes, which take their rise fifteen hundred miles east of the + broken end of the northern cordillera in Mexico. In the Andes even more + distinctly than in Africa the cordillera forms a mighty wall running north + and south. It expands into the plateau of Peru and Bolivia, just as its + African compeer expands into that of Abyssinia, but this is a mere + incident. The main bone, so to speak, keeps on in each case till it + disappears in the great southern ocean. Even there, however, it is not + wholly lost, for it revives in the cold, lofty continent of Antarctica, + where it coalesces once more with the other great tetrahedral ridges of + Africa and Australia. + </p> + <p> + It is easy to see that these great cordilleras have turned most of the + earth's chief rivers toward the Atlantic and the Arctic Oceans. That is + why these two oceans with an area of only forty-three million square miles + receive the drainage from twenty million square miles of land, while the + far larger Indian and Pacific Oceans with an area of ninety-one million + square miles receive the rivers of only ten million square miles. The + world's streams of civilization, like the rivers of water, have flowed + from the great cordilleras toward the Atlantic. Half of the world's + people, to be sure, are lodged in the relatively small areas known as + China and India on the Pacific side of the Old World cordillera. + Nevertheless the active streams of civilization have flowed mainly on the + other side—the side where man apparently originated. From the + earliest times the mountains have served to determine man's chief + migrations. Their rugged fastnesses hinder human movements and thereby + give rise to a strong tendency to move parallel to their bases. During the + days of primitive man the trend of the mountains apparently directed his + migrations northeastward to Bering Strait and then southeastward and + southward from one end of America to the other. In the same way the + migrations to Europe and Africa which ultimately reached America moved + mainly parallel to the mountains. + </p> + <p> + From end to end of America the great mountains form a sharp dividing line. + The aboriginal tribes on the Pacific slope are markedly different from + those farther east across the mountains. Brinton sums the case up + admirably: + </p> + <p> + "As a rule the tribes of the western coast are not connected with any east + of the mountains. What is more singular, although they differ surprisingly + among themselves in language, they have marked anthropologic similarities, + physical and psychical. Virchow has emphasized the fact that the skulls + from the northern point of Vancouver's Island reveal an unmistakable + analogy to those from the southern coast of California; and this is to a + degree true of many intermediate points. Not that the crania have the same + indices. On the contrary, they present great and constant differences + within the same tribe; but these differences are analogous one to the + other, and on fixed lines. + </p> + <p> + "There are many other physical similarities which mark the Pacific Indians + and contrast them with those east of the mountains. The eyes are less + oblique, the nose flatter, the lips fuller, the chin more pointed, the + face wider. There is more hair on the face and in the axilla, and the + difference between the sexes is much more obvious. + </p> + <p> + "The mental character is also in contrast. The Pacific tribes are more + quiet, submissive, and docile; they have less courage, and less of that + untamable independence which is so constant a feature in the history of + the Algonquins and Iroquois." * + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * D. G. Brinton, "The American Race," pp. 103-4. +</pre> + <p> + Although mountains may guide migrations, the plains are the regions where + people dwell in greatest numbers. The plains in the two great land masses + of the Old World and the New have the same inverse or right- and + left-handed symmetry as the mountains. In the north the vast stretches + from the Mackenzie River to the Gulf of Mexico correspond to the plains of + Siberia and Russia from the Lena to the Black Sea. Both regions have a + vast sweep of monotonous tundras at the north and both become fertile + granaries in the center. Before the white man introduced the horse, the + ox, and iron ploughs, there prevailed an extraordinary similarity in the + habits of the plains Indians from Texas to Alberta. All alike depended on + the buffalo; all hunted him in much the same way; all used his skins for + tents and robes, his bones for tools, and his horns for utensils. All + alike made him the center of their elaborate rituals and dances. Because + the plains of North America were easy to traverse, the relatively high + culture of the ancient people of the South spread into the Mississippi + Valley. Hence the Natchez tribe of Mississippi had a highly developed form + of sun-worship and a well-defined caste system with three grades of + nobility in addition to the common people. Even farther north, almost to + the Ohio River, traces of the sun-worship of Mexico had penetrated along + the easy pathway of the plains. + </p> + <p> + South of the great granaries of North America and Eurasia the plains are + broken, but occur again in the Orinoco region of South America and the + Sahara of Africa. Thence they stretch almost unbroken toward the southern + end of the continents. In view of the fertility of the plains it is + strange that the centers of civilization have so rarely been formed in + these vast level expanses. + </p> + <p> + The most striking of the inverse resemblances between America and the Old + World are found along the Atlantic border. In the north of Europe the + White Sea corresponds to Hudson Bay in America. Farther toward the + Atlantic Ocean Scandinavia with its mountains, glaciers, and fiords is + similar to Labrador, although more favored because warmer. Next the + islands of Great Britain occupy a position similar to that of Newfoundland + and Prince Edward Island. But here again the eastern climate is much more + favorable than the western. Although practically all of Newfoundland is + south of England, the American island has only six inhabitants per square + mile, while the European country has six hundred. To the east of the + British Isles the North Sea, the Baltic, and Lakes Ladoga and Onega + correspond in striking fashion to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the river of + the same name, and the Great Lakes from Ontario to Superior. Next the + indented shores of western France and the peninsula of Spain resemble our + own indented coast and the peninsula of Florida. Here at last the American + regions are as favored as the European. Farther south the Mediterranean + and Black seas penetrate far into the interior just as does the Gulf of + Mexico, and each continent is nearly cut in two where the canals of Suez + and Panama respectively have been trenched. Finally in the southern + continents a long swing eastward in America balances a similar swing + westward in Africa. Thus Cape Saint Roque and Cape Verde are separated by + scarcely 16 degrees of longitude, although the extreme points of the Gulf + of Mexico and the Black Sea are 140 degrees apart. Finally to the south of + the equator the continents swing away from one another once more, + preserving everywhere the same curious inverse relationship. + </p> + <p> + Even more striking than the inverse resemblance of the New World to the + Old is the direct similarity of North and South America. In physical form + the two continents are astonishingly alike. Not only does each have the + typical triangular form which would naturally arise from tetrahedral + shrinking of the globe, but there are four other cardinal points of + resemblance. First, in the northeast each possesses an area of extremely + ancient rocks, the Laurentian highlands of Quebec and Labrador in North + America and the highlands of Guiana in South America. Second, in the + southeast lie highlands of old but not the most ancient rocks stretching + from northeast to southwest in the Appalachian region of North America, + and in the Brazilian mountains of the southern continent. Third, along the + western side of each continent recent crustal movements supplemented by + volcanic action on a magnificent scale have given rise to a complex series + of younger mountains, the two great cordilleras. Finally, the spaces + between the three mountain masses are occupied by a series of vast + confluent plains which in each case extend from the northern ocean to the + southern and bend around the southeastern highlands. These plains are the + newest part of America, for many of them have emerged from the sea only in + recent geological times. Taken as a whole the resemblance between the two + continents is striking. + </p> + <p> + If these four physiographic provinces of North and South America lay in + similar latitudes in the respective continents we might expect each pair + to have a closely similar effect on life. In fauna, flora, and even in + human history they would present broad and important resemblances. As a + matter of fact, however, they are as different as can well be imagined. + Where North America, is bathed by icy waters full of seals and floating + ice South America is bathed by warm seas full of flying-fish and coral + reefs. The northern continent is broadest in the cool latitudes that are + most favorable for human activity. The southern expands most widely in + latitudes whose debilitating monotony of heat and moisture is the worst of + handicaps to human progress. The great rivers of the northern continent + correspond very closely to those of the southern. The Mackenzie, however, + is bound in the rigid bands of winter for eight months each year, while + the Orinoco, the corresponding South American river, lies sweltering under + a tropical sun which burns its grassy plains to bitter dust even as the + sharp cold reduced the Mackenzie region to barren tundra. The St. Lawrence + flows through fertile grain fields and the homes of an active people of + the temperate zone, but the Amazon winds its slow way amid the malarious + languor of vast tropical forests in which the trees shut out the sky and + the few natives are apathetic with the eternal inertia of the hot, damp + tropics. + </p> + <p> + Only when we come to the Mississippi in the northern continent and the Rio + de la Plata in the southern do we find a pair of rivers which correspond + to any degree in the character of the life surrounding them, as well as in + their physiographic character. Yet even here there is a vast difference, + especially in the upper courses of the river. Each at its mouth flows + through a rich, fertile plain occupied by a progressive, prosperous + people. But the Rio de la Plata takes its rise in one of the world's most + backward plains, the home of uncivilized Indians, heartless rubber + adventurers, and the most rapacious of officials. Not infrequently, the + degenerate white men of these regions, yielding to the subtle and + insidious influence of the tropics, inflict the most outrageous abuses + upon the natives, and even kill them on slight provocation. The natives in + turn hate their oppressors, and when the chance comes betray them or leave + them to perish in sickness and misery. The upper Mississippi, on the other + hand, comes from a plain where agriculture is carried on with more + labor-saving devices than are found anywhere else in the world. There + States like Wisconsin and Minnesota stand in the forefront of educational + and social progress. The contrasts between the corresponding rivers of the + two Americas are typical of the contrasts in the history of the two + continents. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III. THE GEOGRAPHIC PROVINCES OF NORTH AMERICA + </h2> + <p> + The four great physical divisions of North America—the Laurentian + highland, the Appalachian highland, the plains, and the western cordillera—are + strikingly different in form and structure. The Laurentian highland + presents a monotonous waste of rough hills, irregular valleys, picturesque + lakes, and crooked rivers. Most of it is thinly clothed with pine trees + and bushes such as the blueberry and huckleberry. Yet everywhere the + ancient rock crops out. No one can travel there without becoming + tiresomely familiar with fine-grained, shattered schists, coarse granites, + and their curiously banded relatives, the gneisses. This rocky highland + stretches from a little north of the St. Lawrence River to Hudson Bay, + around which it laps in the form of a V, and so is known as the Archaean V + or shield. + </p> + <p> + Everywhere this oldest part of the Western Hemisphere presents + unmistakable signs of great age. The schists by their fine crumpling and + scaly flakes of mineral show that they were formed deep in the bowels of + the earth, for only there could they be subjected to the enormous pressure + needed to transform their minerals into sheets as thin as paper. The + coarse granites and gneisses proclaim still more clearly that they must + have originated far down in the depths of the earth; their huge crystals + of mica, quartz, hornblende, feldspar, and other minerals could never have + been formed except under a blanket of rock which almost prevented the + original magmas from cooling. The thousands or tens of thousands of feet + of rock which once overlay the schists and still more the granites and + gneisses must have been slowly removed by erosion, for there was no other + way to get rid of them. This process must have taken tens of millions of + years, and yet the whole work must have been practically completed a + hundred or perhaps several hundred million years ago. We know this because + the selfsame ancient eroded surface which is exposed in the Laurentian + highland is found dipping down under the oldest known fossiliferous rocks. + Traces of that primitive land surface are found over a large part of the + American continent. Elsewhere they are usually buried under later strata + laid down when the continent sank in part below sea-level. Only in + Laurentia has the land remained steadily above the reach of the ocean + throughout the millions of years. + </p> + <p> + Today this old, old land might be as rich as many others if climate had + been kind to it. Its soil, to be sure, would in many parts be sandy + because of the large amount of quartz in the rocks. That would be a small + handicap, however, provided the soil were scores of feet deep like the red + soil of the corresponding highland in the Guiana region of South America. + But today the North American Laurentia has no soil worth mentioning. For + some reason not yet understood this was the part of America where snow + accumulated most deeply and where the largest glaciers were formed during + the last great glacial period. Not once but many times its granite surface + was shrouded for tens of thousands of years in ice a mile or more thick. + As the ice spread outward in almost every direction, it scraped away the + soil and gouged innumerable hollows in the softer parts of the underlying + rock. It left the Laurentian highland a land of rocky ribs rising between + clear lakes that fill the hollows. The lakes are drained by rapid rivers + which wind this way and that in hopeless confusion as they strive to move + seaward over the strangely uneven surface left by the ice. Such a land is + good for the hunter and trapper. It is also good for the summer + pleasure-seeker who would fain grow strong by paddling a canoe. For the + man who would make a permanent home it is a rough, inscrutable region + where one has need of more than most men's share of courage and + persistence. Not only did the climate of the past cause the ice to scrape + away the soil, but the climate of the present is so cold that even where + new soil has accumulated the farmer can scarcely make a living. + </p> + <p> + Around the borders of the Laurentian highland the ice accomplished a work + quite different from the devastation of the interior. One of its chief + activities was the scouring of a series of vast hollows which now hold the + world's largest series of lakes. Even the lakes of Central Africa cannot + compare with our own Great Lakes and the other smaller lakes which belong + to the same series. These additional lakes begin in the far north with + Great Bear Lake and continue through Great Slave Lake, Lake Athabasca, and + Lake Winnipeg to the Lake of the Woods, which drains into Lake Superior. + All these lakes lie on the edge of the great Laurentian shield, where the + ice, crowding down from the highland to the north and east, was compressed + into certain already existent hollows which it widened, deepened, and left + as vast bowls ready to be filled with lakes. + </p> + <p> + South and southwest of the Laurentian highland the great ice sheet proved + beneficial to man. There, instead of leaving the rock naked, as in the + Laurentian region, it merely smoothed off many of the irregularities of + the surface and covered large areas with the most fertile soil. + </p> + <p> + In doing this, to be sure, the ice-cap scoured some hollows and left a + vastly larger number of basins surrounded in whole or in part by glacial + debris. These have given rise to the innumerable lakes, large and small, + whose beauty so enhances the charms of Canada, New England, New York, + Minnesota, and other States. They serve as reservoirs for the water supply + of towns and power plants and as sources of ice and fish. Though they take + land from agriculture, they probably add to the life of the community as + much in other ways as they detract in this. Moreover glaciation diverted + countless streams from their old courses and made them flow over falls and + rapids from which water-power can easily be developed. That is one reason + why glaciated New England contains over forty per cent of all the + developed water-power in the United States. + </p> + <p> + Far more important, however, than the glacial lakes and rivers is the + fertile glacial soil. It comes fresh from the original rocks and has not + yet been exhausted by hundreds of thousands of years of weathering. It + also has the advantage of being well mixed, for generally it is the + product of scrapings from many kinds of rocks, each of which contributes + its own particular excellence to the general composition. Take Wisconsin + as an example. * Most parts of that State have been glaciated, but in the + southwest there lies what is known as the "driftless area" because it is + not covered with the "drift" or glacial debris which is thickly strewn + over the rest of the State. A comparison of otherwise similar counties + lying within and without the driftless area shows an astonishing contrast. + In 1910 the average value of all the farm land in twenty counties covered + with drift amounted to $56.90 per acre. In six counties partly covered + with drift and partly driftless the value was $59.80 per acre, while in + thirteen counties in the driftless area it was only $33.30 per acre. In + spite of the fact that glaciation causes swamps and lakes, the proportion + of land cultivated in the glaciated areas is larger than in the driftless. + In the glaciated area 61 per cent of the land is improved and in the + driftless area only 43.5 per cent. Moreover, even though the underlying + rock and the original topography be of the same kind in both cases, the + average yield of crops per acre is greater where the ice has done its + work. Where the country rock consists of limestone, which naturally forms + a rich soil, the difference in favor of the glaciated area amounts to only + 1 or 2 per cent. Where the country rock is sandy, the soil is so much + improved by a mixture of fertilizing limestone or even of clay and other + materials that the average yield of crops per acre in the glaciated areas + is a third larger than in the driftless. Taking everything into + consideration it appears that the ancient glaciation of Wisconsin + increases the present agricultural output by from 20 to 40 per cent. + Upwards of 10,000,000 acres of glaciated land have already been developed + in the most populous parts of the State. If the average value of all + products on this area is reckoned at $15 per acre and if the increased + value of agricultural products due to glaciation amounts to 30 per cent, + then the net value of glaciation per year to the farmers of Wisconsin is + $45,000,000. This means about $300 for each farmer in the glaciated area. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * R. H. Whitbeck, "Economic Aspects of Glaciation in Wisconsin", +in "Annals of the Association of American Geographers," vol. III in +(1913), pp. 62-67. +</pre> + <p> + Wisconsin is by no means unique. In Ohio, for instance, there is also a + driftless area. * It lies in the southeast along the Ohio River. The + difference in the value of the farm land there and in the glaciated region + is extraordinary. In the driftless area the average value per acre in 1910 + was less than $24, while in the glaciated area it was nearly $64. Year by + year the proportion of the population of the State in the unglaciated area + is steadily decreasing. The difference between the two parts of the State + is not due to the underlying rock structure or to the rainfall except to a + slight degree. Some of the difference is due to the fact that important + cities such as Cleveland and Toledo lie on the fertile level strip of land + along the lake shore, but this strip itself, as well as the lake, owes + much of its character to glaciation. It appears, therefore, that in Ohio, + perhaps even more than in Wisconsin, man prospers most in the parts where + the ice has done its work. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * William H. Hess, "The Influence of Glaciation in Ohio," in +"Bulletin of the Geographical Society of Philadelphia," vol. XV (1917), +pp. 19-42. +</pre> + <p> + We have taken Wisconsin and Ohio as examples, but the effect of glaciation + in those States does not differ materially from its effect all over + southern Canada and the northern United States from New England to Kansas + and Minnesota. Each year the people of these regions are richer by perhaps + a billion dollars because the ice scraped its way down from Laurentia and + spread out over the borders of the great plains on the west and of the + Appalachian region on the east. + </p> + <p> + We have considered the Laurentian highland and the glaciation which + centered there. Let us now turn to another highland only the northern part + of which was glaciated. The Appalachian highland, the second great + division of North America, consists of three parallel bands which extend + southwestward from Newfoundland and the St. Lawrence River to Georgia and + Alabama. The eastern and most important band consists of hills and + mountains of ancient crystalline rocks, somewhat resembling those of the + Laurentian highland but by no means so old. West of this comes a broad + valley eroded for the most part in the softer portions of a highly folded + series of sedimentary rocks which are of great age but younger than the + crystalline rocks to the east. The third band is the Alleghany plateau, + composed of almost horizontal rocks which lie so high and have been so + deeply dissected that they are often called mountains. + </p> + <p> + The three Appalachian bands by no means preserve a uniform character + throughout their entire length. The eastern crystalline band has its chief + development in the northeast. There it comprises the whole of New England + and a large part of the maritime provinces of Canada as well as + Newfoundland. Its broad development in New England causes that region to + be one of the most clearly defined natural units of the United States. + Ancient igneous rocks such as granite lie intricately mingled with old and + highly metamorphosed sediments. Since some of the rocks are hard and + others soft and since all have been exposed to extremely long erosion, the + topography of New England consists typically of irregular masses of + rounded hills free from precipices. Here and there hard masses of + unusually resistant rock stand up as isolated rounded heights, like Mount + Katahdin in Maine. They are known as "monadnocks" from the mountain of + that name in southern New Hampshire. In other places larger and more + irregular masses of hard rock form mountain groups like the White + Mountains, the Green Mountains, and the Berkshires, each of which is + merely a great series of monadnocks. + </p> + <p> + In the latitude of southern New York the crystalline rocks are compressed + into narrow compass and lose their mountainous character. They form the + irregular hills on which New York City itself is built and which make the + suburbs of Westchester County along the eastern Hudson so diverse and + beautiful. To the southeast the topography of the old crystalline band + becomes still less pronounced, as may be seen in the rolling, fertile + hills around Philadelphia. Farther south the band divides into two parts, + the mountains proper and the Piedmont plateau. The mountains begin at the + Blue Ridge, which in Virginia raises its even-topped heights mile after + mile across the length of that State. In North Carolina, however, they + lose their character as a single ridge and expand into the broad mass of + the southern Appalachians. There Mount Mitchell dominates the eastern part + of the American continent and is surrounded by over thirty other mountains + rising to a height of at least six thousand feet. The Piedmont plateau, + which lies at the eastern foot of the Blue Ridge, is not really a plateau + but a peneplain or ancient lowland worn almost to a plain. It expands to a + width of one hundred miles in Virginia and the Carolinas and forms the + part of those States where most of the larger towns are situated. Among + its low gentle heights there rises an occasional little monadnock like + Chapel Hill, where the University of North Carolina lies on a rugged + eminence which strikingly recalls New England. For the most part, however, + the hills of the Piedmont region are lower and more rounded than those in + the neighborhood of Philadelphia. The country thus formed has many + advantages, for it is flat enough to be used for agriculture and yet + varied enough to be free from the monotony of the level plains. + </p> + <p> + The prolonged and broken inner valley forming the second band of the + Appalachians was of some importance as a highway in the days of the + Indians. Today the main highways of traffic touch it only to cross it as + quickly as possible. From Lake Champlain it trends straight southward in + the Hudson Valley until the Catskills have been passed. Then, while the + railroads and all the traffic go on down the gorge of the Hudson to New + York, the valley swings off into Pennsylvania past Scranton, Wilkesbarre, + and Harrisburg. There the underlying rock consists of a series of + alternately hard and soft layers which have been crumpled up much as one + might wrinkle a rug with one's foot. The pressure involved in the process + changed and hardened the rocks so much that the coal which they contain + was converted into anthracite, the finest coal in all the world and the + only example of its kind. Even the famous Welsh coal has not been so + thoroughly hardened. During a long period of erosion the tops of the + folded layers were worn off to a depth of thousands of feet and the whole + country was converted into an almost level plain. Then in the late + geological period known as the early Tertiary the land was lifted up + again, and once more erosion went on. The soft rocks were thus etched away + until broad valleys were formed. The hard layers were left as a + bewildering succession of ridges with flat tops. A single ridge may double + back and forth so often that the region well deserves the old Indian name + of the "Endless Mountains." Southwestward the valley grows narrower, and + the ridges which break its surface become straighter. Everywhere they are + flat-topped, steep-sided, and narrow, while between them lie parts of the + main valley floor, flat and fertile. Here in the south, even more clearly + than in the north, the valley is bordered on the east by the sharply + upstanding range of the crystalline Appalachians, while on the west with + equal regularity it comes to an end in an escarpment which rises to the + Alleghany plateau. + </p> + <p> + This plateau, the third great band of the Appalachians, begins on the + south side of the Mohawk Valley. To the north its place is taken by the + Adirondacks, which are an outlier of the great Laurentian area of Canada. + The fact that the outlier and the plateau are separated by the low strip + of the Mohawk Valley makes this the one place where the highly complex + Appalachian system can easily be crossed. If the Alleghany plateau joined + the Adirondacks, Philadelphia instead of New York would be the greatest + city of America. Where the plateau first rises on the south side of the + Mohawk, it attains heights of four thousand feet in the Catskill + Mountains. We think of the Catskills as mountains, but their steep cliffs + and table-topped heights show that they are really the remnants of a + plateau, the nearly horizontal strata of which have not yet been worn + away. Westward from the Catskills the plateau continues through central + New York to western Pennsylvania. Those who have traveled on the + Pennsylvania Railroad may remember how the railroad climbs the escarpment + at Altoona. Farther east the train has passed alternately through gorges + cut in the parallel ridges and through fertile open valleys forming the + main floor of the inner valley. Then it winds up the long ascent of the + Alleghany front in a splendid horseshoe curve. At the top, after a short + tunnel, the train emerges in a wholly different country. The valleys are + without order or system. They wind this way and that. The hills are not + long ridges but isolated bits left between the winding valleys. Here and + there beds of coal blacken the surface, for here we are among the rocks + from which the world's largest coal supply is derived. Since the layers + lie horizontally and have never been compressed, the same material which + in the inner valley has been changed to hard, clean-burning anthracite + here remains soft and smoky. + </p> + <p> + In its southwestern continuation through West Virginia and Kentucky to + Tennessee the plateau maintains many of its Pennsylvanian characteristics, + but it now rises higher and becomes more inaccessible. The only habitable + portions are the bottoms of the valleys, but they are only wide enough to + support a most scanty population. Between them most of the land is too + rough for anything except forests. Hence the people who live at the + bottoms of the valleys are strangely isolated. They see little or nothing + of the world at large or even of their neighbors. The roads are so few and + the trails so difficult that the farmers cannot easily take their produce + to market. Their only recourse has been to convert their bulky corn into + whisky, which occupied little space in proportion to its value. Since the + mountaineer has no other means of getting ready money, it is not strange + that he has become a moonshiner and has fought bitterly for what he + genuinely believed to be his rights in that occupation. Education has not + prospered on the plateau because the narrowness of the valleys causes the + population to be too poor and too scattered to support schools. For the + same reason feuds grow up. When people live by themselves they become + suspicious. Not being used to dealing with their neighbors, they suspect + the motives of all but their intimate friends. Moreover, in those deep + valleys, with their steep sides and their general inaccessibility, laws + cannot easily be enforced, and therefore each family takes the law into + its own hands. + </p> + <p> + Today the more rugged parts of the Appalachian system are chiefly + important as a hindrance to communication. On the Atlantic slope of the + old crystalline band there are great areas of gentle relief where an + abundant population can dwell. Westward on the edges of the plateau and + the plains beyond a still greater population can find a living, but in the + intervening space there is opportunity for only a few. The great problem + is to cross the mountains as easily as possible. Each accessible + crossing-place is associated with a city. Boston, as well as New York, + owes much to the low Mohawk-Hudson route, but is badly handicapped because + it has no easy means of crossing the eastern crystalline band. + Philadelphia, on the other hand, benefits from the fact that in its + vicinity the crystallizes are low and can readily be crossed even without + the aid of the valleys of the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is + handicapped, however, by the Alleghany escarpment at Altoona, even though + this is lower there than farther south. Baltimore, in the same way, owes + much of its growth to the easy pathways of the Susquehanna on the north + and the Potomac on the south. Farther south both the crystalline band and + the Alleghany plateau become more difficult to traverse, so that + communication between the Atlantic coast and the Mississippi Valley is + reduced to small proportions. Happy is New York in its situation where no + one of the three bands of the Appalachians opposes any obstacle. The + plains of North America form the third of the four main physical divisions + of the continent. For the most part they lie between the great western + cordillera on one side and the Laurentian and Appalachian highlands on the + other. Yet they lap around the southern end of the Appalachians and run + far up the Atlantic coast to New York. They remained beneath the sea till + a late date, much later than the other three divisions. They were not, + however, covered with deep water like that of the abysmal oceans, but only + with shallow seas from which the land at times emerged. In spite of the + old belief to the contrary, the continents appear to be so permanent that + they have occupied practically their present positions from the remotest + geological times. They have moved slowly up and down, however, so that + some parts have frequently been submerged, and the plains are the parts + that remained longest under water. + </p> + <p> + The plains of North America may be divided into four parts according to + the character of their surface: the Atlantic coastal plain, the prairies, + the northwestern peneplain, and the southwestern high plains. The Atlantic + coastal plain lies along the Atlantic coast from New York southward to + Florida and Alabama. It also forms a great embayment up the Mississippi + Valley as far as the Ohio River, and it extends along the shore of the + Gulf of Mexico to the Rio Grande. The chief characteristic of this + Atlantic and Gulf coastal plain is its belted nature. One layer of rocks + is sandy, another consists of limestone, and a third of clay. When + uplifted and eroded each assumes its own special topography and is covered + with its own special type of vegetation. Thus in South Carolina and + Georgia the crystalline Piedmont band of the Appalachian province is + bordered on the southeast by a belt of sandstone. This rock is so far from + the sea and has been raised so high above it that erosion has converted it + into a region of gentle hills, whose tops are six hundred or seven hundred + feet above sea-level. Its sandy soil is so poor that farming is difficult. + The hills are largely covered with pine, yielding tar and turpentine. + Farther seaward comes a broad band of younger rock which forms a clayey + soil or else a yellow sandy loam. These soils are so rich that splendid + cotton crops can be raised, and hence the region is thickly populated. + Again there comes a belt of sand, the so-called "pine barrens," which form + a poor section about fifty miles inland from the coast. Finally the + coastal belt itself has emerged from beneath the sea so recently and lies + so nearly at sea-level that it has not been greatly eroded, and is still + covered with numerous marshes and swamps. The rich soil and the moisture + are good for rice, but the region is so unhealthy and so hard to drain + that only small parts are inhabited. + </p> + <p> + Everywhere in the coastal plain this same belted character is more or less + evident. It has much to do with all sorts of activities from farming to + politics. On consulting the map showing the cotton production of the + United States in 1914, one notices the two dark bands in the southeast. + One of them, extending from the northwestern part of South Carolina across + Georgia and Alabama, is due to the fertile soil of the Piedmont region. + The other, lying nearer the sea, begins in North Carolina and extends well + into Alabama before it swings around to the northwest toward the area of + heavy production along the Mississippi. It is due to the fertile soil of + that part of the coastal plain known as the "cotton belt." Portions of it + are called the "black belt," not because of the colored population, but + because of the darkness of the soil. Since this land has always been + prosperous, it has regularly been conservative in politics. + </p> + <p> + The Atlantic coastal plain is by no means the only part of the United + States where the fertility of the soil is the dominant fact in the life of + the people. Because of their rich soil the prairies which extend from + western Ohio to the Missouri River and northward into Canada are fast + becoming the most steadily prosperous part of America. They owe their + surpassing richness largely to glaciation. We have already seen how the + coming of the ice-sheet benefited the regions on the borders of the old + Laurentian highland. This same benefit extended over practically the whole + of what are now the prairies. Before the advent of the ice the whole + section consisted of a broadly banded coastal plain much older than that + of the Atlantic coast. When the ice with its burden of material scraped + from the hills of the north passed over the coastal plain, it filled the + hollows with rich new soil. The icy streams that flowed out from the + glaciers were full of fine sediment, which they deposited over enormous + flood plains. During dry seasons the winds picked up this dust and spread + it out still more widely, forming the great banks of yellow loess whose + fertile soil mantles the sides of many a valley in the Mississippi basin. + Thus glaciers, streams, and winds laid down ten, twenty, fifty, or even + one hundred feet of the finest, most fertile soil. We have already seen + how much the soil was improved by glaciation in Wisconsin and Ohio. It was + in the prairie States that this improvement reached a maximum. The soil + there is not only fine grained and free from rocks, but it consists of + particles brought from widely different sources and is therefore full of + all kinds of plant foods. In most parts of the world a fine-grained soil + is formed only after a prolonged period of weathering which leaches out + many valuable chemical elements. In the prairies, however, the soil + consists largely of materials that were mechanically ground to dust by the + ice without being exposed to the action of weathering. Thus they have + reached their present resting-places without the loss of any of their + original plant foods. When such a soil is found with a climate which is + good for crops and which is also highly stimulating to man, the + combination is almost ideal. There is some justification for those who say + that the north central portion of the United States is more fortunate than + any other part of the earth. Nowhere else, unless in western Europe, is + there such a combination of fertile soil, fine climate, easy + communication, and possibilities for manufacturing and commerce. Iron from + that outlier of the Laurentian highland which forms the peninsula of + northern Michigan can easily be brought by water almost to the center of + the prairie region. Coal in vast quantities lies directly under the + surface of this region, for the rock of the ancient coastal plain belongs + to the same Pennsylvanian series which yields most of the world's coal. + Here man is, indeed, blessed with resources and opportunities scarcely + equaled in any other part of the world, and finds the only drawbacks to be + the extremes of temperature in both winter and summer and the remoteness + of the region from the sea. Because of the richness of their heritage and + because they live safely protected from threats of foreign aggression, the + people who live in this part of the world are in danger of being slow to + feel the currents of great world movements. + </p> + <p> + The western half of the plains of North America consists of two parts + unlike either the Atlantic coastal plain or the prairies. From South + Dakota and Nebraska northward far into Canada and westward to the Rocky + Mountains there extends an ancient peneplain worn down to gentle relief by + the erosion of millions of years. It is not so level as the plains farther + east nor so low. Its western margin reaches heights of four or five + thousand feet. Here and there, especially on the western side, it rises to + the crest of a rugged escarpment where some resistant layer of rocks still + holds itself up against the forces of erosion. Elsewhere its smooth + surfaces are broken by lava-capped mesas or by ridges where some ancient + volcanic dike is so hard that it has not yet been worn away. The soil, + though excellent, is thinner and less fertile than in the prairies. + Nevertheless the population might in time become as dense and prosperous + as almost any in the world if only the rainfall were more abundant and + good supplies of coal were not quite so far away. Yet in spite of these + handicaps the northwestern peneplain with its vast open stretches, its + cattle, its wheat, and its opportunities is a most attractive land. + </p> + <p> + South of Nebraska and Wyoming the "high plains," the last of the four + great divisions of the plains, extend as far as western Texas. These, like + the prairies, have been built up by deposits brought from other regions. + In this case, however, the deposits consist of gravel, sand, and silt + which the rivers have gradually washed out from the Rocky Mountains. As + the rivers have changed their courses from one bed to another, layer after + layer has been laid down to form a vast plain like a gently sloping beach + hundreds of miles wide. In most places the streams are no longer building + this up. Frequently they have carved narrow valleys hundreds of feet deep + in the materials which they formerly deposited. Elsewhere, however, as in + western Kansas, most of the country is so flat that the horizon is like + that of the ocean. It seems almost incredible that at heights of four or + five thousand feet the plains can still be so wonderfully level. When the + grass is green, when the spring flowers are at their best, it would be + hard to find a picture of greater beauty. Here the buffalo wandered in the + days before the white man destroyed them. Here today is the great cattle + region of America. Here is the region where the soul of man is filled with + the feeling of infinite space. + </p> + <p> + To the student of land forms there is an ever-present contrast between + those due directly to the processes which build up the earth's surface and + those due to the erosive forces which destroy what the others have built. + In the great plains of North America two of the divisions, that is, the + Atlantic coastal plain of the southeast and the peneplain of the + northwest, owe their present form to the forces of erosion. The other two, + that is, the prairies and the high plains, still bear the impress of the + original processes of deposition and have been modified to only a slight + extent by erosion. + </p> + <p> + A similar but greater contrast separates the mountains of eastern North + America and those of the western cordillera—the fourth and last of + the main physical divisions of the continent. In both the Laurentian and + the Appalachian highlands the eastern mountains show no trace of the + original forms produced by the faulting of the crust or by volcanic + movements. All the original distinctive topography has been removed. What + we see today is the product of erosion working upon rocks that were + thousands of feet beneath the surface when they were brought to their + present positions. In the western cordillera, on the contrary, although + much of the present form of the land is due to erosion, a vast amount is + due directly to so-called "tectonic" activities such as the breaking of + the crust, the pouring out of molten lavas, and the bursting forth of + explosive eruptions. + </p> + <p> + The character of these tectonic activities has differed widely in + different parts of the cordillera. A broad upheaval of great blocks of the + earth's crust without tilting or disturbance has produced the plateaus of + Arizona and Utah. The gorges that have been rapidly cut into such great + upheaved blocks form part of the world's most striking scenery. The Grand + Canyon of the Colorado with its tremendous platforms, mesas, and + awe-inspiring cliffs could have been formed in no other way. Equally + wonderful are some of the narrow canyons in the broadly upheaved plateaus + of southern Utah where the tributaries of the Virgin and other rivers have + cut red or white chasms thousands of feet deep and so narrow that at their + bottoms perpetual twilight reigns. It is a curious proof of the + fallibility of human judgment that these great gorges are often cited as + the most striking examples of the power of erosion. Wonderful as these + gorges certainly are, the Piedmont plain or the northwestern peneplain is + far more wonderful. Those regions had their grand canyons once upon a + time, but now erosion has gone so far that it has reduced the whole area + to the level of the bottoms of the gorges. Though such a fate is in store + for all the marvelous scenery of the western cordillera, we have it, for + the present at least, as one of the most stimulating panoramas of our + American environment. No man worthy of the name can sit on the brink of a + great canyon or gaze up from the dark depths of a gorge without a sense of + awe and wonder. There, as in few other places, Nature shows with + unmistakable grandeur the marvelous power and certainty with which her + laws work out the destiny of the universe. + </p> + <p> + In other parts of the great American cordillera some of the simplest and + youngest mountain ridges in the world are found. In southern Oregon, for + example, lava blocks have been broken and uplifted and now stand with + steep fresh faces on one side and with the old surface inclining more + gently on the other. Tilted blocks on a larger scale and much more deeply + carved by erosion are found in the lofty St. Elias Mountain of Alaska, + where much of the erosion has been done by some of the world's greatest + glaciers. The western slope of the Wasatch Mountains facing the desert of + Utah is the wall of a huge fracture, as is the eastern face of the Sierra + Nevadas facing the deserts of Nevada. Each of these great faces has been + deeply eroded. At the base, however, recent breaking and upheaval of the + crust have given rise to fresh uneroded slopes. Some take the form of + triangular facets, where a series of ridges has been sliced across and + lifted up by a great fault. Others assume the shape of terraces which + sometimes continue along the base of the mountains for scores of miles. In + places they seem like bluffs cut by an ancient lake, but suddenly they + change their altitude or pass from one drainage area to another as no + lake-formed strand could possibly do. + </p> + <p> + In other parts of the cordillera, mountains have been formed by a single + arching of the crust without any breaking. Such is the case in the Uinta + Mountains of northwestern Utah and in some of the ranges of the Rocky + Mountains in Colorado. The Black Hills of South Dakota, although lying out + in the plains, are an example of the same kind of structure and really + belong to the cordillera. In them the layers of the earth's crust have + been bent up in the form of a great dome. The dome structure, to be sure, + has now been largely destroyed, for erosion has long been active. The + result is that the harder strata form a series of concentric ridges, while + between them are ring-shaped valleys, one of which is so level and + unbroken that it is known to the Indians as the "race-course." In other + parts of the cordillera great masses of rock have been pushed horizontally + upon the tops of others. In Montana, for example, the strata of the plains + have been bent down and overridden by those of the mountains. These are + only a few of the countless forms of breaking, faulting, and crumpling + which have given to the cordillera an almost infinite variety of scenery. + </p> + <p> + The work of mountain building is still active in the western cordillera, + as is evident from such an event as the San Francisco earthquake. In the + Owens Valley region in southern California the gravelly beaches of old + lakes are rent by fissures made within a few years by earthquakes. In + other places fresh terraces on the sides of the valley mark the lines of + recent earth movements, while newly formed lakes lie in troughs at their + base. These Owens Valley movements of the crust are parts of the + stupendous uplift which has raised the Sierra Nevada to heights of over + 14,000 feet a few miles to the west. Along the fault line at the base of + the mountains there runs for over 9.50 miles the world's longest aqueduct, + which was built to relieve Los Angeles from the danger of drought. It is a + strange irony of fate that so delicate and so vital an artery of + civilization should be forced to lie where a renewal of earthquake + movements may break it at any time. Yet there was no other place to put + it, for in spite of man's growing control of nature he was forced to + follow the topography of the region in which he lived and labored. + </p> + <p> + On the southern side of the Mohave Desert a little to the east of where + the Los Angeles aqueduct crosses the mountains in its southward course, + the record of an earthquake is preserved in unique fashion. The steep face + of a terrace is covered with trees forty or fifty years old. Near the base + the trees are bent in peculiar fashion. Their lower portions stand at + right angles to the steeply sloping face of the terrace, but after a few + feet the trunks bend upward and stand vertically. Clearly when these trees + were young the terrace was not there. Then an earthquake came. One block + of the earth's crust was dropped down while another was raised up. Along + the dividing line a terrace was formed. The trees that happened to stand + along the line were tilted and left in a slanting position on the sloping + surface between the two parts of the earth's crust. They saw no reason to + stop growing, but, turning their tips toward the sky, they bravely pushed + upward. Thus they preserve in a striking way the record of this recent + movement of the earth's crust. + </p> + <p> + Volcanoes as well as earth movements have occurred on a grand scale within + a few hundred years in the cordillera. Even where there is today no + visible volcanic activity, recent eruptions have left traces as fresh as + if they had occurred but yesterday. On the borders of the Grand Canyon of + the Colorado one can see not only fresh cones of volcanic ash but lava + which has poured over the edges of the cliffs and hardened while in the + act of flowing. From Orizaba and Popocatepetl in Mexico through Mount San + Francisco in Arizona, Lassen Peak and Mount Shasta in California, Mount + Rainier with its glaciers in the Cascade Range of Washington, and Mount + Wrangell in Alaska, the cordillera contains an almost unbroken chain of + great volcanoes. All are either active at present or have been active + within very recent times. In 1912 Mount Katmai, near the northwestern end + of the volcanic chain, erupted so violently that it sent dust around the + whole world. The presence of the dust caused brilliant sunsets second only + to those due to Krakatoa in 1883. It also cut off so much sunlight that + the effect was felt in measurements made by the Smithsonian Institution in + the French provinces of North Africa. In earlier times, throughout the + length of the cordillera great masses of volcanic material were poured out + to form high plateaus like those of southern Mexico or of the Columbia + River in Oregon. In Utah some of these have been lifted up so that heavy + caps of lava now form isolated sheets topping lofty plateaus. There the + lowland shepherds drive their sheep in summer and live in absolute + isolation for months at a time. There, as everywhere, the cordillera bears + the marks of mountains in the making, while the mountains of eastern + America bear the marks of those that were made when the world was young. + </p> + <p> + The geysers and hot springs of the Yellowstone are another proof of recent + volcanic activity. They owe their existence to hot rocks which lie only a + little way below the surface and which not long ago were molten lava. The + terraces and platforms built by the geysers are another evidence that the + cordillera is a region where the surface of the earth is still being + shaped into new forms by forces acting from within. The physical features + of the country are still in process of construction. + </p> + <p> + In spite of the importance of the constructive forces which are still + building up the mountains, much of the finest scenery of the cordillera is + due to the destructive forces of erosion. The majestic Columbia Canyon, + like others of its kind, is the work of running water. Glaciers also have + done their part. During the glacial period the forces which control the + paths of storms did not give to the cordillera region such an abundance of + snow as was sifted down upon Laurentia. Therefore no such huge continental + glaciers have flowed out over millions of square miles of lower country. + Nevertheless among the mountains themselves the ice gouged and scraped and + smoothed and at its lower edges deposited great moraines. Its work today + makes the cliffs and falls of the Yosemite one of the world's most famous + bits of scenery. This scenery is young and its beauty will pass in a short + time as geology counts the years, for in natural scenery as in human life + it is youth that makes beauty. The canyons, waterfalls, and geysers of the + cordillera share their youth with the lakes, waterfalls, and rapids due to + recent glaciation in the east. Nevertheless, though youth is the condition + of most striking beauty, maturity and old age are the condition of + greatest usefulness. The young cordillera with its mountains still in the + making can support only a scanty population, whereas the old eastern + mountains, with the lines of long life engraved upon every feature, open + their arms to man and let him live and prosper. + </p> + <p> + It is not enough that we should picture merely the four divisions of the + land of our continent. We must see how the land meets the sea. In low + latitudes in both the Old World and the New, the continents have tended to + emerge farther and farther from the sea during recent geological times. + Hence on the eastern side of both North and South America from New Jersey + to Brazil the ocean is bordered for the most part by coastal plains, + uplifted from the sea only a short time ago. On the mountainous western + side of both continents, however, the sea bottom shelves downward so + steeply that its emergence does not give rise to a plain but merely to a + steep slope on which lie a series of old beaches several hundred and even + one thousand feet above the present shore line. Such conditions are not + favorable to human progress. The coastal plains produced by uplift of the + land may be fertile and may furnish happy homes for man, but they do not + permit ready access to the sea because they have no harbors. The chief + harbor of Mexico at Vera Cruz is merely a little nick in the coast-line + and could never protect a great fleet, even with the help of its + breakwater. Where an enterprising city like Los Angeles lies on the + uplifted Pacific coast, it must spend millions in wresting a harbor from + the very jaws of the sea. + </p> + <p> + In high latitudes in all parts of the world the land has recently been + submerged beneath the sea. In some places, especially those like the + coasts of Virginia and central California which lie in middle latitudes, a + recent slight submergence has succeeded a previous large emergence. + Wherever such sinking of the land has taken place, it has given rise to + countless bays, gulfs, capes, islands, and fiords. The ocean water has + entered the valleys and has drowned their lower parts. It has surrounded + the bases of hills and left them as islands; it has covered low valleys + and has created long sounds where traffic may pass with safety even in + great storms. Though much land has thus been lost which would be good for + agriculture, commerce has been wonderfully stimulated. Through Long Island + Sound there pass each day hundreds of boats which again and again would + suffer distress and loss if they were not protected from the open sea. It + is no accident that of the eight largest metropolitan districts in the + United States five have grown up on the shores of deep inlets which are + due to the drowning of valleys. + </p> + <p> + Nor must the value of scenery be forgotten in a survey such as this. Year + by year we are learning that in this restless, strenuous American life of + ours vacations are essential. We are learning, too, that the love of + beauty is one of Nature's greatest healers. Regions like the coast of + Maine and Puget Sound, where rugged land and life-giving ocean interlock, + are worth untold millions because of their inspiring beauty. It is indeed + marvelous that in the latitude of the northern United States and southern + Canada so many circumstances favorable to human happiness are combined. + Fertile soil, level plains, easy passage across the mountains, coal, iron, + and other metals imbedded in the rocks, and a stimulating climate, all + shower their blessings upon man. And with all these blessings goes the + advantage of a coast which welcomes the mariner and brings the stimulus of + foreign lands, while at the same time it affords rest and inspiration to + the toilers here at home. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV. THE GARMENT OF VEGETATION + </h2> + <p> + No part of the world can be truly understood without a knowledge of its + garment of vegetation, for this determines not only the nature of the + animal inhabitants but also the occupations of the majority of human + beings. Although the soil has much to do with the character of vegetation, + climate has infinitely more. It is temperature which causes the moss and + lichens of the barren tundras in the far north to be replaced by orchids, + twining vines, and mahogany trees near the equator. It is rainfall which + determines that vigorous forests shall grow in the Appalachians in + latitudes where grasslands prevail in the plains and deserts in the + western cordillera. + </p> + <p> + Forests, grass-lands, deserts, represent the three chief types of + vegetation on the surface of the earth. Each is a response to certain + well-defined conditions of climate. Forests demand an abundance of + moisture throughout the entire season of growth. Where this season lasts + only three months the forest is very different from where it lasts twelve. + But no forest can be vigorous if the ground habitually becomes dry for a + considerable period during which the weather is warm enough for growth. + Desert vegetation, on the other hand, which consists primarily of bushes + with small, drought-resistant leaves, needs only a few irregular and + infrequent showers in order to endure long periods of heat and drought. + Discontinuity of moisture is the cause of deserts, just as continuity is + the necessary condition of forest growth. Grasses prevail where the + climatic conditions are intermediate between those of the forest and the + desert. Their primary requisite is a short period of fairly abundant + moisture with warmth enough to ripen their seeds. Unlike the trees of the + forests, they thrive even though the wet period be only a fraction of the + entire time that is warm enough for growth. Unlike the bushes of the + desert, they rarely thrive unless the ground is well soaked for at least a + few weeks. Most people think of forests as offering far more variety than + either deserts or grass-lands. To them grass is just grass, while trees + seem to possess individuality. In reality, however, the short turfy grass + of the far north differs from the four-foot fronds of the bunchy saccaton + grass of Arizona, and from the far taller tufts of the plumed pampas + grass, much more than the pine tree differs from the palm. Deserts vary + even more than either forests or grass-lands. The traveler in the Arizona + desert, for example, has been jogging across a gravelly plain studded at + intervals of a few yards with little bushes a foot high. The scenery is so + monotonous and the noon sunshine so warm that he almost falls asleep. When + he wakes from his daydream, so weird are his surroundings that he thinks + he must be in one of the places to which Sindbad was carried by the roc. + The trail has entered an open forest of joshuas, as the big tree yuccas + are called in Arizona. Their shaggy trunks and uncouth branches are + rendered doubly unkempt by swordlike, ashy-yellow dead leaves that double + back on the trunk but refuse to fall to the ground. At a height of from + twelve to twenty feet each arm of the many-branched candelabrum ends in a + stiff rosette of gray-green spiky leaves as tough as hemp. Equally bizarre + and much more imposing is a desert "stand" of giant suhuaros, great fluted + tree-cacti thirty feet or more high. In spite of their size the suhuaros + are desert types as truly as is sagebrush. + </p> + <p> + In America the most widespread type of forest is the evergreen coniferous + woodland of the north. Its pines, firs, spruces, hemlocks, and cedars + which are really junipers, cover most of Canada together with northern New + England and the region south of Lakes Huron and Superior. At its northern + limit the forest looks thoroughly forlorn. The gnarled and stunted trees + are thickly studded with half-dead branches bent down by the weight of + snow, so that the lower ones sweep the ground, while the upper look tired + and discouraged from their struggle with an inclement climate. Farther + south, however, the forest loses this aspect of terrific struggle. In + Maine, for example, it gives a pleasant impression of comfortable + prosperity. Wherever the trees have room to grow, they are full and + stocky, and even where they are crowded together their slender upspringing + trunks look alert and energetic. The signs of death and decay, indeed, + appear everywhere in fallen trunks, dead branches, and decayed masses of + wood, but moss and lichens, twinflowers and bunchberries so quickly mantle + the prostrate trees that they do not seem like tokens of weakness. Then, + too, in every open space thousands of young trees bank their soft green + masses so gracefully that one has an ever-present sense of pleased + surprise as he comes upon this younger foliage out of the dim aisles among + the bigger trees. + </p> + <p> + Except on their southern borders the great northern forests are not good + as a permanent home for man. The snow lies so late in the spring and the + summers are so short and cool that agriculture does not prosper. As a home + for the fox, marten, weasel, beaver, and many other fur-bearing animals, + however, the coniferous forests are almost ideal. That is why the Hudson's + Bay Company is one of the few great organizations which have persisted and + prospered from colonial times to the present. As long ago as 1670 Charles + II granted to Prince Rupert and seventeen noblemen and gentlemen a charter + so sweeping that, aside from their own powers of assimilation, there was + almost no limit to what the "Governor and Company of Adventurers of + England trading into Hudson's Bay" might acquire. By 1749, nearly eighty + years after the granting of the charter, however, the Company had only + four or five forts on the coast of Hudson Bay, with about 120 regular + employees. Nevertheless the poor Indians were so ignorant of the value of + their furs and the consequent profits were so large that, after Canada had + been ceded to Great Britain in 1763, a rival organization, the Northwest + Fur Company of Montreal, was established. Then there began an era that was + truly terrible for the Indians of the northern forest. In their eagerness + to get the valuable furs the companies offered the Indians strong liquors + in an abundance that ruined the poor red man, body and soul. Moreover the + fur-bearing animals were killed not only in winter but during the breeding + season. Many mother animals were shot and their little ones were left to + die. Hence in a short time the wild creatures of the great northern forest + were so scarce that the Indians well-nigh starved. + </p> + <p> + In spite of this slaughter of fur-bearing animals, the same Company still + draws fat dividends from the northern forest and its furry inhabitants. If + the forest had been more habitable, it would long ago have been occupied + by settlers, as have its warmer, southern portions, and the Company would + have ceased to exist. Aside from the regions too cold or too dry to + support any vegetation whatever, few parts of the world are more deadening + to civilization than the forests of the far north. Near the northern limit + of the great evergreen forest of North America wild animals are so rare + that a family of hunting Indians can scarcely find a living in a thousand + square miles. Today the voracious maw of the daily newspaper is eating the + spruce and hemlock by means of relentless saws and rattling pulp-mills. In + the wake of the lumbermen settlers are tardily spreading northward from + the more favored tracts in northern New England and southern Canada. + Nevertheless most of the evergreen forests of the north must always remain + the home of wild animals and trappers, a backward region in which it is + easy for a great fur company to maintain a practical monopoly. + </p> + <p> + Outliers of the pine forest extend far down into the United States. The + easternmost lies in part along the Appalachians and in part along the + coastal plain from southern New Jersey to Texas. The coastal forest is + unlike the other coniferous forests in two respects, for its distribution + and growth are not limited by long winters but by sandy soil which quickly + becomes dry. This drier southern pine forest lacks the beauty of its + northern companion. Its trees are often tall and stately, but they are + usually much scattered and are surrounded by stretches of scanty grass. + There is no trace of the mossy carpet and dense copses of undergrowth that + add so much to the picturesqueness of the forests farther north. The + unkempt half-breed or Indian hunter is replaced by the prosaic gatherer of + turpentine. As the man of the southern forests shuffles along in blue or + khaki overalls and carries his buckets from tree to tree, he seems a dull + figure contrasted with the active northern hunter who glides swiftly and + silently from trap to trap on his rawhide snowshoes. Yet though the + southern pine forest may be less picturesque than the northern, it is more + useful to man. In spite of its sandy soil, much of this forest land is + being reclaimed, and all will some day probably be covered by farms. + </p> + <p> + Two other outliers of the northern evergreen forest extend southward along + the cool heights of the Rocky Mountains and of the Pacific coast ranges of + the United States. In the Olympic and Sierra Nevada ranges the most + western outlier of this northern band of vegetation probably contains the + most inspiring forests of the world. There grow the vigorous Oregon pines, + firs, and spruces, and the still more famous Big Trees or sequoias. High + on the sides of the Sierra above the yuccas, the live oaks, and the + deciduous forest of the lower slopes, one meets these Big Trees. To come + upon them suddenly after a long, rough tramp over the sunny lower slopes + is the experience of a lifetime. Upward the great trees rise sheer one + hundred feet without a branch. The huge fluted trunks encased in soft, red + bark six inches or a foot thick are more impressive than the columns of + the grandest cathedral. It seems irreverent to speak above a whisper. Each + tree is a new wonder. One has to walk around it and study it to appreciate + its enormous size. Where a tree chances to stand isolated so that one can + see its full majesty, the sense of awe is tempered by the feeling that in + spite of their size the trees have a beauty all their own. Lifted to such + heights, the branches appear to be covered with masses of peculiarly soft + and rounded foliage like the piled-up banks of a white cumulus cloud + before a thunderstorm. At the base of such a tree the eye is caught by the + sharp, triangular outline of one of its young progeny. The lower branches + sweep the ground. The foliage is harsh and rough. In almost no other + species of trees is there such a change from comparatively ungraceful + youth to a superbly beautiful old age. + </p> + <p> + The second great type of American forest is deciduous. The trees have + broad leaves quite unlike the slender needles or overlapping scales of the + northern evergreens. Each winter such forests shed their leaves. Among the + mountains where the frosts come suddenly, the blaze of glory and + brilliance of color which herald the shedding of the leaves are surpassed + in no other part of the world. Even the colors of the Painted Desert in + northern Arizona and the wonderful flowers of the California plains are + less pleasing. In the Painted Desert the patches of red, yellow, + gray-blue, white, pale green, and black have a garish, almost repellent + appearance. In California the flame-colored acres of poppies in some + places, of white or yellow daisylike flowers in others, or of purple + blossoms elsewhere have a softer expression than the bare soil of the + desert. Yet they lack the delicate blending and harmony of colors which is + the greatest charm of the autumn foliage in the deciduous forests. Even + where the forests consist of such trees as birches, beeches, aspens, or + sycamores, whose leaves merely turn yellow in the fall, the contrast + between this color and the green tint of summer or the bare branches of + winter adds a spice of variety which is lacking in other and more + monotonous forests. + </p> + <p> + From still other points of view the deciduous forest has an almost + unequaled degree of variety. In one place it consists of graceful little + birches whose white trunks shimmering in the twilight form just the + background for ghosts. Contrast them with the oak forest half a mile away. + There the sense of gracefulness gives place to a feeling of strength. The + lines are no longer vertical but horizontal. The knotted elbows of the + branches recall the keels of sturdy merchantmen of bygone days. The acorns + under foot suggest food for the herds of half-wild pigs which roam among + the trees in many a southern county. Of quite another type are the stately + forests of the Appalachians where splendid magnolia and tulip trees spread + their broad limbs aloft at heights of one hundred feet or more. + </p> + <p> + Deciduous forests grow in the well-balanced regions where summer and + winter approach equality, where neither is unduly long, and where neither + is subject to prolonged drought. They extend southward from central New + England, the Great Lakes, and Minnesota, to Mississippi, Arkansas, and + eastern Texas. They predominate even in parts of such prairie States as + Michigan, Indiana, southern Illinois, and southeastern Missouri. No part + of the continent is more populous or more progressive than the regions + once covered by deciduous forests. In the United States nearly sixty per + cent of the inhabitants live in areas reclaimed from such forests. Yet the + area of the forests is less than a quarter of the three million square + miles that make up the United States. + </p> + <p> + In their relation to human life the forests of America differ far more + than do either grass-lands or deserts. In the far north, as we have seen, + the pine forests furnish one of the least favorable environments. In + middle latitudes the deciduous forests go to the opposite extreme and + furnish the most highly favored of the homes of man. Still farther + southward the increasing luxuriance of the forests, especially along the + Atlantic coast, renders them less and less favorable to mankind. In + southern Mexico and Yucatan the stately equatorial rain forest, the most + exuberant of all types of vegetation and the most unconquerable by man, + makes its appearance. It forms a discontinuous belt along the wet east + coast and on the lower slopes of the mountains from southern Yucatan to + Venezuela. Then it is interrupted by the grasslands of the Orinoco, but + revives again in still greater magnificence in the Guianas. Thence it + stretches not only along the coast but far into the little known interior + of the Great Amazon basin, while southward it borders all the coast as far + as southern Brazil. In the Amazon basin it reaches its highest development + and becomes the crowning glory of the vegetable world, the most baffling + obstacle to human progress. + </p> + <p> + Except in its evil effects on man, the equatorial rain forest is the + antithesis of the forests of the extreme north. The equatorial trees are + hardwood giants, broad leaved, bright flowered, and often fruit-bearing. + The northern trees are softwood dwarfs, needle-leaved, flowerless, and + cone-bearing. The equatorial trees are often branchless for one hundred + feet, but spread at the top into a broad overarching canopy which shuts + out the sun perpetually. The northern trees form sharp little pyramids + with low, widely spreading branches at the base and only short twigs at + the top. In the equatorial forests there is almost no underbrush. The + animals, such as monkeys, snakes, parrots, and brilliant insects, live + chiefly in the lofty treetops. In the northern forests there is almost + nothing except underbrush, and the foxes, rabbits, weasels, ptarmigans, + and mosquitoes live close to the ground in the shelter of the branches. + Both forests are alike, however, in being practically uninhabited by man. + Each is peopled only by primitive nomadic hunters who stand at the very + bottom in the scale of civilization. + </p> + <p> + Aside from the rain forest there are two other types in tropical countries—jungle + and scrub. The distinction between rain forest, jungle, and scrub is due + to the amount and the season of rainfall. An understanding of this + distinction not only explains many things in the present condition of + Latin America but also in the history of pre-Columbian Central America. + Forests, as we have seen, require that the ground be moist throughout + practically the whole of the season that is warm enough for growth. Since + the warm season lasts throughout the year within the tropics, dense + forests composed of uniformly large trees corresponding to our oaks, + maples, and beeches will not thrive unless the ground is wet most of the + time. Of course there may be no rain for a few weeks, but there must be no + long and regularly recurrent periods of drought. Smaller trees and such + species as the cocoanut palm are much less exacting and will flourish even + if there is a dry period of several months. Still smaller, bushy species + will thrive even when the rainfall lasts only two or three months. Hence + where the rainy season lasts most of the year, rain forest prevails; where + the rainy and dry seasons do not differ greatly in length, tropical jungle + is the dominant growth; and where the rainy season is short and the dry + season long, the jungle degenerates into scrub or bush. + </p> + <p> + The relation of scrub, jungle, and rain forest is well illustrated in + Yucatan, where the ancient Mayas reared their stately temples. On the + northern coast the annual rainfall is only ten or fifteen inches and is + concentrated largely in our summer months. There the country is covered + with scrubby bushes six to ten feet high. These are beautifully green + during the rainy season from June to October, but later in the year lose + almost all their leaves. The landscape would be much like that of a thick, + bushy pasture in the United States at the same season, were it not that in + the late winter and early spring some of the bushes bear brilliant red, + yellow, or white flowers. As one goes inland from the north coast of + Yucatan the rainfall increases. The bushes become taller and denser, trees + twenty feet high become numerous, and many rise thirty or forty feet or + even higher. This is the jungle. Its smaller portions suggest a second + growth of timber in the deciduous forests of the United States fifteen or + twenty years after the cutting of the original forest, but here there is + much more evidence of rapid growth. A few species of bushes and trees may + remain green throughout the year, but during the dry season most of the + jungle plants lose their leaves, at least in part. + </p> + <p> + With every mile that one advances into the more rainy interior, the jungle + becomes greener and fresher, the density of the lower growths increases, + and the proportion of large trees becomes greater until finally jungle + gives place to genuine forest. There many of the trees remain green + throughout the year. They rise to heights of fifty or sixty feet even on + the borders of their province, and at the top form a canopy so thick that + the ground is shady most of the time. Even in the drier part of the year + when some of the leaves have fallen, the rays of the sun scarcely reach + the ground until nine or ten o'clock in the morning. Even at high noon the + sunlight straggles through only in small patches. Long, sinuous lianas, + often queerly braided, hang down from the trees; epiphytes and various + parasitic growths add their strange green and red to the complex variety + of vegetation. Young palms grow up almost in a day and block a trail which + was hewn out with much labor only a few months before. Wherever the death + of old trees forms an opening, a thousand seedlings begin a fierce race to + reach the light. Everywhere the dominant note is intensely vigorous life, + rapid growth, and quick decay. + </p> + <p> + In their effect on man, the three forms of tropical forest are very + different. In the genuine rain forest agriculture is almost impossible. + Not only does the poor native find himself baffled in the face of Nature, + but the white man is equally at a loss. Many things combine to produce + this result. Chief among them are malaria and other tropical diseases. + When a few miles of railroad were being built through a strip of tropical + forest along the coast of eastern Guatemala, it was impossible to keep the + laborers more than twenty days at a time; indeed, unless they were sent + away at the end of three weeks, they were almost sure to be stricken with + virulent malarial fevers from which many died. An equally potent enemy of + agriculture is the vegetation itself. Imagine the difficulty of + cultivating a garden in a place where the weeds grow all the time and + where many of them reach a height of ten or twenty feet in a single year. + Perhaps there are people in the world who might cultivate such a region + and raise marvelous crops, but they are not the indolent people of + tropical America; and it is in fact doubtful whether any kind of people + could live permanently in the tropical forest and retain energy enough to + carry on cultivation. Nowhere in the world is there such steady, damp heat + as in these shadowy, windless depths far below the lofty tops of the rain + forest. Nowhere is there greater disinclination to work than among the + people who dwell in this region. Consequently in the vast rain forests of + the Amazon basin and in similar small forests as far north as Central + America, there are today practically no inhabitants except a mere handful + of the poorest and most degraded people in the world. Yet in ancient times + the northern border of the rain forest was the seat of America's most + advanced civilization. The explanation of this contradiction will appear + later. * + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * See Chapter 5, Aztecs. +</pre> + <p> + Tropical jungle borders the rain forest all the way from southern Mexico + to southern Brazil. It treats man far better than does the rain forest. In + marked contrast to its more stately neighbor, it contains abundant game. + Wild fruits ripen at almost all seasons. A few banana plants and palm + trees will well-nigh support a family. If corn is planted in a clearing, + the return is large in proportion to the labor. So long as the population + is not too dense, life is so easy that there is little to stimulate + progress. Hence, although the people of the jungle are fairly numerous, + they have never played much part in history. Far more important is the + role of those living in the tropical lands where scrub is the prevailing + growth. In our day, for example, few tropical lowlands are more + progressive than the narrow coastal strip of northern Yucatan. There on + the border between jungle and scrub the vegetation does not thrive + sufficiently to make life easy for the chocolate-colored natives. Effort + is required if they would make a living, yet the effort is not so great as + to be beyond the capacity of the indolent people of the tropics. + </p> + <p> + Leaving the forests, let us step out into the broad, breezy grass-lands. + One would scarcely expect that a journey poleward out of the forest of + northern Canada would lead to an improvement in the conditions of human + life, yet such is the case. Where the growing season becomes so short that + even the hardiest trees disappear, grassy tundras replace the forest. By + furnishing food for such animals as the musk-ox, they are a great help to + the handful of scattered Indians who dwell on the northern edge of the + forest. In summer, when the animals grow fat on the short nutritious + grass, the Indians follow them out into the open country and hunt them + vigorously for food and skins to sustain life through the long dreary + winter. In many cases the hunters would advance much farther into the + grass-lands were it not that the abundant musk-oxen tempt the Eskimo of + the seacoast also to leave their homes and both sides fear bloody + encounters. + </p> + <p> + With the growth of civilization the advantage of the northern grass-lands + over the northern forests becomes still more apparent. The domestic + reindeer is beginning to replace the wild musk-ox. The reindeer people, + like the Indian and Eskimo hunters, must be nomadic. Nevertheless their + mode of life permits them to live in much greater numbers and on a much + higher plane of civilization than the hunters. Since they hunt the + furbearing animals in the neighboring forests during the winter, they + diminish the food supply of the hunters who dwell permanently in the + forest, and thus make their life still more difficult. The northern + forests bid fair to decline in population rather than increase. In this + New World of ours, strange as it may seem, the almost uninhabited forest + regions of the far north and of the equator are probably more than twice + as large as the desert areas with equally sparse population. + </p> + <p> + South of the tundras the grass-lands have a still greater advantage over + the forests. In the forest region of the Laurentian highland abundant snow + lasts far into the spring and keeps the ground so wet and cold that no + crops can be raised. Moreover, because of the still greater abundance of + snow in former times, the largest of ice sheets, as we have seen, + accumulated there during the Glacial Period and scraped away most of the + soil. The grassy plains, on the contrary, are favored not only by a deep, + rich soil, much of which was laid down by the ice, but by the relative + absence of snow in winter and the consequent rapidity with which the + ground becomes warm in the spring. Hence the Canadian plains from the + United States boundary northward to latitude 57 degrees contain a + prosperous agricultural population of over a million people, while the far + larger forested areas in the same latitude support only a few thousand. + </p> + <p> + The question is often asked why, in a state of nature, trees are so scarce + on the prairies—in Iowa, for instance—although they thrive + when planted. In answer we are often told that up to the middle of the + nineteenth century such vast herds of buffaloes roamed the prairies that + seedling trees could never get a chance to grow. It is also said that + prairie fires sweeping across the plains destroyed the little trees + whenever they sprouted. Doubtless the buffaloes and the fires helped to + prevent forest growth, but another factor appears to be still more + important. All the States between the Mississippi River and the Rocky + Mountains receive much more rain in summer than in winter. But as the soil + is comparatively dry in the spring when the trees begin their growth, they + are handicapped. They could grow if nothing else interfered with them, + just as peas will grow in a garden if the weeds are kept out. If peas, + however, are left uncared for, the weeds gain the upper hand and there are + no peas the second year. If the weeds are left to contend with grass, the + grass in the end prevails. In the eastern forest region, if the grass be + left to itself, small trees soon spring up in its midst. In half a century + a field of grass goes back to forest because trees are especially favored + by the climate. In the same way in the prairies, grass is especially + favored, for it is not weakened by the spring drought, and it grows + abundantly until it forms the wonderful stretches of waving green where + the buffalo once grew fat. Moreover the fine glacial soil of the prairies + is so clayey and compact that the roots of trees cannot easily penetrate + it. Since grasses send their roots only into the more friable upper layers + of soil, they possess another great advantage over the trees. + </p> + <p> + Far to the south of the prairies lie the grass-lands of tropical America, + of which the Banos of the Orinoco furnish a good example. Almost + everywhere their plumed grasses have been left to grow undisturbed by the + plough, and even grazing animals are scarce. These extremely flat plains + are flooded for months in the rainy season from May to October and are + parched in the dry season that follows. As trees cannot endure such + extremes, grasses are the prevailing growth. Elsewhere the nature of the + soil causes many other grassy tracts to be scattered among the tropical + jungle and forest. Trees are at a disadvantage both in porous, sandy + soils, where the water drains away too rapidly, and in clayey soil, where + it is held so long that the ground is saturated for weeks or months at a + time. South of the tropical portion of South America the vast pampas of + Argentina closely resemble the North American prairies and the drier + plains to the west of them. Grain in the east and cattle in the west are + fast causing the disappearance of those great tussocks of tufted grasses + eight or nine feet high which hold among grasses a position analogous to + that of the Big Trees of California among trees of lower growth. + </p> + <p> + It is often said that America has no real deserts. This is true in the + sense that there are no regions such as are found in Asia and Africa where + one can travel a hundred miles at a stretch and scarcely see a sign of + vegetation-nothing but barren gravel, graceful wavy sand dunes, hard + wind-swept clay, or still harder rock salt broken into rough blocks with + upturned edges. In the broader sense of the term, however, America has an + abundance of deserts—regions which bear a thin cover of bushy + vegetation but are too dry for agriculture without irrigation. On the + north such deserts begin in southern Canada where a dry region abounding + in small salt lakes lies at the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains. In + the United States the deserts lie almost wholly between the Sierra Nevada + and the Rocky Mountain ranges, which keep out any moisture that might come + from either the west or the east. Beginning on the north with the + sagebrush plateau of southern Washington, the desert expands to a width of + seven hundred miles in the gray, sage-covered basins of Nevada and Utah. + In southern California and Arizona the sage-brush gives place to smaller + forms like the saltbush, and the desert assumes a sterner aspect. Next + comes the cactus desert extending from Arizona far south into Mexico. One + of the notable features of the desert is the extreme heat of certain + portions. Close to the Nevada border in southern California, Death Valley, + 250 feet below sea-level, is the hottest place in America. There alone + among the American regions familiar to the writer does one have that + feeling of intense, overpowering aridity which prevails so often in the + deserts of Arabia and Central Asia. Some years ago a Weather Bureau + thermometer was installed in Death Valley at Furnace Creek, where the only + flowing water in more than a hundred miles supports a depressing little + ranch. There one or two white men, helped by a few Indians, raise alfalfa, + which they sell at exorbitant prices to deluded prospectors searching for + riches which they never find. Though the terrible heat ruins the health of + the white men in a year or two, so that they have to move away, they have + succeeded in keeping a thermometer record for some years. No other + properly exposed, out-of-door thermometer in the United States, or perhaps + in the world, is so familiar with a temperature of 100 degrees F. or more. + During the period of not quite fifteen hundred days from the spring of + 1911 to May, 1915, a maximum temperature of 100 degrees F. or more was + reached on five hundred and forty-eight days, or more than one-third of + the time. On July 10, 1913, the mercury rose to 134 degrees F. and touched + the top of the tube. How much higher it might have gone no one can tell. + That day marks the limit of temperature yet reached in this country + according to official records. In the summer of 1914 there was one night + when the thermometer dropped only to 114 degrees F., having been 128 + degrees F. at noon. The branches of a peppertree whose roots had been + freshly watered wilted as a flower wilts when broken from the stalk. + </p> + <p> + East and south of Death Valley lies the most interesting section of the + American desert, the so-called succulent desert of southern Arizona and + northern Mexico. There in greatest profusion grow the cacti, perhaps the + latest and most highly specialized of all the great families of plants. + There occur such strange scenes as the "forests" of suhuaros, whose giant + columns have already been described. Their beautiful crowns of large white + flowers produce a fruit which is one of the mainstays of the Papagos and + other Indians of the regions. In this same region the yucca is highly + developed, and its tall stalks of white or greenish flowers make the + desert appear like a flower garden. In fact this whole desert, thanks to + light rains in summer as well as winter, appears extraordinarily green and + prosperous. Its fair appearance has deceived many a poor settler who has + vainly tried to cultivate it. + </p> + <p> + Farther south the deserts of America are largely confined to plateaus like + those of Mexico and Peru or to basins sheltered on all sides from + rain-bearing winds. In such basins the suddenness of the transition from + one type of vegetation to another is astonishing. In Guatemala, for + instance, the coast is bordered by thick jungle which quickly gives place + to magnificent rain forest a few miles inland. This continues two or three + score miles from the coast until a point is reached where mountains begin + to obstruct the rain-bearing trade-winds. At once the rain forest gives + place to jungle; in a few miles jungle in its turn is replaced by scrub; + and shortly the scrub degenerates to mere desert bush. Then in another + fifty miles one rises to the main plateau passing once more through scrub. + This time the scrub gives place to grass-lands diversified by deciduous + trees and pines which give the country a distinctly temperate aspect. On + such plateaus the chief civilization of the tropical Latin-American + countries now centers. In the past, however, the plateaus were far + surpassed by the Maya lowlands of Yucatan and Guatemala. + </p> + <p> + We are wont to think of deserts as places where the plants are of few + kinds and not much crowded. As a matter of fact, an ordinary desert + supports a much greater variety of plants than does either a forest or a + prairie. The reason is simple. Every desert contains wet spots near + springs or in swamps. Such places abound with all sorts of water-loving + plants. The deserts also contain a few valleys where the larger streams + keep the ground moist at all seasons. In such places the variety of trees + is as great as in many forests. Moreover almost all deserts have short + periods of abundant moisture. + </p> + <p> + At such times the seeds of all sorts of little annual plants, including + grasses, daisies, lupines, and a host of others, sprout quickly, and give + rise to a carpet of vegetation as varied and beautiful as that of the + prairie. Thus the desert has not only its own peculiar bushes and + succulents but many of the products of vegetation in swamps, grasslands, + and forests. Though much of the ground is bare in the desert, the plants + are actually crowded together as closely as possible. The showers of such + regions are usually so brief that they merely wet the surface. At a depth + of a foot or more the soil of many deserts never becomes moist from year's + end to year's end. It is useless for plants to send their roots deep down + under such circumstances, for they might not reach water for a hundred + feet. Their only recourse is to spread horizontally. The farther they + spread, the more water they can absorb after the scanty showers. Hence the + plants of the desert throttle one another by extending their roots + horizontally, just as those of the forest kill one another by springing + rapidly upward and shutting out the light. + </p> + <p> + Vegetation, whether in forests, grasslands, or deserts, is the primary + source of human sustenance. Without it man would perish miserably; and + where it is deficient, he cannot rise to great heights in the scale of + civilization. Yet strangely enough the scantiness of the vegetation of the + deserts was a great help in the ascent of man. Only in dry regions could + primitive man compete with nature in fostering the right kind of + vegetation. In such regions arose the nations which first practised + agriculture. There man became comparatively civilized while his + contemporaries were still nomadic hunters in the grasslands and the + forests. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V. THE RED MAN IN AMERICA + </h2> + <p> + When the white man first explored America, the parts of the continent that + had made most progress were by no means those that are most advanced + today. * None of the inhabitants, to be sure, had risen above barbarism. + Yet certain nations or tribes had advanced much higher than others. There + was a great contrast, for example, between the well-organized barbarians + of Peru and the almost completely unorganized Athapascan savages near + Hudson Bay. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * In the present chapter most of the facts as to the Indians +north of Mexico are taken from the admirable "Handbook of American +Indians North of Mexico," edited by F. W. Hodge, Smithsonian +Institution, Bureau of Ethnology, Bulletin 30, Washington, 1907, two +volumes. In summing up the character and achievements of the Indians +I have drawn also on other sources, but have everywhere taken pains +to make no statements which are not abundantly supported by this +authoritative publication. In some cases I have not hesitated to +paraphrase considerable portions of its articles. +</pre> + <p> + In the northern continent aboriginal America reached its highest + development in three typical environments. The first of these regions + centered in the valley of Mexico where dwelt the Aztecs, but it extended + as far north as the Pueblos in Arizona and New Mexico. The special feature + of the environment was the relatively dry, warm climate with the chief + rainfall in summer. The Indians living in this environment were notable + for their comparatively high social organization and for religious + ceremonials whose elaborateness has rarely been surpassed. On the whole, + the people of this summer rain or Mexican type were not warlike and + offered little resistance to European conquest. Some tribes, to be sure, + fought fiercely at first, but yielded within a few years; the rest + submitted to the lordly Spaniards almost without a murmur. Their + civilization, if such we may call it, had long ago seen its best days. The + period of energy and progress had passed, and a time of inertia and decay + had set in. A century after the Spaniards had overcome the aborigines of + Mexico, other Europeans—French, English, and Dutch—came into + contact with a sturdier type of red man, best represented by the Iroquois + or Five Nations of central New York. This more active type dwelt in a + physical environment notable for two features—the abundance of + cyclonic storms bringing rain or snow at all seasons and the deciduous + forest which thickly covered the whole region. Unlike the Mexican, the + civilization of the Iroquois was young, vigorous, and growing. It had not + learned to express itself in durable architectural forms like those of + Mexico, nor could it rival the older type in social and religious + organization. In political organization, however, the Five Nations had + surpassed the other aboriginal peoples of North America. When the white + man became acquainted with the Iroquois in the seventeenth century, he + found five of their tribes organized into a remarkable confederation whose + avowed object was to abolish war among themselves and to secure to all the + members the peaceful exercise of their rights and privileges. So well was + the confederation organized that, in spite of war with its enemies, it + persisted for at least two hundred years. One of the chief characteristics + of the Iroquois was their tremendous energy. They were so energetic that + they pursued their enemies with an implacable relentlessness similar to + the restless eagerness with which the people of the region from New York + to Chicago now pursue their business enterprises. This led the Iroquois to + torture their prisoners with the utmost ingenuity and cruelty. Not only + did the savages burn and mutilate their captives, but they sometimes added + the last refinement of torture by compelling the suffering wretches to eat + pieces of flesh cut from their own bodies. Energy may lead to high + civilization, but it may also lead to excesses of evil. The third + prominent aboriginal type was that of the fishermen of the coast of + British Columbia, especially the Haidas of the Queen Charlotte Islands. + The most important features of their environment were the submerged coast + with its easy navigation, the mild oceanic climate, and the dense pine + forests. The Haidas, like the Iroquois, appear to have been a people who + were still advancing. Such as it was, their greatness was apparently the + product of their own ingenuity and not, like that of the Mexicans, an + inheritance from a greater past. The Haidas lacked the relentless energy + of the Iroquois and shared the comparatively gentle character which + prevailed among all the Indians along the Pacific Coast. They were by no + means weaklings, however. Commercially, for instance, they seem to have + been more advanced than any North American tribe except those in the + Mexican area. In architecture they stood equally high. We are prone to + think of the Mexicans as the best architects among the aborigines, but + when the white man came even the Aztecs were merely imitating the work of + their predecessors. The Haidas, on the contrary, were showing real + originality. They had no stone with which to build, for their country is + so densely forested that stone is rarely visible. They were remarkably + skillful, however, in hewing great beams from the forest. With these they + constructed houses whose carved totem poles and graceful facades gave + promise of an architecture of great beauty. Taking into account the + difficulties presented by a material which was not durable and by tools + which were nothing but bits of stone, we must regard their totem poles and + mural decorations as real contributions to primitive architecture. + </p> + <p> + In addition to these three highest types of the red man there were many + others. Each, as we shall see, owed its peculiarities largely to the + physical surroundings in which it lived. Of course different tribes + possessed different degrees of innate ability, but the chief differences + in their habits and mode of life arose from the topography, the climate, + the plants, and the animals which formed the geographical setting of their + homes. + </p> + <p> + In previous chapters we have gained some idea of the topography of the New + World and of the climate in its relation to plants and animals. We have + also seen that climate has much to do with human energy. We have not, + however, gained a sufficiently clear idea of the distribution of climatic + energy. A map of the world showing how energy would be distributed if it + depended entirely upon climate clarifies the subject. The dark shading of + the map indicates those regions where energy is highest. It is based upon + measurements of the strength of scores of individuals, upon the scholastic + records of hundreds of college students, upon the piecework of thousands + of factory operatives, and upon millions of deaths and births in a score + of different countries. It takes account of three chief climatic + conditions—temperature, humidity, and variability. It also takes + account of mental as well as physical ability. Underneath it is a map of + the distribution of civilization on the basis of the opinion of fifty + authorities in fifteen different countries. The similarity of the two maps + is so striking that there can be little question that today the + distribution of civilization agrees closely with the distribution of + climatic energy. When Egypt, Babylonia, Greece, and Rome were at the + height of their power this agreement was presumably the same, for the + storm belt which now gives variability and hence energy to the thickly + shaded regions in our two maps then apparently lay farther south. It is + generally considered that no race has been more closely dependent upon + physical environment than were the Indians. Why, then, did the energizing + effect of climate apparently have less effect upon them than upon the + other great races? Why were not the most advanced Indian tribes found in + the same places where white civilization is today most advanced? Climatic + changes might in part account for the difference, but, although such + changes apparently took place on a large scale in earlier times, there is + no evidence of anything except minor fluctuations since the days of the + first white settlements. Racial inheritance likewise may account for some + of the differences among the various tribes, but it was probably not the + chief factor. That factor was apparently the condition of agriculture + among people who had neither iron tools nor beasts of burden. Civilization + has never made much progress except when there has been a permanent + cultivation of the ground. It has been said that "the history of + agriculture is the history of man in his most primitive and most permanent + aspect." If we examine the achievements and manner of life of the Indians + in relation to the effect of climate upon agriculture and human energy, as + well as in relation to the more obvious features of topography and + vegetation, we shall understand why the people of aboriginal America in + one part of the continent differed so greatly from those in another part. + In the far north the state of the inhabitants today is scarcely different + from what it was in the days of Columbus. Then, as now, the Eskimos had + practically no political or social organization beyond the family or the + little group of relatives who lived in a single camp. They had no + permanent villages, but moved from place to place according to the season + in search of fish, game, and birds. They lived this simple life not + because they lacked ability but because of their surroundings. Their + kayaks or canoes are marvels of ingenuity. With no materials except bones, + driftwood, and skins they made boats which fulfilled their purpose with + extraordinary perfection. Seated in the small, round hole which is the + only opening in the deck of his canoe, the Eskimo hunter ties his skin + jacket tightly outside the circular gunwale and is thus shut into a + practically water-tight compartment. Though the waves dash over him, + scarcely a drop enters the craft as he skims along with his double paddle + among cakes of floating ice. So, too, the snowhouse with its anterooms and + curved entrance passage is as clever an adaptation to the needs of + wanderers in a land of ice and snow as is the skyscraper to the needs of a + busy commercial people crowded into great cities. The fact that the + oilburning, soapstone lamps of the Eskimo were the only means of producing + artificial light in aboriginal America, except by ordinary fires, is + another tribute to the ingenuity of these northerners. So, too, is the + fire-drill by which they alone devised a means of increasing the speed + with which one stick could be twirled against another to produce fire. In + view of these clever inventions it seems safe to say that the Eskimo has + remained a nomadic savage not because he lacks inventive skill but partly + because the climate deadens his energies and still more because it forbids + him to practice agriculture. + </p> + <p> + Southward and inland from the coastal homes of the Eskimo lies the great + region of the northern pine forests. It extends from the interior of + Alaska southeastward in such a way as to include most of the Canadian + Rockies, the northern plains from Great Bear Lake almost to Lake Winnipeg, + and most of the great Laurentian shield around Hudson Bay and in the + peninsula of Labrador. Except among the inhabitants of the narrow Pacific + slope and those of the shores of Labrador and the St. Lawrence Valley, a + single type of barbarism prevailed among the Indians of all the vast pine + forest area. Only in a small section of the wheat-raising plains of + Alberta and Saskatchewan have their habits greatly changed because of the + arrival of the white man. Now as always the Indians in these northern + regions are held back by the long, benumbing winters. They cannot practice + agriculture, for no crops will grow. They cannot depend to any great + extent upon natural vegetation, for aside from blueberries, a few lichens, + and one or two other equally insignificant products, the forests furnish + no food except animals. These lowly people seem to have been so occupied + with the severe struggle with the elements that they could not even + advance out of savagery into barbarism. They were homeless nomads whose + movements were determined largely by the food supply. + </p> + <p> + Among the Athapascans who occupied all the western part of the northern + pine forests, clothing was made of deerskins with the hair left on. The + lodges were likewise of deer or caribou skins, although farther south + these were sometimes replaced by bark. The food of these tribes consisted + of caribou, deer, moose, and musk-ox together with smaller animals such as + the beaver and hare. They also ate various kinds of birds and the fish + found in the numerous lakes and rivers. They killed deer by driving them + into an angle formed by two converging rows of stakes, where they were + shot by hunters lying in wait. Among the Kawchodinne tribe near Great Bear + Lake hares were the chief source of both food and clothing. When an + unusually severe winter or some other disaster diminished the supply, the + Indians believed that the animals had mounted to the sky by means of the + trees and would return by the same way. In 1841 owing to scarcity of hares + many of this tribe died of starvation, and numerous acts of cannibalism + are said to have occurred. Small wonder that civilization was low and that + infanticide, especially of female children, was common. Among such people + women were naturally treated with a minimum of respect. Since they were + not skilled as hunters, there was relatively little which they could + contribute toward the sustenance of the family. Hence they were held in + low esteem, for among most primitive people woman is valued largely in + proportion to her economic contribution. Her low position is illustrated + by the peculiar funeral custom of the Takulli, an Athapascan tribe on the + Upper Frazer River. A widow was obliged to remain upon the funeral pyre of + her husband till the flames reached her own body. When the fire had died + down she collected the ashes of her dead and placed them in a basket, + which she was obliged to carry with her during three years of servitude in + the family of her husband. At the end of that time a feast was held, when + she was released from thraldom and permitted to remarry if she desired. + </p> + <p> + Poor and degraded as the people of the northern forests may have been, + they had their good traits. The Kutchins of the Yukon and Lower Mackenzie + regions, though they killed their female children, were exceedingly + hospitable and kept guests for months. Each head of a family took his turn + in feasting the whole band. On such occasions etiquette required the host + to fast until the guests had departed. At such feasts an interesting + wrestling game was played. First the smallest boys began to wrestle. The + victors wrestled with those next in strength and so on until finally the + strongest and freshest man in the band remained the final victor. Then the + girls and women went through the same progressive contest. It is hard to + determine whether the people of the northern pine forest were more or less + competent than their Eskimo neighbors. It perhaps makes little difference, + for it is doubtful whether even a race with brilliant natural endowments + could rise far in the scale of civilization under conditions so highly + adverse. + </p> + <p> + The Eskimos of the northern coasts and the people of the pine forests were + not the only aborigines whose development was greatly retarded because + they could not practice agriculture. All the people of the Pacific coast + from Alaska to Lower California were in similar circumstances. + Nevertheless those living along the northern part of this coast rose to a + much higher level than did those of California. This has sometimes been + supposed to show that geographical environment has little influence upon + civilization, but in reality it proves exactly the opposite. + </p> + <p> + The coast of British Columbia was one of the three chief centers of + aboriginal America. As The Encyclopaedia Britannica * puts it: "The Haida + people constituted with little doubt the finest race and that most + advanced in the arts of the entire west coast of North America." They and + their almost equally advanced Tlingit and Tsimshian neighbors on the + mainland displayed much mechanical skill, especially in canoe-building, + woodcarving, and the working of stone and copper, as well as in making + blankets and baskets. To this day they earn a considerable amount of money + by selling their carved objects of wood and slate to traders and tourists. + Their canoes were hollowed out of logs of cedar and were often very large. + Houses which were sometimes 40 by 100 feet were built of huge cedar beams + and planks, which were first worked with stone and were then put together + at great feasts. These correspond to the "raising bees" at which the + neighbors gathered to erect the frames of houses in early New England. + Each Haida house ordinarily had a single carved totem pole in the middle + of the gable end which faced toward the beach. Often the end posts in + front were also carved and the whole house was painted. Another evidence + of the fairly advanced state of the Haidas was their active commercial + intercourse with regions hundreds of miles away. At their "potlatches," as + the raising bees were called by the whites, trading went on vigorously. + Carved copper plates were among the articles which they esteemed of + highest value. Standing in the tribe depended on the possession of + property rather than on ability in war, in which respect the Haidas were + more like the people of today than were any of the other Indian tribes. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * 11th Edition, vol. XXII, p. 730. +</pre> + <p> + Slavery was common among the Haidas. Even as late as 1861, 7800 Tlingits + held 828 slaves. Slavery may not be a good institution in itself, but it + indicates that people are well-to-do, that they dwell in permanent abodes, + and that they have a well-established social order. Among the more + backward Iroquois, captives rarely became genuine slaves, for the social + and economic organization was not sufficiently developed to admit of this. + The few captives who were retained after a fight were adopted into the + tribe of the captors or else were allowed to live with them and shift for + themselves—a practice very different from that of the Haidas. + </p> + <p> + Another feature of the Haidas' life which showed comparative progress was + the social distinctions which existed among them. One of the ways in which + individuals maintained their social position was by giving away quantities + of goods of all kinds at the potlatches which they organized. A man + sometimes went so far as to strip himself of nearly every possession + except his house. In return for this, however, he obtained what seemed to + him an abundant reward in the respect with which his fellow-tribesmen + afterward regarded him. At subsequent potlatches he received in his turn a + measure of their goods in proportion to his own gifts, so that he was + sometimes richer than before. These potlatches were social as well as + industrial functions, and dancing and singing were interspersed with the + feasting. One of the amusements was a musical contest in which singers + from one tribe or band would contend with one another as to which could + remember the greatest number of songs or accurately repeat a new song + after hearing it for the first time. At the potlatches the children of + chiefs were initiated into secret societies. They had their noses, ears, + and lips pierced for ornaments, and some of them were tattooed. This great + respect for social position which the Haidas manifested is doubtless far + from ideal, but it at least indicates that a part of the tribe was + sufficiently advanced to accumulate property and to pass it on to its + descendants—a custom that is almost impossible among tribes which + move from place to place. The question suggests itself why these coast + barbarians were so much in advance of their neighbors a few hundred miles + away in the pine woods of the mountains. The climate was probably one + reason for this superiority. Instead of being in a region like the center + of the pine forests of British Columbia where human energy is sapped by + six or eight months of winter, the Haidas enjoyed conditions like those of + Scotland. Although snow fell occasionally, severe cold was unknown. Nor + was there great heat in summer. The Haidas dwelt where both bodily + strength and mental activity were stimulated. In addition to this + advantage of a favorable climate these Indians had a large and steady + supply of food close at hand. Most of their sustenance was obtained from + the sea and from the rivers, in which the runs of salmon furnished + abundant provisions, which rarely failed. In Hecate Strait, between the + Queen Charlotte Islands and the mainland, there were wonderfully + productive halibut fisheries, from which a supply of fish was dried and + packed away for the winter, so that there was always a store of provisions + on hand. The forests in their turn furnished berries and seeds, as well as + bears, mountain goats, and other game. + </p> + <p> + Moreover the people of the northwest coast had the advantage of not being + forced to move from place to place in order to follow the fish. They lived + on a drowned shore where bays, straits, and sounds are extraordinarily + numerous. The great waves of the Pacific are shut out by the islands so + that the waterways are almost always safe for canoes. Instead of moving + their dwellings in order to follow the food supply, as the Eskimo and the + people of the pine forest were forced to do, the Haidas and their + neighbors were able without difficulty to bring their food home. At all + seasons the canoes made it easy to transport large supplies of fish from + places even a hundred miles away. Having settled dwellings, the Haidas + could accumulate property and acquire that feeling of permanence which is + one of the most important conditions for the development of civilization. + Doubtless the Haidas were intellectually superior to many other tribes, + but even if they had not been greatly superior, their surroundings would + probably have made them stand relatively high in the scale of + civilization. Southward from the Haidas, around Puget Sound and in + Washington and Oregon, there was a gradual decline in civilization. The + Chinook Indians of the lower Columbia, beyond the limits of the great + northern archipelago, had large communal houses occupied by three or four + families of twenty or more individuals. Their villages were thus fairly + permanent, although there was much moving about in summer owing to the + nature of the food supply, which consisted chiefly of salmon, with roots + and berries indigenous to the region. The people were noted as traders not + only among themselves but with surrounding tribes. They were extremely + skillful in handling their canoes, which were well made, hollowed out of + single logs, and often of great size. In disposition they are described as + treacherous and deceitful, especially when their cupidity was aroused. + Slaves were common and were usually obtained by barter from surrounding + tribes, though occasionally by successful raids. These Indians of Oregon + by no means rivaled the Haidas, for their food supply was less certain and + they did not have the advantage of easy water communication, which did so + much to raise the Haidas to a high level of development. + </p> + <p> + Of the tribes farther south an observer says: "In general rudeness of + culture the California Indians are scarcely above the Eskimo, and whereas + the lack of development of the Eskimo on many sides of their nature is + reasonably attributable in part to their difficult and limiting + environment, the Indians of California inhabit a country naturally as + favorable, it would seem, as it might be. If the degree of civilization + attained by a people depends in any large measure on their habitat, as + does not seem likely, it might be concluded from the case of the + California Indians that natural advantages were an impediment rather than + an incentive to progress." In some of the tribes, such as the Hupa, for + example, there existed no organization and no formalities in the + government of the village. Formal councils were unknown, although the + chief might and often did ask advice of his men in a collected body. In + general the social structure of the California Indians was so simple and + loose that it is hardly correct to speak of their tribes. Whatever + solidarity there was among these people was due in part to family ties and + in part to the fact that they lived in the same village and spoke the same + dialect. Between different groups of these Indians, the common bond was + similarity of language as well as frequency and cordiality of intercourse. + In so primitive a condition of society there was neither necessity nor + opportunity for differences of rank. The influence of chiefs was small and + no distinct classes of slaves were known. Extreme poverty was the chief + cause of the low social and political organization of these Indians. The + Maidus in the Sacramento Valley were so poor that, in addition to + consuming every possible vegetable product, they not only devoured all + birds except the buzzard, but ate badgers, skunks, wildcats, and mountain + lions, and even consumed salmon bones and deer vertebrae. They gathered + grasshoppers and locusts by digging large shallow pits in a meadow or + flat. Then, setting fire to the grass on all sides, they drove the insects + into the pit. Their wings being burned off by the flames, the grasshoppers + were helpless and were thus collected by the bushel. Again of the + Moquelumne, one of the largest tribes in central California, it is said + that their houses were simply frameworks of poles and brush which in + winter were covered with earth. In summer they erected cone-shaped lodges + of poles among the mountains. In favorable years they gathered large + quantities of acorns, which formed their principal food, and stored them + for winter use in granaries raised above the ground. Often, however, the + crop was poor, and the Indians were left on the verge of starvation. + </p> + <p> + Finally in the far south, in the peninsula of Lower California, the tribes + were "probably the lowest in culture of any Indians in North America, for + their inhospitable environment which made them wanderers, was unfavorable + to the foundation of government even of the rude and unstable kind found + elsewhere." The Yuman tribes of the mountains east of Santiago wore + sandals of maguey fiber and descended from their own territory among the + mountains "to eat calabash and other fruits" that grew beside the Colorado + River. They were described as "very dirty on account of the much mescal + they eat." Others speak of them as "very filthy in their habits. To + overcome vermin they coat their heads with mud with which they also paint + their bodies. On a hot day it is by no means unusual to see them wallowing + in the mud like pigs." They were "exceedingly poor, having no animals + except foxes of which they had a few skins. The dress of the women in + summer was a shirt and a bark skirt. The men appear to have been + practically unclothed during this season. The practice of selling children + seems to have been common. Their sustenance was fish, fruits, vegetables, + and seeds of grass, and many of the tribes were said to have been + dreadfully scorbutic." A little to the east of these degraded savages the + much more advanced Mohave tribe had its home on the lower Colorado River. + The contrast between these neighboring tribes throws much light on the + reason for the low estate of the California Indians. "No better example of + the power of environment to better man's condition can be found than that + shown as the lower Colorado is reached. Here are tribes of the same family + (as those of Lower California) remarkable not only for their fine physical + development, but living in settled villages with well-defined tribal + lines, practising a rude, but effective, agriculture, and well advanced in + many primitive Indian arts. The usual Indian staples were raised except + tobacco, these tribes preferring a wild tobacco of their region to the + cultivated." * + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * Hodge, "Handbook of American Indians." +</pre> + <p> + This quotation is highly significant. With it should be compared the fact + that there is no evidence that corn or anything else was cultivated in + California west of the Rio Colorado Valley. California is a region famous + throughout America for its agriculture, but its crops are European in + origin. Even in the case of fruits, such as the grape, which have American + counterparts, the varieties actually cultivated were brought from Europe. + Wheat and barley, the chief foodstuffs for which California and similar + subtropical regions are noted, were unknown in the New World before the + coming of the white man. In pre-Columbian America corn was the only + cultivated cereal. The other great staples of early American agriculture + were beans and pumpkins. All three are preeminently summer crops and need + much water in July and August. In California there is no rain at this + season. Though the fall rains, which begin to be abundant in October and + November, do not aid these summer crops, they favor wheat and barley. The + winter rains and the comparatively warm winter weather permit these grains + to grow slowly but continuously. When the warm spring arrives, there is + still enough rain to permit wheat and barley to make a rapid growth and to + mature their seeds long before the long, dry summer begins. The + comparatively dry weather of May and June is just what these cereals need + to ripen the crop, but it is fatal to any kind of agriculture which + depends on summer rain. + </p> + <p> + Crops can of course be grown during the summer in California by means of + irrigation, but this is rarely a simple process. If irrigation is to be + effective in California, it cannot depend on the small streams which + practically dry up during the long, rainless summer, but it must depend on + comparatively large streams which flow in well-defined channels. With our + modern knowledge and machinery it is easy for us to make canals and + ditches and to prepare the level fields needed to utilize this water. A + people with no knowledge of agriculture, however, and with no iron tools + cannot suddenly begin to practice a complex and highly developed system of + agriculture. In California there is little or none of the natural summer + irrigation which, in certain parts of America, appears to have been the + most important factor leading to the first steps in tilling the ground. + The lower Colorado, however, floods broad areas every summer. Here, as on + the Nile, the retiring floods leave the land so moist that crops can + easily be raised. Hence the Mohave Indians were able to practice + agriculture and to rise well above their kinsmen not only in Lower + California but throughout the whole State. + </p> + <p> + In the Rocky Mountain region of the United States, just as on the Pacific + coast, the condition of the tribes deteriorated more and more the farther + they lived to the south. In the regions where the rainfall comes in + summer, however, and hence favors primitive agriculture, there was a + marked improvement. The Kutenai tribes lived near the corner where Idaho, + Montana, and British Columbia now meet. They appear to have been of rather + high grade, noteworthy for their morality, kindness, and hospitality. More + than any other Indians of the Rocky Mountain region, they avoided + drunkenness and lewd intercourse with the whites. Their mental ability was + comparatively high, as appears from their skill in buffalo-hunting, in + making dugouts and bark canoes, and in constructing sweat-houses and + lodges of both skins and rushes. Even today the lower Kutenai are noted + for their water-tight baskets of split roots. Moreover the degree to which + they used the plants that grew about them for food, medicine, and + economical purposes was noteworthy. They also had an esthetic appreciation + of several plants and flowers—a gift rare among Indians. These + people lived in the zone of most stimulating climate and, although they + did not practice agriculture and had little else in their surroundings to + help them to rise above the common level, they dwelt in a region where + there was rain enough in summer to prevent their being on the verge of + starvation, as the Indians of California usually were. Moreover they were + near enough to the haunts of the buffalo to depend on that great beast for + food. Since one buffalo supplies as much food as a hundred rabbits, these + Indians were vastly better off than the people of the drier parts of the + western coast. + </p> + <p> + South of the home of the Kutenai, in eastern Oregon, southern Idaho, + Nevada, Utah, and neighboring regions dwelt the Utes and other Shoshoni + tribes. In this region the rainfall, which is no greater than that of + California, occurs chiefly in winter. The long summer is so dry that, + except by highly developed methods of irrigation, agriculture is + impossible. Hence it is not surprising to find a traveler in 1850 + describing one tribe of the Ute family as "without exception the most + miserable looking set of human beings I ever saw. They have hitherto + subsisted principally on snakes, lizards, roots." The lowest of all the + Ute tribes were those who lived in the sage-brush. The early explorer, + Bonneville, found the tribes of Snake River wintering in brush shelters + without roofs merely heaps of brush piled high, behind which the Indians + crouched for protection from wind and snow. Crude as such shelters may + seem, they were the best that could be constructed by people who dwelt + where there was no vegetation except little bushes, and where the soil was + for the most part sandy or so salty that it could not easily be made into + adobe bricks. + </p> + <p> + The food of these Utes and Shoshonis was no better than their shelters. + There were no large animals for them to hunt; rabbits were the best that + they could find. Farther to the east, where the buffalo wandered during + part of the year and where there are some forests, the food was better, + the shelters were more effective, and, in general, the standard of living + was higher, although racially the two groups of people were alike. In this + case, as in others, the people whose condition was lowest were apparently + as competent as those whose material conditions were much better. Today, + although the Ute Indians, like most of their race, are rather slow, some + tribes, such as the Payutes, are described as not only "peaceful and + moral," but also "industrious." They are highly commended for their good + qualities by those who have had the best opportunities for judging. While + not as bright in intellect as some of the prairie tribes whom we shall + soon consider, they appear to possess more solidity of character. By their + willingness and efficiency as workers they have made themselves necessary + to the white farmers and have thus supplied themselves with good clothing + and many of the comforts of life. They have resisted, too, many of the + evils coming from the advance of civilization, so that one agent speaks of + these Indians as presenting the singular anomaly of improving by contact + with the whites. Apparently their extremely low condition in former times + was due merely to that same handicap of environment which kept back the + Indians of California. + </p> + <p> + Compare these backward but not wholly ungifted Utes with the Hopi who + belonged to the same stock. The relatively high social organization of the + latter people and the intricacy and significance of their religious + ceremonials are well known. Mentally the Hopi seem to be the equal of any + tribe, but it is doubtful whether they have much more innate capacity than + many of their more backward neighbors. Nevertheless they made much more + progress before the days of the white man, as can easily be seen in their + artistic development. Every one who has crossed the continent by the Santa + Fe route knows how interesting and beautiful are their pottery, basketry, + and weaving. Not only in art but also in government the Hopi are highly + advanced. Their governing body is a council of hereditary elders together + with the chiefs of religious fraternities. Among these officials there is + a speaker chief and a war chief, but there seems never to have been any + supreme chief of all the Hopi. Each pueblo has an hereditary chief who + directs all the communal work, such as the cleaning of the springs and the + general care of the village. Crimes are rare. This at first sight seems + strange in view of the fact that no penalty was inflicted for any crime + except sorcery, but under Hopi law all transgressions could be reduced to + sorcery. One of the most striking features of Hopi life was its rich + religious development. The Hopi recognized a large number of supernatural + beings and had a great store of most interesting and poetic mythological + tales. The home of the Hopi would seem at first sight as unfavorable to + progress as that of their Ute cousins, but the Hopi have the advantage of + being the most northwesterly representatives of the Indians who dwell + within the regions of summer rain. Fortunately for them, their country is + too desert and unforested for them to subsist to any great degree by the + chase. They are thus forced to devote all their energy to agriculture, + through which they have developed a relatively high standard of living. + They dwell far enough south to have their heaviest rainfall in summer and + not in winter, as is the case in Utah, so that they are able to cultivate + crops of corn and beans. Where such an intensive system of agriculture + prevails, the work of women is as valuable as that of men. The position of + woman is thus relatively high among the Hopi, for she is useful not only + for her assistance in the labors of the field but also for her skill in + preserving the crops, grinding the flour, and otherwise preparing the + comparatively varied food which this tribe fortunately possesses. + </p> + <p> + From northern New Mexico and Arizona to Mexico City summer rains, dry + winters, and still drier springs, are the rule. Forests are few, and much + of the country is desert. The more abundant the rains, the greater the + number of people and the greater the opportunities for the accumulation of + wealth, and thus for that leisure which is necessary to part of a + community if civilization is to make progress. That is one reason why the + civilization of the summer rain people becomes more highly developed as + they go from north to south. The fact that the altitude of the country + increases from the United States border southward also tends in the same + direction, for it causes the climate to be cooler and more bracing at + Mexico City than at places farther north. + </p> + <p> + The importance of summer rains in stimulating growth and in facilitating + the early stages of agriculture is noteworthy. Every one familiar with + Arizona and New Mexico knows how the sudden summer showers fill the + mountain valleys with floods which flow down upon the plain and rapidly + spread out into broad, thin sheets, often known as playas. There the water + stands a short time and then either sinks into the ground or evaporates. + Such places are favored with the best kind of natural irrigation, and + after the first shower it is an easy matter for the primitive farmer to go + out and drop grains of corn into holes punched with a stick. Thereafter he + can count on other showers to water his field while the corn sprouts and + grows to maturity. All that he needs to do is to watch the field to + protect it from the rare depredations of wild animals. As time goes on the + primitive farmer realizes the advantage of leading the water to + particularly favorable spots and thus begins to develop a system of + artificial irrigation. In regions where such advantageous conditions + prevail, the people who live permanently in one place succeed best, for + the work that they do one year helps them the next. They are not greatly + troubled by weeds, for, though grasses grow as well as corn in the places + where the water spreads out, the grasses take the form of little clumps + which can easily be pulled up. In the drier parts of the area of summer + rain, it becomes necessary to conserve the water supply to the utmost. The + Hopi consider sandy fields the best, for the loose sand on top acts as a + natural blanket to prevent evaporation from the underlying layers. + Sometimes in dry seasons the Hopi use extraordinary methods to help their + seeds to sprout. For instance, they place a seed in a ball of saturated + mud which they bury beneath several inches of sand. As the sand prevents + evaporation, practically all the water is retained for the use of the + seed, which thereupon sprouts and grows some inches by the time the first + summer floods arrive. + </p> + <p> + The Indians of the Great Plains lived a very different life from that of + the natives of either the mountains or the Pacific coast. In the far + north, to be sure, the rigorous climate caused all the Indians to live + practically alike, whether in the Rockies, the plains, or the Laurentian + highland. South of them, in that great central expanse stretching from the + latitude of Lake Winnipeg to the Rio Grande River, the Indians of the + plains possessed a relatively uniform type of life peculiar to themselves. + This individuality was due partly to the luxuriant carpet of grass which + covered the plains and partly to the supply of animal food afforded by the + vast herds of buffaloes which roamed in tens of thousands throughout the + whole territory. The grass was important chiefly because it prevented the + Indians from engaging in agriculture, for it must never be forgotten that + the Indians had neither iron tools nor beasts of burden to aid them in + overcoming the natural difficulties in the way of agriculture. To be sure, + they did occasionally pound meteoric iron into useful implements, but this + substance was so rare that probably not one Indian in a hundred had ever + seen a piece. The Indians were quite familiar with copper, but there is + not the slightest evidence that they had discovered any means of hardening + it. Metals played no real part in the life of any of the Indians of + America, and without such tools as iron spades and hoes it was impossible + for them to cultivate grassland. If they burned the prairie and dropped + seeds into holes, the corn or beans which they thus planted were sure to + be choked by the quickly springing grass. To dig away the tough sod around + the hole for each seed would require an almost incredible amount of work + even with iron tools. To accomplish this with wooden spades, rude hoes + made of large flakes of flint, or the shoulder blades of the buffalo, was + impossible on any large scale. Now and then in some river bottom where the + grass grew in clumps and could be easily pulled up, a little agriculture + was possible. That is all that seems to have been attempted on the great + grassy plains. + </p> + <p> + The Indians could not undertake any widespread cultivation of the plains + not only because they lacked iron tools but also because they had no draft + animals. The buffalo was too big, too fierce, and too stupid to be + domesticated. In all the length and breadth of the two Americas there was + no animal to take the place of the useful horse, donkey, or ox. The llama + was too small to do anything but carry light loads, and it could live only + in a most limited area among the cold Andean highlands. Even if the + aboriginal Americans could have made iron ploughs, they could not have + ploughed the tough sod without the aid of animals. Moreover, even if the + possession of metal tools and beasts of burden had made agriculture + possible in the grass-lands, it would have been difficult, in the absence + of wood for fences, to prevent the buffalo from eating up the crops or at + least from tramping through them and spoiling them. Thus the fertile land + of the great plains remained largely unused until the white man came to + the New World bringing the iron tools and domestic animals that were + necessary to successful agriculture. + </p> + <p> + Although farming of any sort was almost as impossible in the plains as in + the dry regions of winter rains farther west, the abundance of buffaloes + made life much easier in many respects. It is astonishing to see how many + purposes these animals served. An early traveler who dwelt among one of + the buffalo-hunting tribes, the Tonkawa of central Texas, says: "Besides + their meat it [the buffalo] furnishes them liberally what they desire for + conveniences. The brains are used to soften skins, the horns for spoons + and drinking cups, the shoulder blades to dig up and clear off the ground, + the tendons for threads and bow strings, the hoofs to glue the + arrow-feathering. From the tail-hair they make ropes and girths, from the + wool, belts and various ornaments. The hide furnishes... shields, tents, + shirts, footwear, and blankets to protect them from the cold." * + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + *See Hodge, "Handbook of American Indians," vol. II, p. 781. +</pre> + <p> + The buffalo is a surprisingly stupid animal. When a herd is feeding it is + possible for a man to walk into the midst of it and shoot down an animal. + Even when one of their companions falls dead, the buffaloes pay no + attention to the hunter provided he remains perfectly still. The wounded + animals are not at first dangerous but seek to flee. Only when pursued and + brought to bay do they turn on their pursuers. When the Indians of an + encampment united their forces, as was their regular habit, they were able + to slaughter hundreds of animals in a few days. The more delicate parts of + the meat they ate first, often without cooking them. The rest they dried + and packed away for future use, while they prepared the hides as coverings + for the tents or as rugs in which to sleep. + </p> + <p> + Wherever the buffaloes were present in large numbers, the habits of the + Indians were much the same. They could not live in settled villages, for + there was no assurance that the buffalo would come to any particular place + each year. The plains tribes were therefore more thoroughly nomadic than + almost any others, especially after the introduction of horses. Because + they wandered so much, they came into contact with other tribes to an + unusual degree, and much of the contact was friendly. Gradually the + Indians developed a sign language by which tribes of different tongues + could communicate with one another. At first these signs were like + pictographs, for the speaker pointed as nearly as possible to the thing + that he desired to indicate, but later they became more and more + conventional. For example, man, the erect animal, was indicated by + throwing up the hand, with its back outward and the index finger extending + upward. Woman was indicated by a sweeping downward movement of the hand at + the side of the head with fingers extended to denote long hair or the + combing of flowing locks. + </p> + <p> + Among the plains Indians, the Dakotas, the main tribe of the Sioux family, + are universally considered to have stood highest not only physically but + mentally, and probably morally. Their bravery was never questioned, and + they conquered or drove out every rival except the Chippewas. Their + superiority was clearly seen in their system of government. Personal + fitness and popularity determined chieftainship more than did heredity. + The authority of the chief was limited by the Band Council, without whose + approbation little or nothing could be accomplished. In one of the Dakota + tribes, the Tetons, the policing of a village was confided to two or three + officers who were appointed by the chief and who remained in power until + their successors were appointed. Day and night they were always on the + watch, and so arduous were their labors that their term of service was + necessarily short. The brevity of their term, however, was atoned for by + the greatness of their authority, for in the suppression of disturbances + no resistance was suffered. Their persons were sacred, and if in the + execution of their duty they struck even a chief of the second class they + could not be punished. + </p> + <p> + The Dakotas, who lived in the region where their name is still preserved, + inhabited that part of the great plain which is climatically most + favorable to great activity. It is perhaps because of their response to + the influence of this factor of geographical environment that they and + their neighbors are the best known of the plains tribes. Their activity in + later times is evident from the fact that the Tetons were called "the + plundering Arabs of America." If their activities had been more wisely + directed, they might have made a great name for themselves in Indian + history. In the arts they stood as high as could be expected in view of + the wandering life which they led and the limited materials with which + they had to work. In the art of making pictographs, for instance, they + excelled all other tribes, except perhaps the Kiowas, a plains tribe of + Colorado and western Kansas. On the hides of buffalo, deer, and antelope + which formed their tents, the Dakotas painted calendars, which had a + picture for each year, or rather for each winter, while those of the + Kiowas had a summer symbol and a winter symbol. Probably these calendars + reveal the influence of the whites, but they at least show that these + people of the plains were quickwitted. + </p> + <p> + Farther south the tribes of the plains stood on a much lower level than + the Dakotas. The Spanish explorer, Cabeza de Vaca, describes the Yguases + in Texas, among whom he lived for several years, in these words: "Their + support is principally roots which require roasting two days. Many are + very bitter. Occasionally they take deer and at times fish, but the + quantity is so small and the famine so great that they eat spiders and + eggs of ants, worms, lizards, salamanders, snakes, and vipers that kill + whom they strike, and they eat earth and all that there is, the dung of + deer, things I omit to mention and I earnestly believe that were there + stones in that land they would eat them. They save the bones of the fish + they consume, the snakes and other animals, that they may afterward beat + them together and eat the powder." During these painful periods, they bade + Cabeza de Vaca "not to be sad. There would soon be prickly pears, although + the season of this fruit of the cactus might be months distant. When the + pears were ripe, the people feasted and danced and forgot their former + privations. They destroyed their female infants to prevent them being + taken by their enemies and thus becoming the means of increasing the + latter's number." + </p> + <p> + East of the Great Plains there dwelt still another important type of + Indians, the people of the deciduous forests. Their home extended from the + Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. As we have already seen, the Iroquois + who inhabited the northern part of this region were in many respects the + highest product of aboriginal America. The northern Iroquois tribes, + especially those known as the Five Nations, were second to no other Indian + people north of Mexico in political organization, statecraft, and military + prowess. Their leaders were genuine diplomats, as the wily French and + English statesmen with whom they treated soon discovered. One of their + most notable traits was the reverence which they had for the tribal law. + The wars that they waged were primarily for political independence, for + the fundamental principle of their confederation was that by uniting with + one another they would secure the peace and welfare of all with whom they + were connected by ties of blood. They prevented blood feuds by decreeing + that there should be a price for the killing of a co-tribesman, and they + abstained from eating the flesh of their enemies in order to avoid future + strife. So thoroughly did they believe in the rights of the individual + that women were accorded a high position. Among some of the tribes the + consent of all the women who had borne children was required before any + important measure could be taken. Candidates for a chiefship were + nominated by the votes of the mothers, and, as lands and houses were the + property of the women, their power in the tribe was great. + </p> + <p> + The Iroquois were sedentary and agricultural, and depended on the chase + for only a small part of their existence. The northern tribes were + especially noted for their skill in building fortifications and houses. + Their so-called castles were solid wooden structures with platforms + running around the top on the inside. From the platforms stones and other + missiles could be hurled down upon besiegers. According to our standards + such dwellings were very primitive, but they were almost as great an + advance upon the brush piles of the Utes as our skyscrapers are upon them. + Farther south in the Carolinas, the Cherokees, another Iroquoian tribe, + stand out prominently by reason of their unusual mental ability. Under the + influence of the white man, the Cherokees were the first to adopt a + constitutional form of government embodied in a code of laws written in + their own language. Their language was reduced to writing by means of an + alphabet which one of their number named Sequoya had devised. Sequoya and + other leaders, however, may not have been pure Indians, for by that time + much white blood had been mixed with the tribe. Yet even before the coming + of the white man the Cherokees were apparently more advanced in + agriculture than the Iroquois were, but less advanced in their form of + government, in their treatment of women, and in many other respects. In + general, as we go from north to south in the region of deciduous forests, + we find that among the early Indians agriculture became more and more + important and the people more sedentary, though not always more + progressive in other ways. The Catawbas, for instance, in South Carolina + were sedentary agriculturists and seem to have differed little in general + customs from their neighbors. Their men were brave and honest but lacking + in energy. In the Muskhogean family of Indians, comprising the Creeks, + Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Seminoles, who occupied the Gulf States from + Georgia to Mississippi, all the tribes were agricultural and sedentary and + occupied villages of substantial houses. The towns near the tribal + frontiers were usually palisaded, but those more remote from invasion were + unprotected. All these Indians were brave but not warlike in the violent + fashion of the Five Nations. The Choctaws would fight only in + self-defense, it was said, but the Creeks and especially the Chickasaws + were more aggressive. In their government these Muskhogean tribes appear + to have attained a position corresponding to their somewhat advanced + culture in other respects. Yet their confederacies were loose and flimsy + compared with that of the Five Nations. Another phase of the life of the + tribes in the southern part of the region of deciduous forests is + illustrated by the Natchez of Mississippi. These people were strictly + sedentary and depended chiefly upon agriculture for a livelihood. They + possessed considerable skill in the arts. For instance, they wove a cloth + from the inner bark of the mulberry tree and made excellent pottery. They + also constructed great mounds of earth upon which to erect their dwellings + and temples. Like a good many of the other southern tribes, they fought + when it was necessary, but they were peaceable compared with the Five + Nations. They had a form of sun-worship resembling that of Mexico, and in + other ways their ideas were like those of the people farther south. For + instance, when a chief died, his wives were killed. In times of distress + the parents frequently offered their children as sacrifice. + </p> + <p> + Many characteristics of the Natchez and other southern tribes seem to + indicate that they had formerly possessed a civilization higher than that + which prevailed when the white man came. The Five Nations, on the + contrary, apparently represent an energetic people who were on the upward + path and who might have achieved great things if the whites had not + interrupted them. The southern Indians resemble people whose best days + were past, for the mounds which abound in the Gulf States appear to have + been built chiefly in pre-Columbian days. Their objects of art, such as + the remarkable wooden mortars found at Key Marco and the embossed copper + plates found elsewhere in Florida, point to a highly developed artistic + sense which was no longer in evidence at the coming of the white man. + </p> + <p> + It is interesting to see the way in which climatic energy tended to give + the Five Nations a marked superiority over the tribesmen of the South, + while agriculture tended in the opposite direction. There has been much + discussion as to the part played by agriculture among the primitive + Americans, especially in the northeast. Corn, beans, and squashes were an + important element in the diet of the Indians of the New England region, + while farther south potatoes, sunflower seeds, and melons were also + articles of food. The New England tribes knew enough about agriculture to + use fish and shells for fertilizer. They had wooden mattocks and hoes made + from the shoulder blades of deer, from tortoise shells, or from conch + shells set in handles. They also had stone hoes and spades, while the + women used short pickers or parers about a foot long and five inches wide. + Seated on the ground they used these to break the upper part of the soil + and to grub out weeds, grass, and old cornstalks. They had the regular + custom of burning over an old patch each year and then replanting it. + Sometimes they merely put the seeds in holes and sometimes they dug up and + loosened the ground for each seed. Clearings they made by girdling the + trees, that is, by cutting off the bark in a circle at the bottom and thus + causing the tree to die. The brush they hacked or broke down and burned + when it was dry enough. + </p> + <p> + There is much danger of confusing the agricultural condition of the Indian + after the European had modified his life with his condition before the + European came to America. For instance, in the excellent article on + agriculture in the "Handbook of American Indians," conditions prevailing + as late as 1794 in the States south of the Great Lakes are spoken of as if + typical of aboriginal America. But at that time the white man had long + been in contact with the Indian, and iron tools had largely taken the + place of stone. The rapidity with which European importations spread may + be judged by the fact that as early as 1736 the Iroquois in New York not + only had obtained horses but were regularly breeding them. The use of the + iron axe of course spread with vastly greater rapidity than that of the + horse, for an axe or a knife was the first thing that an Indian sought + from the white man. In the eighteenth century agriculture had thus become + immeasurably easier than before, yet even then the Indians still kept up + their old habit of cultivating the same fields only a short time. The + regular practice was to cultivate a field five, ten, and sometimes even + twenty or more years, and then abandon it. * + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + *Ordinarily it is stated that this practice was due to the +exhaustion of the soil. That, however, is open to question, for five +or ten years' desultory cultivation on the part of the Indian would +scarcely exhaust the soil so much that people would go to the great +labor of making new clearings and moving their villages. Moreover, in +the Southern States it is well known today that the soil is exhausted +much more rapidly than farther north because it contains less humus. +Nevertheless the southern tribes cultivated the land about their +villages for long periods. Tribes like the Creeks, the Cherokees, and +the Natchez appear to have been decidedly less prone to move than the +Iroquois, in spite of the relatively high development of these northern +nations. +</pre> + <p> + What hindered agriculture most in the northern part of the deciduous + forest was the grass. Any one who has cultivated a garden knows how + rapidly the weeds grow. He also knows that there is no weed so hard to + exterminate as grass. When once it gets a foothold mere hoeing seems only + to make it grow the faster. The only way to get rid of grass when once it + has become well established is to plow the field and start over again, but + this the Indians could not do. When first a clearing was made in the midst + of the forest, there was no grass to be contended with. Little by little, + however, it was sure to come in, until at length what had been a garden + was in a fair way to become a meadow. Then the Indians would decide that + it was necessary to seek new fields. + </p> + <p> + One might suppose that under such circumstances the Indians would merely + clear another patch of forest not far from the village and so continue to + live in the old place. This, however, they did not do because the labor of + making a clearing with stone axes and by the slow process of girdling and + burning the trees was so great that it was possible only in certain + favored spots where by accident the growth was less dense than usual. When + once a clearing became grassy, the only thing to do was to hunt for a new + site, prepare a clearing, and then move the village. This was apparently + the reason why the Iroquois, although successful in other ways, failed to + establish permanent towns like those of the Pueblos and the Haidas. Their + advancement not only in architecture but in many of the most important + elements of civilization was for this reason greatly delayed. There was + little to stimulate them to improve the land to which they were attached, + for they knew that soon they would have to move. + </p> + <p> + Farther south the character of the grassy vegetation changes, and the + condition of agriculture alters with it. The grass ceases to have that + thick, close, turfy quality which we admire so much in the fields of the + north, and it begins to grow in bunches. Often a southern hillside may + appear from a distance to be as densely covered with grass as a New + England hayfield. On closer examination, however, the growth is seen to + consist of individual bunches which can easily be pulled up, so that among + the southern tribes the fields did not become filled with grass as they + did in the north, for the women had relatively little difficulty in + keeping out this kind of weed as well as others. + </p> + <p> + In this survey of aboriginal America we have been impressed by the + contrast between two diverse aspects of the control of human activities by + physical environment. We saw, in the first place, that in our own day the + distribution of culture in America is more closely related to climatic + energy than to any other factor, because man is now so advanced in the + arts and crafts that agricultural difficulties do not impede him, except + in the far north and in tropical forests. Secondly, we have found that, + although all the geographical factors acted upon the Indian as they do + today, the absence of metals and beasts of burden compelled man to be + nomadic, and hence to remain in a low stage of civilization in many places + where he now can thrive. In the days long before Columbus the distribution + of civilization in the Red Man's Continent offered still a third aspect, + strikingly different both from that of today and from that of the age of + discovery. In that earlier period the great centers of civilization were + south of their present situation. In the southern part of North America + from Arizona to Florida there are abundant evidences that the Indians whom + the white man found were less advanced than their predecessors. The + abundant ruins of Arizona and New Mexico, their widespread distribution, + and the highly artistic character of the pottery and other products of + handicraft found in them seem to indicate that the ancient population was + both denser and more highly cultured than that which the Europeans finally + ousted. In the Gulf States there is perhaps not much evidence that there + was a denser population at an earlier period, but the excellence of the + pre-Columbian handicrafts and the existence of a decadent sun worship + illustrate the way in which the civilization of the past was higher than + that of later days. The Aztecs, who figure so largely in the history of + the exploration and conquest of Mexico, were merely a warlike tribe which + had been fortunate in the inheritance of a relatively high civilization + from the past. So, too, the civilization found by the Spaniards at places + such as Mitla, in the extreme south of Mexico, could not compare with that + of which evidence is found in the ruins. Most remarkable of all is the + condition of Yucatan and Guatemala. In northern Yucatan the Spaniards + found a race of mild, decadent Mayas living among the relics of former + grandeur. Although they used the old temples as shrines, they knew little + of those who had built these temples and showed still less capacity to + imitate the ancient architects. Farther south in the forested region of + southern Yucatan and northern Guatemala the conditions are still more + surprising, for today these regions are almost uninhabitable and are + occupied by only a few sickly, degraded natives who live largely by the + chase. Yet in the past this region was the scene of by far the highest + culture that ever developed in America. There alone in this great + continent did men develop an architecture which, not only in massiveness + but in wealth of architectural detail and sculptural adornment, vies with + that of early Egypt or Chaldea. There alone did the art of writing + develop. Yet today in those regions the density of the forest, the + prevalence of deadly fevers, the extremely enervating temperature, and the + steady humidity are as hostile to civilization as are the cold of the far + north and the dryness of the desert. + </p> + <p> + The only explanation of this anomaly seems to be that in the past the + climatic zones of the world have at certain periods been shifted farther + toward the equator than they are at present. Practically all the + geographers of America now believe that within the past two or three + thousand years climatic pulsations have taken place whereby places like + the dry Southwest have alternately experienced centuries of greater + moisture than at present and centuries as dry as today or even drier. + During the moist centuries greater storminess prevailed, so that the + climate was apparently better not only for agriculture but for human + energy. At such times the standard of living was higher than now not only + in the Southwest but in the Gulf States and in Mexico. In periods when the + deserts of the southwestern United States were wet, the Maya region of + Yucatan and Guatemala appears to have been relatively dry. Then the dry + belt which now extends from northern Mexico to the northern tip of Yucatan + apparently shifted southward. Such conditions would cause the forests of + Yucatan and Guatemala to become much less dense than at present. This + comparative deforestation would make agriculture easily possible where + today it is out of the question. At the same time the relatively dry + climate and the clearing away of the vegetation would to a large degree + eliminate the malarial fevers and other diseases which are now such a + terrible scourge in wet tropical countries. Then, too, the storms which at + the present time give such variability to the climate of the United States + would follow more southerly courses. In its stimulating qualities the + climate of the home of the Mayas in the days of their prime was much more + nearly like that which now prevails where civilization rises highest. + </p> + <p> + From first to last the civilization of America has been bound up with its + physical environment. It matters little whether we are dealing with the + red race, the black, or the white. Nor does it matter whether we deal with + one part of the continent or another. Wherever we turn we can trace the + influence of mountains and plains, of rocks and metals from which tools + are made, of water and its finny inhabitants, of the beasts of the chase + from the hare to the buffalo, of domestic animals, of the native forests, + grass-lands, and deserts, and, last but not least, of temperature, + moisture, and wind in their direct effects upon the human body. At one + stage of human development the possibilities of agriculture may be the + dominant factor in man's life in early America. At another, domestic + animals may be more important, and at still another, iron or waterways or + some other factor may be predominant. It is the part of the later history + of the American Continent to trace the effect of these various factors and + to chronicle the influence that they have had upon man's progress. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + </h2> + <p> + Although many books deal with the physical features of the Western + Hemisphere and many others with the Indians, few deal with the two in + relation to one another. One book, however, stands out preeminent in this + respect, namely, Edward John Payne's "History of the New World Called + America," 2 vols. (1892-99). This book, which has never been finished, + attempts to explain the conditions of life among the American aborigines + as the result of geographical conditions, especially of the food supply. + Where the author carries this attempt into the field of special customs + and religious rites, he goes too far. Nevertheless his work is uncommonly + stimulating and deserves the careful attention of the reader who would + gain a broad grasp of the relation of geography to the history of the New + World. + </p> + <p> + Two other good books which deal with the relation of geography to American + history are Miss Ellen C. Semple's "American History and its Geographical + Conditions" (1903) and A. P. Brigham's "Geographic Influences in American + History" (1903). Both of these books interpret geography as if it included + little except the form of the land. While they bring out clearly the + effect of mountain barriers, indented coasts, and easy routes whether by + land or water, they scarcely touch on the more subtle relationships + between man on the one hand and the climate, plants, and animals which + form the dominant features of his physical environment on the other hand. + </p> + <p> + In their emphasis on the form of the land both Semple and Brigham follow + the lead of W. M. Davis. In his admirable articles on America and the + United States in "The Encyclopaedia Britannica" (11th edition) and in The + International Geography edited by H. R. Mill (1901), Davis has given an + uncommonly clear and vivid description of the main physical features of + the New World. Living beings, however, play little part in this + description, so that the reader is not led to an understanding of how + physical geography affects human actions. + </p> + <p> + Other good descriptions of the North American continent are found in the + following books: I. C. Russell's "North America" (1904), Stanford's + "Compendium of Modern Geography and Travel," including the volumes on + Canada, the United States, and Central America, and the great volumes on + America in "The Earth and its Inhabitants" by Elise Reclus, 19 vols. + (1876-1894). Russell's book is largely physiographic but contains some + good chapters on the Indians. In Stanford's "Compendium" the purpose is to + treat man and nature in their relation to one another, but the + relationships are not clearly brought out, and there is too much emphasis + on purely descriptive and encyclopedic matter. So far as interest is + concerned, the famous work by Elise Reclus holds high rank. It is an + encyclopedia of geographical facts arranged and edited in such a way that + it has all the interest of a fine book of travel. Like most of the other + books, however, it fails to bring out relationships. + </p> + <p> + As sources of information on the Indians, two books stand out with special + prominence. "The American Race," by D. G. Brinton (1891), is a most + scholarly volume devoted largely to a study of the Indians on a linguistic + basis. It contains some general chapters, however, on the Indians and + their environment, and these are most illuminating. The other book is the + "Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico," edited by F. W. Hodge, and + published by the United States Bureau of Ethnology (Washington, 1897, + 1910, 1911). Its two large volumes are arranged in encyclopedic form. The + various articles are written by a large number of scholars, including + practically all the students who were at work on Indian ethnology at the + time of publication. Many of the articles are the best that have been + written and will not only interest the general reader but will contribute + to an understanding of what America was when the Indians came here and + what it still is today. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Red Man's Continent, by Ellsworth Huntington + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RED MAN'S CONTINENT *** + +***** This file should be named 3066-h.htm or 3066-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/6/3066/ + +Produced by The James J. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Red Man's Continent + A Chronicle of Aboriginal America, Volume 1 In The + Chronicles Of America Series + +Author: Ellsworth Huntington + +Editor: Allen Johnson + +Posting Date: February 22, 2009 [EBook #3066] +Release Date: February, 2002 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RED MAN'S CONTINENT *** + + + + +Produced by The James J. Kelly Library of St. Gregory's +University, and Alev Akman + + + + + + +THE RED MAN'S CONTINENT + +A CHRONICLE OF ABORIGINAL AMERICA + + +By Ellsworth Huntington + + +NEW HAVEN: YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS + +TORONTO: GLASGOW, BROOK & CO. + +LONDON: HUMPHREY MILFORD + +OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS + +1919 + + + + +PREFACE + +In writing this book the author has aimed first to present in readable +form the main facts about the geographical environment of American +history. Many important facts have been omitted or have been touched +upon only lightly because they are generally familiar. On the other +hand, special stress has been laid on certain broad phases of geography +which are comparatively unfamiliar. One of these is the similarity of +form between the Old World and the New, and between North and South +America; another is the distribution of indigenous types of vegetation +in North America; and a third is the relation of climate to health and +energy. In addition to these subjects, the influence of geographical +conditions upon the life of the primitive Indians has been emphasized. +This factor is especially important because people without iron tools +and beasts of burden, and without any cereal crops except corn, must +respond to their environment very differently from civilized people of +today. Limits of space and the desire to make this book readable have +led to the omission of the detailed proof of some of the conclusions +here set forth. The special student will recognize such cases and +will not judge them until he has read the author's fuller statements +elsewhere. The general reader, for whom this book is designed, will be +thankful for the omission of such purely technical details. + +CONTENTS + +I. THE APPROACHES TO AMERICA II. THE FORM OF THE CONTINENT III. THE +GEOGRAPHIC PROVINCES OF NORTH AMERICA IV. THE GARMENT OF VEGETATION V. +THE RED MAN IN AMERICA BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + + + +THE RED MAN'S CONTINENT + + +CHAPTER I. THE APPROACHES TO AMERICA + +Across the twilight lawn at Hampton Institute straggles a group of +sturdy young men with copper-hued complexions. Their day has been +devoted to farming, carpentry, blacksmithing, or some other trade. Their +evening will be given to study. Those silent dignified Indians with +straight black hair and broad, strong features are training their hands +and minds in the hope that some day they may stand beside the white man +as equals. Behind them, laughing gayly and chattering as if without a +care in the world, comes a larger group of kinky-haired, thick-lipped +youths with black skins and African features. They, too, have been +working with the hands to train the mind. Those two diverse races, red +and black, sit down together in a classroom, and to them comes another +race. The faces that were expressionless or merely mirthful a minute ago +light up with serious interest as the teacher comes into the room. She +stands there a slender, golden-haired, blue-eyed Anglo-Saxon girl +just out of college--a mere child compared with the score of swarthy, +stalwart men as old as herself who sit before her. Her mobile features +seem to mirror a hundred thoughts while their impassive faces are moved +by only one. Her quick speech almost trips in its eagerness not to waste +the short, precious hour. Only a strong effort holds her back while she +waits for the slow answers of the young men whom she drills over and +over again in simple problems of arithmetic. The class and the teacher +are an epitome of American history. They are more than that. They are an +epitome of all history. + +History in its broadest aspect is a record of man's migrations from +one environment to another. America is the last great goal of these +migrations. He who would understand its history must know its mountains +and plains, its climate, its products, and its relation to the sea and +to other parts of the world. He must know more than this, however, +for he must appreciate how various environments alter man's energy and +capacity and give his character a slant in one direction or another. +He must also know the paths by which the inhabitants have reached their +present homes, for the influence of former environments upon them may be +more important than their immediate surroundings. In fact, the history +of North America has been perhaps more profoundly influenced by man's +inheritance from his past homes than by the physical features of his +present home. It is indeed of vast importance that trade can move freely +through such natural channels as New York Harbor, the Mohawk Valley, and +the Great Lakes. It is equally important that the eastern highlands of +the United States are full of the world's finest coal, while the central +plains raise some of the world's most lavish crops. Yet it is probably +even more important that because of his inheritance from a remote +ancestral environment man is energetic, inventive, and long-lived in +certain parts of the American continent, while elsewhere he has not the +strength and mental vigor to maintain even the degree of civilization to +which he seems to have risen. + +Three streams of migration have mainly determined the history of +America. One was an ancient and comparatively insignificant stream from +Asia. It brought the Indian to the two great continents which the white +man has now practically wrested from him. A second and later stream was +the great tide which rolled in from Europe. It is as different from the +other as West is from East. Thus far it has not wholly obliterated the +native people, for between the southern border of the United States on +the one hand, and the northern borders of Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay +on the other, the vast proportion of the blood is still Indian. The +European tide may in time dominate even this region, but for centuries +to come the poor, disinherited Indians will continue to form the bulk of +the population. The third stream flowed from Africa and was as different +from either of the others as South is from North. + +The differences between one and another of these three streams of +population and the antagonisms which they have involved have greatly +colored American history. The Indian, the European, and the Negro +apparently differ not only in outward appearance but in the much more +important matter of mentality. According to Brinton * the average brain +capacity of Parisians, including adults of both sexes, is 1448 cubic +centimeters. That of the American Indian is 1376, and that of the Negro +1344 cubic centimeters. With this difference in size there appears to +be a corresponding difference in function. Thus far not enough accurate +tests have been made upon Indians to enable us to draw reliable +conclusions. The Negro, however, has been tested on an extensive +scale. The results seem to leave little doubt that there are real and +measurable differences in the mental powers of races, just as we know +to be the case among individuals. The matter is so important that we may +well dwell on it a moment before turning to the cause of the differences +in the three streams of American immigrants. If there is a measurable +difference between the inherent brain power of the white race and +the black, it is practically certain that there are also measurable +differences between the white and the red. + + + * D. G. Brinton. "The American Race." + + +Numerous tests indicate that in the lower mental powers there is no +great difference between the black and the white. In physical reactions +one is as quick as the other. In the capacity of the senses and in the +power to perceive and to discriminate between different kinds of objects +there is also practical equality. When it comes to the higher faculties, +however, such as judgment, inventiveness, and the power of organization, +a difference begins to be apparent. These, as Ferguson * says, are +the traits that "divide mankind into the able and the mediocre, the +brilliant and the dull, and they determine the progress of civilization +more directly than do the simple fundamental powers which man has in +common with the lower animals." On the basis of the most exhaustive +study yet made, Ferguson believes that, apart from all differences due +to home training and environment, the average intellectual power of the +colored people of this country is only about three-fourths as great as +that of white persons of the same amount of training. He believes it +probable, indeed, that this estimate is too high rather than too low. As +to the Indian, his past achievements and present condition indicate that +intellectually he stands between the white man and the Negro in about +the position that would be expected from the capacity of his brain. If +this is so, the mental differences in the three streams of migration +to America are fully as great as the outward and manifest physical +differences and far more important. + + + * G. O. Ferguson. "The Psychology of the Negro," New York, 1916. + + +Why does the American Indian differ from the Negro, and the European +from both? This is a question on which we can only speculate. But we +shall find it profitable to study the paths by which these diverse races +found their way to America from man's primeval home. According to the +now almost universally accepted theory, all the races of mankind had +a common origin. But where did man make the change from a four-handed, +tree-dwelling little ape to a much larger, upright creature with two +hands and two feet? It is a mistake to suppose that because he is +hairless he must have originated in a warm climate. In fact quite the +opposite seems to be the case, for apparently he lost his hair because +he took to wearing the skins of slain beasts in order that he might have +not only his own hair but that of other animals as a protection from the +cold. + +In our search for the starting-place of man's slow migration to America +our first step should be to ascertain what responses to physical +environment are common to all men. If we find that all men live and +thrive best under certain climatic conditions, it is fair to assume that +those conditions prevailed in man's original home, and this conclusion +will enable us to cast out of the reckoning the regions where they do +not prevail. A study of the relations of millions of deaths to weather +conditions indicates that the white race is physically at its best when +the average temperature for night and day ranges from about 50 to 73 +degrees F. and when the air is neither extremely moist nor extremely +dry. In addition to these conditions there must be not only seasonal +changes but frequent changes from day to day. Such changes are possible +only where there is a distinct winter and where storms are of frequent +occurrence. The best climate is, therefore, one where the temperature +ranges from not much below the freezing-point at night in winter to +about 80 degrees F. by day in summer, and where the storms which bring +daily changes are frequent at all seasons. + +Surprising as it may seem, this study indicates that similar conditions +are best for all sorts of races. Finns from the Arctic Circle and +Italians of sunny Sicily have the best health and greatest energy under +practically the same conditions; so too with Frenchmen, Japanese, and +Americans. Most surprising of all, the African black man in the United +States is likewise at his best in essentially the same kind of weather +that is most favorable for his white fellow-citizens, and for Finns, +Italians, and other races. For the red race, no exact figures are +available, but general observation of the Indian's health and activity +suggests that in this respect he is at one with the rest of mankind. + +For the source of any characteristic so widespread and uniform as this +adaptation to environment we must go back to the very beginning of the +human race. Such a characteristic must have become firmly fixed in the +human constitution before primitive man became divided into races, or at +least before any of the races had left their original home and started +on their long journey to America. On the way to this continent one race +took on a dark reddish or brownish hue and its hair grew straight and +black; another became black skinned and crinkly-haired, while a +third developed a white skin and wavy blonde hair. Yet throughout the +thousands of years which brought about these changes, all the races +apparently retained the indelible constitutional impress of the climate +of their common birthplace. Man's physical adaptation to climate seems +to be a deep-seated physiological fact like the uniformity of the +temperature of the blood in all races. Just as a change in the +temperature of the blood brings distress to the individual, so a change +of climate apparently brings distress to a race. Again and again, to be +sure, on the way to America, and under many other circumstances, man has +passed through the most adverse climates and has survived, but he has +flourished and waxed strong only in certain zones. + +Curiously enough man's body and his mind appear to differ in their +climatic adaptations. Moreover, in this respect the black race, and +perhaps the red, appears to be diverse from the white. In America an +investigation of the marks of students at West Point and Annapolis +indicates that the best mental work is done when the temperature +averages not much above 40 degrees F. for night and day together. Tests +of school children in Denmark point to a similar conclusion. On the +other hand, daily tests of twenty-two Negroes at Hampton Institute for +sixteen months suggest that their mental ability may be greatest at a +temperature only a little lower than that which is best for the most +efficient physical activity. No tests of this sort have ever been made +upon Indians, but such facts as the inventiveness of the Eskimo, the +artistic development of the people of northern British Columbia and +southern Alaska, and the relatively high civilization of the cold +regions of the Peruvian plateau suggest that the Indian in this respect +is more like the white race than the black. Perhaps man's mental powers +underwent their chief evolution after the various races had left the +aboriginal home in which the physical characteristics became fixed. +Thus the races, though alike in their physical response to climate, +may possibly be different in their mental response because they have +approached America by different paths. + +Before we can understand how man may have been modified on his way from +his original home to America, we must inquire as to the geographical +situation of that home. Judging by the climate which mankind now finds +most favorable, the human race must have originated in the temperate +regions of Europe, Asia, or North America. We are not entirely without +evidence to guide to a choice of one of the three continents. There is +a scarcity of indications of preglacial man in the New World and an +abundance of such indications in the Old. To be sure, several skulls +found in America have been supposed to belong to a time before the last +glacial epoch. In every case, however, there has been something to throw +doubt on the conclusion. For instance, some human bones found at Vero +in Florida in 1915 seem to be very old. Certain circumstances, however, +suggest that possibly they may not really belong to the layers of gravel +in which they were discovered but may have been inserted at some later +time. In the Old World, on the contrary, no one doubts that many human +skulls and other parts of skeletons belong to the interglacial epoch +preceding the last glacial epoch, while some appear to date from still +more remote periods. Therefore no matter at what date man may have +come to America, it seems clear that he existed in the Old World much +earlier. This leaves us to choose between Europe and Asia. The evidence +points to central Asia as man's original home, for the general movement +of human migrations has been outward from that region and not inward. +So, too, with the great families of mammals, as we know from fossil +remains. From the earliest geological times the vast interior of Asia +has been the great mother of the world, the source from which the most +important families of living things have come. + +Suppose, then, that we place in central Asia the primitive home of +the thin-skinned, hairless human race with its adaptation to a highly +variable climate with temperatures ranging from freezing to eighty +degrees. Man could not stay there forever. He was bound to spread to +new regions, partly because of his innate migratory tendency and partly +because of Nature's stern urgency. Geologists are rapidly becoming +convinced that the mammals spread from their central Asian point of +origin largely because of great variations in climate. * Such variations +have taken place on an enormous scale during geological times. They +seem, indeed, to be one of the most important factors in evolution. +Since early man lived through the successive epochs of the glacial +period, he must have been subject to the urgency of vast climatic +changes. During the half million years more or less of his existence, +cold, stormy, glacial epochs lasting tens of thousands of years have +again and again been succeeded by warm, dry, interglacial epochs of +equal duration. + + + * W. D. Matthew. "Climate and Evolution," N. Y. Acad. Sci., 1915. + + +During the glacial epochs the interior of Asia was well watered and full +of game which supplied the primitive human hunters. With the advent +of each interglacial epoch the rains diminished, grass and trees +disappeared, and the desert spread over enormous tracts. Both men +and animals must have been driven to sore straits for lack of food. +Migration to better regions was the only recourse. Thus for hundreds +of thousands of years there appears to have been a constantly recurring +outward push from the center of the world's greatest land mass. That +push, with the consequent overcrowding of other regions, seems to have +been one of the chief forces impelling people to migrate and cover the +earth. + +Among the primitive men who were pushed outward from the Asian deserts +during a period of aridity, one group migrated northeastward toward +the Kamchatkan corner of Asia. Whether they reached Bering Sea and the +Kamchatkan shore before the next epoch of glaciation we do not know. +Doubtless they moved slowly, perhaps averaging only a few score or +a hundred miles per generation, for that is generally the way with +migrations of primitive people advancing into unoccupied territory. Yet +sometimes they may have moved with comparative rapidity. I have seen a +tribe of herdsmen in central Asia abandon its ancestral home and start +on a zigzag march of a thousand miles because of a great drought. The +grass was so scanty that there was not enough to support the animals. +The tribe left a trail of blood, for wherever it moved it infringed upon +the rights of others and so with conflict was driven onward. In some +such way the primitive wanderers were kept in movement until at +last they reached the bleak shores of the North Pacific. Even there +something--perhaps sheer curiosity--still urged them on. The green +island across the bay may have been so enticing that at last a raft of +logs was knotted together with stout withes. Perhaps at first the men +paddled themselves across alone, but the hunting and fishing proved so +good that at length they took the women and children with them, and so +advanced another step along the route toward America. At other times +distress, strife, or the search for game may have led the primitive +nomads on and on along the coast until a day came when the Asian home +was left and the New World was entered. The route by which primitive +man entered America is important because it determined the surroundings +among which the first Americans lived for many generations. It has +sometimes been thought that the red men came to America by way of the +Kurile Islands, Kamchatka, and the Aleutian Islands. If this was their +route, they avoided a migration of two or three thousand miles through +one of the coldest and most inhospitable of regions. This, however, +is far from probable. The distance from Kamchatka to the first of the +Aleutian Islands is over one hundred miles. As the island is not in +sight from the mainland, there is little chance that a band of savages, +including women, would deliberately sail thither. There is equally +little probability that they walked to the island on the ice, for the +sea is never frozen across the whole width. Nevertheless the climate may +at that time have been colder than now. There is also a chance that a +party of savages may have been blown across to the island in a storm. +Suppose that they succeeded in reaching Bering Island, as the most +Asiatic of the Aleutians is called, the next step to Copper Island would +be easy. Then, however, there comes a stretch of more than two hundred +miles. The chances that a family would ever cross this waste of ocean +are much smaller than in the first case. Still another possibility +remains. Was there once a bridge of land from Asia to America in this +region? There is no evidence of such a link between the two continents, +for a few raised beaches indicate that during recent geological times +the Aleutian Islands have been uplifted rather than depressed. + +The passage from Asia to America at Bering Strait, on the other hand, +is comparatively easy. The Strait itself is fifty-six miles wide, but +in the middle there are two small islands so that the longest stretch +of water is only about thirty-five miles. Moreover the Strait is usually +full of ice, which frequently becomes a solid mass from shore to shore. +Therefore it would be no strange thing if some primitive savages, in +hunting for seals or polar bears, crossed the Strait, even though they +had no boats. Today the people on both sides of the Strait belong to +the American race. They still retain traditions of a time when their +ancestors crossed this narrow strip of water. The Thilanottines have +a legend that two giants once fought fiercely on the Arctic Ocean. One +would have been defeated had not a man whom he had befriended cut the +tendon of his adversary's leg. The wounded giant fell into Bering Strait +and formed a bridge across which the reindeer entered America. Later +came a strange woman bringing iron and copper. She repeated her visits +until the natives insulted her, whereupon she went underground with her +fire-made treasures and came back no more. Whatever may have been the +circumstances that led the earliest families to cross from Asia to +America, they little recked that they had found a new continent and that +they were the first of the red race. + +Unless the first Americans came to the new continent by way of the +Kurile and Aleutian Islands, it was probably their misfortune to +spend many generations in the cold regions of northeastern Asia and +northwestern America. Even if they reached Alaska by the Aleutian route +but came to the islands by way of the northern end of the Kamchatkan +Peninsula, they must have dwelt in a place where the January temperature +averages -10 degrees F. and where there are frosts every month in the +year. If they came across Bering Strait, they encountered a still more +severe climate. The winters there are scarcely worse than in northern +Kamchatka, but the summers are as cold as the month of March in New York +or Chicago. + +Perhaps a prolonged sojourn in such a climate is one reason for +the stolid character of the Indians. Of course we cannot speak with +certainty, but we must, in our search for an explanation, consider the +conditions of life in the far north. Food is scanty at all times, and +starvation is a frequent visitor, especially in winter when game is hard +to get. The long periods of cold and darkness are terribly enervating. +The nervous white man goes crazy if he stays too long in Alaska. Every +spring the first boats returning to civilization carry an unduly large +proportion of men who have lost their minds because they have endured +too many dark, cold winters. His companions say of such a man, "The +North has got him." Almost every Alaskan recognizes the danger. As one +man said to a friend, "It is time I got out of here." + +"Why?" said the friend, "you seem all right. What's the matter?" + +"Well," said the other, "you see I begin to like the smell of skunk +cabbage, and, when a man gets that way, it's time he went somewhere +else." + +The skunk cabbage, by the way, grows in Alaska in great thickets ten +feet high. The man was perfectly serious, for he meant that his mind was +beginning to act in ways that were not normal. Nowhere is the strain of +life in the far north better described than in the poems of Robert W. +Service. + +Oh, the awful hush that seemed to crush me down on every hand, As I +blundered blind with a trail to find through that blank and bitter land; +Half dazed, half crazed in the winter wild, with its grim heartbreaking +woes, And the ruthless strife for a grip on life that only the sourdough +knows! North by the compass, North I pressed; river and peak and plain +Passed like a dream I slept to lose and waked to dream again. River +and plain and mighty peak--and who could stand unawed? As their summits +blazed, he could stand undazed at the foot of the throne of God. North, +aye, North, through a land accurst, shunned by the scouring brutes, And +all I heard was my own harsh word and the whine of the malamutes, Till +at last I came to a cabin squat, built in the side of a hill, And I +burst in the door, and there on the floor, frozen to death, lay Bill. * + + + * From "Ballads of a Cheechako." + + +The human organism inherits so delicate an adjustment to climate that, +in spite of man's boasted ability to live anywhere, the strain of the +frozen North eliminates the more nervous and active types of mind. Only +those can endure whose nerves lack sensitiveness and who are able to +bear long privation and the strain of hunger and cold and darkness. +Though the Indian may differ from the white man in many respects, such +conditions are probably as bad for him as for any race. For this reason +it is not improbable that long sojourns at way stations on the cold, +Alaskan route from central Asia may have weeded out certain types of +minds. Perhaps that is why the Indian, though brave, stoical, and hardy, +does not possess the alert, nervous temperament which leads to invention +and progress. + +The ancestors of the red man unwittingly chose the easiest path +to America and so entered the continent first, but this was their +misfortune. They could not inherit the land because they chose a path +whose unfavorable influence, exerted throughout centuries, left them +unable to cope with later arrivals from other directions. The parts of +America most favorable for the Indian are also best for the white man +and Negro. There the alerter minds of the Europeans who migrated in the +other direction have quickly eliminated the Indian. His long northern +sojourn may be the reason why farther south in tropical lands he is even +now at a disadvantage compared with the Negro or with the coolie from +the East Indies. In Central America, for instance, it is generally +recognized that Negroes stand the heat and moisture of the lowlands +better than Indians. According to a competent authority: "The American +Indians cannot bear the heat of the tropics even as well as the +European, not to speak of the African race. They perspire little, their +skin becomes hot, and they are easily prostrated by exertion in an +elevated temperature. They are peculiarly subject to diseases of hot +climates, as hepatic disorders, showing none of the immunity of the +African. Furthermore, the finest physical specimens of the race are +found in the colder regions of the temperate zones, the Pampas and +Patagonian Indians in the south, the Iroquois and Algonkins in +the north; whereas, in the tropics they are generally undersized, +short-lived, of inferior muscular force and with slight tolerance of +disease." * "No one," adds another observer, "could live among +the Indians of the Upper Amazon without being struck with their +constitutional dislike to heat. The impression forced itself upon my +mind that the Indian lives as a stranger or immigrant in these hot +regions." * * Thus when compared with the other inhabitants of America, +from every point of view the Indian seems to be at a disadvantage, much +of which may be due to the path which he took from the Old World to the +New. + + + * D. G. Brinton, "The American Race," pp. 34, 35. + + + * * H. W. Bates, "The Naturalist on the River Amazons." vol.II, +pp. 200, 201. + + +Before the red man lost his American heritage, he must have enjoyed it +for thousands upon thousands of years. Otherwise he never could have +become so different from his nearest relative, the Mongol. The two are +as truly distinct races as are the white man and the Malay. Nor could +the Indians themselves have become so extraordinarily diverse except +during the lapse of thousands of years. The Quichua of the cold +highlands of Peru is as different from the Maya of Yucatan or the Huron +of southern Canada as the Swede is from the Armenian or the Jew. +The separation of one stock from another has gone so far that almost +countless languages have been developed. In the United States alone +the Indians have fifty-five "families" of languages and in the whole of +America there are nearly two hundred such groups. These comprise over +one thousand distinct languages which are mutually unintelligible and at +least as different as Spanish and Italian. Such differences might arise +in a day at the Tower of Babel, but in the processes of evolution they +take thousands of years. + +During those thousands of years the red man, in spite of his Arctic +handicap, by no means showed himself wholly lacking in originality and +inventive ability. In Yucatan two or three thousand years ago the Mayas +were such good scientists and recorded their observations of the stars +so accurately that they framed a calendar more exact than any except +the one that we have used for the last two centuries. They showed still +greater powers of mind in inventing the art of writing and in their +architecture. Later we shall depict the environment under which these +things occurred; it is enough to suggest in passing that perhaps at this +period the ancestors of the Indians had capacities as great as those of +any people. Today they might possibly hold their own against the white +man, were it not for the great handicap which they once suffered because +Asia approaches America only in the cold, depressing north. + +The Indians were not the only primitive people who were driven from +central Asia by aridity. Another group pushed westward toward Europe. +They fared far better than their Indian cousins who went to the +northeast. These prospective Europeans never encountered benumbing +physical conditions like those of northeastern Asia and northwestern +America. Even when ice shrouded the northern part of Europe, the rest of +the continent was apparently favored with a stimulating climate. Then +as now, Europe was probably one of the regions where storms are most +frequent. Hence it was free from the monotony which is so deadly in +other regions. When the ice retreated our European ancestors doubtless +followed slowly in its wake. Thus their racial character was evolved in +one of the world's most stimulating regions. Privation they must have +suffered, and hardihood and boldness were absolutely essential in the +combat with storms, cold, wild beasts, fierce winds, and raging waves. +But under the spur of constant variety and change, these difficulties +were merely incentives to progress. When the time came for the people of +the west of Europe to cross to America, they were of a different caliber +from the previous immigrants. + +Two facts of physical geography brought Europe into contact with +America. One of these was the islands of the North, the other the +trade-winds of the South. Each seems to have caused a preliminary +contact which failed to produce important results. As in the northern +Pacific, so in the northern Atlantic, islands are stepping-stones from +the Old World to the New. Yet because in the latter case the islands are +far apart, it is harder to cross the water from Norway and the Lofoten +Islands to Iceland and Greenland than it is to cross from Asia by way of +the Aleutian Islands or Bering Strait. Nevertheless in the tenth century +of the Christian era bold Norse vikings made the passage in the face of +storm and wind. In their slender open ships they braved the elements +on voyage after voyage. We think of the vikings as pirates, and so +they were. But they were also diligent colonists who tilled the ground +wherever it would yield even the scantiest living. In Iceland and +Greenland they must have labored mightily to carry on the farms of which +the Sagas tell us. When they made their voyages, honest commerce was +generally in their minds quite as much as was plunder. Leif, the son of +that rough Red Eric who first settled Greenland, made a famous voyage +to Vinland, the mainland of America. Like so many other voyagers he was +bent on finding a region where men could live happily and on filling his +boats with grapes, wood, or other commodities worth carrying home. + +In view of the energy of the Norsemen, the traces of their presence +in the Western Hemisphere are amazingly slight. In Greenland a few +insignificant heaps of stones are supposed to show where some of them +built small villages. Far in the north Stefansson found fair-haired, +blue-eyed Eskimos. These may be descendants of the Norsemen, although +they have migrated thousands of miles from Greenland. In Maine the +Micmac Indians are said to have had a curious custom which they may +have learned from the vikings. When a chief died, they chose his largest +canoe. On it they piled dry wood, and on the wood they placed the body. +Then they set fire to the pile and sent the blazing boat out to sea. +Perhaps in earlier times the Micmacs once watched the flaming funeral +pyre of a fair-haired viking. As the ruddy flames leaped skyward and +were reflected in the shimmering waves of the great waters the tribesmen +must have felt that the Great Spirit would gladly welcome a chief who +came in such a blaze of glory. * + + + * For this information I am indebted to Mr. Stansbury Hagar. + + +It seems strange that almost no other traces of the strong vikings +are found in America. The explanation lies partly in the length and +difficulty of the ocean voyage, and partly in the inhospitable character +of the two great islands that served as stepping-stones from the Old +World to the New. Iceland with its glaciers, storms, and long dreary +winters is bad enough. Greenland is worse. Merely the tip of that +island was known to the Norse--and small wonder, for then as now most +of Greenland was shrouded in ice. Various Scandinavian authors, however, +have thought that during the most prosperous days of the vikings the +conditions in Greenland were not quite so bad as at the present day. One +settlement, Osterbyden, numbered 190 farms, 12 churches, 2 monasteries, +and 1 bishopric. It is even stated that apple-trees bore fruit and that +some wheat was raised. "Cattle-raising and fishing," says Pettersson, +"appear to have procured a good living.... At present the whole stock of +cattle in Greenland does not amount to 100 animals." * In those days the +ice which borders all the east coast and much of the west seems to have +been less troublesome than now. In the earliest accounts nothing is said +of this ice as a danger to navigation. We are told that the best sailing +route was through the strait north of Cape Farewell Island, where today +no ships can pass because of the ice. Since the days of the Norsemen the +glaciers have increased in size, for the natives say that certain ruins +are now buried beneath the ice, while elsewhere ruins can be seen which +have been cut off from the rest of the country by advancing glacial +tongues. + + + * O. Pettersson, "Climatic Variations in Historic and Prehistoric +Times." Svenska Hydrogrifisk--Biologiska Kommissioneur Skrifter, Haft V. +Stockholm. + + +Why the Norsemen disappeared from the Western Hemisphere we do not +exactly know, but there are interesting hints of an explanation. It +appears that the fourteenth century was a time of great distress. In +Norway the crops failed year after year because of cold and storms. +Provinces which were formerly able to support themselves by agriculture +were obliged to import food. The people at home were no longer able to +keep in touch with the struggling colony in Greenland. No supplies came +from the home land, no reenforcements to strengthen the colonists and +make them feel that they were a part of the great world. Moreover in the +late Norse sagas much is said about the ice along the Greenland coast, +which seems to have been more abundant than formerly. Even the Eskimos +seem to have been causing trouble, though formerly they had been a +friendly, peaceable people who lived far to the north and did not +disturb the settlers. In the fourteenth century, however, they began to +make raids such as are common when primitive people fall into distress. +Perhaps the storms and the advancing ice drove away the seals and +other animals, so that the Eskimos were left hungry. They consequently +migrated south and, in the fifteenth century, finally wiped out the +last of the old Norse settlers. If the Norse had established permanent +settlements on the mainland of North America, they might have persisted +to this day. As it was, the cold, bleak climate of the northern route +across the Atlantic checked their progress. Like the Indians, they had +the misfortune of finding a route to America through regions that are +not good for man. + +Though islands may be stepping-stones between the Old World and the New, +they have not been the bringers of civilization. That function in the +history of man has been left to the winds. The westerlies, however, +which are the prevailing winds in the latitude of the United States and +Europe, have not been of much importance. On the Atlantic side they were +for many centuries a barrier to contact between the Old World and the +New. On the Pacific side they have been known to blow Japanese vessels +to the shores of America contrary to the will of the mariners. Perhaps +the same thing may have happened in earlier times. Asia may thus have +made some slight contribution to primitive America, but no important +elements of civilization can be traced to this source. + +From latitude 30 degrees N. to 30 degrees S. the tradewinds prevail. As +they blow from the east, they make it easy for boats to come from Africa +to America. In comparatively recent times they brought the slave ships +from the Guinea coast to our Southern States. The African, like the +Indian, has passed through a most unfavorable environment on his way +from central Asia to America. For ages he was doomed to live in a +climate where high temperature and humidity weed out the active type +of human being. Since activity like that of Europe means death in a +tropical climate, the route by way of Africa has been if anything worse +than by Bering Strait. + +By far the most important occurrence which can be laid at the door of +the trade-winds is the bringing of the civilization of Europe and the +Mediterranean to the New World. Twice this may have happened, but +the first occurrence is doubtful and left only a slight impress. For +thousands of years the people around the Mediterranean Sea have been +bold sailors. Before 600 B.C. Pharaoh Necho, so Herodotus says, had +sent Phenician ships on a three-year cruise entirely around Africa. The +Phenicians also sailed by way of Gibraltar to England to bring tin from +Cornwall, and by 500 B.C. the Carthaginians were well acquainted with +the Atlantic coast of northern Africa. + +At some time or other, long before the Christian era, a ship belonging +to one of the peoples of the eastern Mediterranean was probably blown to +the shores of America by the steady trade-winds. Of course, no one +can say positively that such a voyage occurred. Yet certain curious +similarities between the Old World and the New enable us to infer with a +great deal of probability that it actually happened. The mere fact, for +example, that the adobe houses of the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico are +strikingly like the houses of northern Africa and Persia is no proof +that the civilization of the Old World and the New are related. A +similar physical environment might readily cause the same type of house +to be evolved in both places. When we find striking similarities +of other kinds, however, the case becomes quite different. The +constellations of the zodiac, for instance, are typified by twelve +living creatures, such as the twins, the bull, the lion, the virgin, +the crab, and the goat. Only one of the constellations, the scorpion, +presents any real resemblance to the animal for which it is named. Yet +the signs of the zodiac in Mediterranean lands and in pre-Columbian +America from Peru to southern Mexico are almost identical. Here is a +list showing the Latin and English names of the constellations and their +equivalents in the calendars of the Peruvians, Mexicans, and Mayas. * + + + * See S. Hagar, "The Bearing of Astronomy on the Problems of the +Unity or Plurality and the Probable Place of Origin of the American +Aborigines, in American Anthropologist," vol. XIV (1912), pp. 43-48. + + + Sign English Peruvian Mexican Maya + -------------------------------------------------------- + Aries Ram Llama Flayer -- + + Taurus Bull (originally Stag) + Stag Stag or Deer Stag + + Gemini Twins Man and Woman Twins Two Generals + + Cancer Crab Cuttlefish Cuttlefish Cuttlefish + + Leo Lion Puma Ocelot Ocelot + + Virgo Virgin (Mother Goddess of Cereals) + Maize Mother Maize Mother Maize Mother + + Libra Scales (originally part of Scorpio) + Forks Scorpion Scorpion + + Scorpio Scorpion Mummy Scorpion Scorpion + + Sagittarius Bowman Arrows or Spears + Hunter and War God Hunter and War God + + Capricornus Sea Goat Beard Bearded God -- + + Aquarius Water Pourer Water Water Water + + Pisces Fishes(and Knot) Knot Twisted Reeds -- + + +Notice how closely these lists are alike. The ram does not appear in +America because no such animal was known there. The nearest substitute +was the llama. In the Old World the second constellation is now called +the bull, but curiously enough in earlier days it was called the stag in +Mesopotamia. The twins, instead of being Castor and Pollux, may equally +well be a man and a woman or two generals. To landsmen not familiar +with creatures of the deep, the crab and the cuttlefish would not seem +greatly different. The lion is unknown in America, but the creature +which most nearly takes his place is the puma or ocelot. So it goes with +all the signs of the zodiac. There are little differences between +the Old World and the New, but they only emphasize the resemblance. +Mathematically there is not one chance in thousands or even millions +that such a resemblance could grow up by accident. Other similarities +between ceremonies or religious words in the Old World and the New might +be pointed out, but the zodiac is illustration enough. + +Such resemblances, however, do not indicate a permanent connection +between Mediterranean civilization and that of Central America. They do +not even indicate that any one ever returned from the Western Hemisphere +to the Eastern previous to Columbus. Nor do they indicate that the +civilization of the New World arose from that of the Old. They simply +suggest that after the people of the Mediterranean regions had become +well civilized and after those of America were also sufficiently +civilized to assimilate new ideas, a stray ship or two was blown by +the trade-winds across the Atlantic. That hypothetical voyage was the +precursor of the great journey of Columbus. Without the tradewinds this +historic discoverer never could have found the West Indies. Suppose that +a strong west wind had blown him backward on his course when his men +were mutinous. Suppose that he had been forced to beat against head +winds week after week. Is there one chance in a thousand that even his +indomitable spirit could have kept his craft headed steadily into the +west? But because there were the trade-winds to bring him, the way was +opened for the energetic people of Europe to possess the new continent. +Thus the greatest stream of immigration commenced to flow, and the New +World began to take on a European aspect. + + + +CHAPTER II. THE FORM OF THE CONTINENT + +America forms the longest and straightest bone in the earth's skeleton. +The skeleton consists of six great bones, which may be said to form a +spheroidal tetrahedron, or pyramid with a triangular base, for when a +globe with a fairly rigid surface collapses because of shrinkage, it +tends to assume this form. That is what has happened to the earth. +Geologists tell us that during the thousand million years, more or less, +since geological history began, the earth has grown cooler and hence has +contracted. Moreover some of the chemical compounds of the interior have +been transformed into other compounds which occupy less space. For +these reasons the earth appears to have diminished in size until now its +diameter is from two hundred to four hundred miles less than formerly. +During the process of contraction the crust has collapsed in four main +areas, roughly triangular in shape. Between these stand the six ridges +which we have called the bones. Each of the four depressed areas forms a +side of our tetrahedron and is occupied by an ocean. The ridges and +the areas immediately flanking the oceans form the continents. The side +which we may think of as the base contains the Arctic Ocean. The ridges +surrounding it are broad and flat. Large parts of them stand above +sea-level and form the northern portions of North America, Europe, and +Asia. A second side is the Pacific Ocean with the great ridge of the two +Americas on one hand and Asia and Australia on the other. Next comes the +side containing the Indian Ocean in the hollow and the ridges of Africa +and Australia on either hand. The last of the four sides contains the +Atlantic Ocean and is bounded by Africa and Europe on one hand and North +and South America on the other. Finally the tip of the pyramid projects +above the surrounding waters, and forms the continent of Antarctica. + +It may seem a mere accident that this tip lies near the South Pole, +while the center of the opposite face lies near the North Pole. Yet +this has been of almost infinite importance in the evolution not only of +plants and animals but of men. The reason is that this arrangement gives +rise to a vast and almost continuous land mass in comparatively high +latitudes. Only in such places does evolution appear to make rapid +progress. * + + + * W. D. Matthew, "Climate and Evolution," N. Y. Acad. Sci., 1915. + + +Evolution is especially stimulated by two conditions. The first is that +there shall be marked changes in the environment so that the process +of natural selection has full opportunity to do its work. The second is +that numerous new forms or mutants, as the biologists call them, shall +be produced. Both of these conditions are most fully met in large +continents in the temperate zone, for in such places climatic variations +are most extreme. Such variations may take the form of extreme changes +either from day to night, from season to season, or from one century to +another. In any case, as Darwin long ago pointed out, they cause some +forms of life to perish while others survive. Thus climatic variations +are among the most powerful factors in causing natural selection and +hence in stimulating evolution. Moreover it has lately been shown +that variations in temperature are one of the chief causes of organic +variation. Morgan and Plough, * for example, have discovered that when a +certain fly, called the drosophila, is subjected to extremes of heat or +cold, the offspring show an unusually strong tendency to differ from +the parents. Hence the climatic variability of the interior of large +continents in temperate latitudes provides new forms of life and then +selects some of them for preservation. The fossils found in the rocks +of the earth's crust support this view. They indicate that most of the +great families of higher animals originated in the central part of the +great land mass of Europe and Asia. A second but much smaller area of +evolution was situated in the similar part of North America. From these +two centers new forms of life spread outward to other continents. Their +movements were helped by the fact that the tetrahedral form of the earth +causes almost all the continents to be united by bridges of land. + + + * Unpublished manuscript. + + +If any one doubts the importance of the tetrahedral form, let him +consider how evolution would have been hampered if the land of the globe +were arranged as isolated masses in low latitudes, while oceans took +the place of the present northern continents. The backwardness of the +indigenous life of Africa shows how an equatorial position retards +evolution. The still more marked backwardness of Australia with its +kangaroos and duck-billed platypuses shows how much greater is the +retardation when a continent is also small and isolated. Today, no less +than in the past, the tetrahedral form of the earth and the relation of +the tetrahedron to the poles and to the equator preserve the conditions +that favor rapid evolution. They are the dominant factors in determining +that America shall be one of the two great centers of civilization. + +If North and South America be counted as one major land mass, and +Europe, Asia, and Africa as another, the two present the same general +features. Yet their mountains, plains, and coastal indentations are so +arranged that what is on the east in one is on the west in the other. +Their similarity is somewhat like that of a man's two hands placed palms +down on a table. + +On a map of the world place a finger of one hand on the western end of +Alaska and a finger of the other on the northeastern tip of Asia and +follow the main bones of the two continents. See how the chief mountain +systems, the Pacific "cordilleras," trend away from one another, +southeastward and southwestward. In the centers of the continents they +expand into vast plateaus. That of America in the Rocky Mountain region +of the United States reaches a width of over a thousand miles, +while that of Asia in Tibet and western China expands to far greater +proportions. + +From the plateaus the two cordilleras swing abruptly Atlantic-ward. The +Eurasian cordillera extends through the Hindu Kush, Caucasus, and Asia +Minor ranges to southern Europe and the Alps. Then it passes on into +Spain and ends in the volcanoes of the Canary Islands. The American +cordillera swings eastward in Mexico and continues as the isolated +ranges of the West Indies until it ends in the volcanoes of Martinique. +Central America appears at first sight to be a continuation of the +great cordillera, but really it is something quite different--a mass +of volcanic material poured out in the gap where the main chain of +mountains breaks down for a space. In neither hemisphere, however, is +the main southward sweep of the mountains really lost. In the Old World +the cordillera revives in the mountains of Syria and southern Arabia and +then runs southward along the whole length of eastern Africa. In America +it likewise revives in the mighty Andes, which take their rise fifteen +hundred miles east of the broken end of the northern cordillera in +Mexico. In the Andes even more distinctly than in Africa the cordillera +forms a mighty wall running north and south. It expands into the plateau +of Peru and Bolivia, just as its African compeer expands into that of +Abyssinia, but this is a mere incident. The main bone, so to speak, +keeps on in each case till it disappears in the great southern ocean. +Even there, however, it is not wholly lost, for it revives in the cold, +lofty continent of Antarctica, where it coalesces once more with the +other great tetrahedral ridges of Africa and Australia. + +It is easy to see that these great cordilleras have turned most of the +earth's chief rivers toward the Atlantic and the Arctic Oceans. That +is why these two oceans with an area of only forty-three million square +miles receive the drainage from twenty million square miles of +land, while the far larger Indian and Pacific Oceans with an area of +ninety-one million square miles receive the rivers of only ten million +square miles. The world's streams of civilization, like the rivers of +water, have flowed from the great cordilleras toward the Atlantic. Half +of the world's people, to be sure, are lodged in the relatively small +areas known as China and India on the Pacific side of the Old World +cordillera. Nevertheless the active streams of civilization have flowed +mainly on the other side--the side where man apparently originated. From +the earliest times the mountains have served to determine man's chief +migrations. Their rugged fastnesses hinder human movements and thereby +give rise to a strong tendency to move parallel to their bases. During +the days of primitive man the trend of the mountains apparently directed +his migrations northeastward to Bering Strait and then southeastward +and southward from one end of America to the other. In the same way the +migrations to Europe and Africa which ultimately reached America moved +mainly parallel to the mountains. + +From end to end of America the great mountains form a sharp dividing +line. The aboriginal tribes on the Pacific slope are markedly different +from those farther east across the mountains. Brinton sums the case up +admirably: + +"As a rule the tribes of the western coast are not connected with any +east of the mountains. What is more singular, although they +differ surprisingly among themselves in language, they have marked +anthropologic similarities, physical and psychical. Virchow has +emphasized the fact that the skulls from the northern point of +Vancouver's Island reveal an unmistakable analogy to those from the +southern coast of California; and this is to a degree true of many +intermediate points. Not that the crania have the same indices. On the +contrary, they present great and constant differences within the same +tribe; but these differences are analogous one to the other, and on +fixed lines. + +"There are many other physical similarities which mark the Pacific +Indians and contrast them with those east of the mountains. The eyes are +less oblique, the nose flatter, the lips fuller, the chin more pointed, +the face wider. There is more hair on the face and in the axilla, and +the difference between the sexes is much more obvious. + +"The mental character is also in contrast. The Pacific tribes are more +quiet, submissive, and docile; they have less courage, and less of that +untamable independence which is so constant a feature in the history of +the Algonquins and Iroquois." * + + + * D. G. Brinton, "The American Race," pp. 103-4. + + +Although mountains may guide migrations, the plains are the regions +where people dwell in greatest numbers. The plains in the two great land +masses of the Old World and the New have the same inverse or right- and +left-handed symmetry as the mountains. In the north the vast stretches +from the Mackenzie River to the Gulf of Mexico correspond to the plains +of Siberia and Russia from the Lena to the Black Sea. Both regions have +a vast sweep of monotonous tundras at the north and both become fertile +granaries in the center. Before the white man introduced the horse, the +ox, and iron ploughs, there prevailed an extraordinary similarity in the +habits of the plains Indians from Texas to Alberta. All alike depended +on the buffalo; all hunted him in much the same way; all used his skins +for tents and robes, his bones for tools, and his horns for utensils. +All alike made him the center of their elaborate rituals and dances. +Because the plains of North America were easy to traverse, the +relatively high culture of the ancient people of the South spread into +the Mississippi Valley. Hence the Natchez tribe of Mississippi had a +highly developed form of sun-worship and a well-defined caste system +with three grades of nobility in addition to the common people. Even +farther north, almost to the Ohio River, traces of the sun-worship of +Mexico had penetrated along the easy pathway of the plains. + +South of the great granaries of North America and Eurasia the plains are +broken, but occur again in the Orinoco region of South America and +the Sahara of Africa. Thence they stretch almost unbroken toward the +southern end of the continents. In view of the fertility of the plains +it is strange that the centers of civilization have so rarely been +formed in these vast level expanses. + +The most striking of the inverse resemblances between America and the +Old World are found along the Atlantic border. In the north of Europe +the White Sea corresponds to Hudson Bay in America. Farther toward the +Atlantic Ocean Scandinavia with its mountains, glaciers, and fiords +is similar to Labrador, although more favored because warmer. Next +the islands of Great Britain occupy a position similar to that of +Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island. But here again the eastern +climate is much more favorable than the western. Although practically +all of Newfoundland is south of England, the American island has only +six inhabitants per square mile, while the European country has six +hundred. To the east of the British Isles the North Sea, the Baltic, and +Lakes Ladoga and Onega correspond in striking fashion to the Gulf of St. +Lawrence, the river of the same name, and the Great Lakes from Ontario +to Superior. Next the indented shores of western France and the +peninsula of Spain resemble our own indented coast and the peninsula +of Florida. Here at last the American regions are as favored as the +European. Farther south the Mediterranean and Black seas penetrate far +into the interior just as does the Gulf of Mexico, and each continent is +nearly cut in two where the canals of Suez and Panama respectively have +been trenched. Finally in the southern continents a long swing eastward +in America balances a similar swing westward in Africa. Thus Cape Saint +Roque and Cape Verde are separated by scarcely 16 degrees of longitude, +although the extreme points of the Gulf of Mexico and the Black Sea are +140 degrees apart. Finally to the south of the equator the continents +swing away from one another once more, preserving everywhere the same +curious inverse relationship. + +Even more striking than the inverse resemblance of the New World to the +Old is the direct similarity of North and South America. In physical +form the two continents are astonishingly alike. Not only does each have +the typical triangular form which would naturally arise from tetrahedral +shrinking of the globe, but there are four other cardinal points of +resemblance. First, in the northeast each possesses an area of extremely +ancient rocks, the Laurentian highlands of Quebec and Labrador in North +America and the highlands of Guiana in South America. Second, in the +southeast lie highlands of old but not the most ancient rocks stretching +from northeast to southwest in the Appalachian region of North America, +and in the Brazilian mountains of the southern continent. Third, along +the western side of each continent recent crustal movements supplemented +by volcanic action on a magnificent scale have given rise to a complex +series of younger mountains, the two great cordilleras. Finally, the +spaces between the three mountain masses are occupied by a series of +vast confluent plains which in each case extend from the northern ocean +to the southern and bend around the southeastern highlands. These plains +are the newest part of America, for many of them have emerged from the +sea only in recent geological times. Taken as a whole the resemblance +between the two continents is striking. + +If these four physiographic provinces of North and South America lay in +similar latitudes in the respective continents we might expect each pair +to have a closely similar effect on life. In fauna, flora, and even in +human history they would present broad and important resemblances. As a +matter of fact, however, they are as different as can well be imagined. +Where North America, is bathed by icy waters full of seals and floating +ice South America is bathed by warm seas full of flying-fish and coral +reefs. The northern continent is broadest in the cool latitudes that are +most favorable for human activity. The southern expands most widely in +latitudes whose debilitating monotony of heat and moisture is the +worst of handicaps to human progress. The great rivers of the northern +continent correspond very closely to those of the southern. The +Mackenzie, however, is bound in the rigid bands of winter for eight +months each year, while the Orinoco, the corresponding South American +river, lies sweltering under a tropical sun which burns its grassy +plains to bitter dust even as the sharp cold reduced the Mackenzie +region to barren tundra. The St. Lawrence flows through fertile grain +fields and the homes of an active people of the temperate zone, but the +Amazon winds its slow way amid the malarious languor of vast tropical +forests in which the trees shut out the sky and the few natives are +apathetic with the eternal inertia of the hot, damp tropics. + +Only when we come to the Mississippi in the northern continent and +the Rio de la Plata in the southern do we find a pair of rivers which +correspond to any degree in the character of the life surrounding them, +as well as in their physiographic character. Yet even here there is a +vast difference, especially in the upper courses of the river. Each at +its mouth flows through a rich, fertile plain occupied by a progressive, +prosperous people. But the Rio de la Plata takes its rise in one of the +world's most backward plains, the home of uncivilized Indians, +heartless rubber adventurers, and the most rapacious of officials. Not +infrequently, the degenerate white men of these regions, yielding to +the subtle and insidious influence of the tropics, inflict the most +outrageous abuses upon the natives, and even kill them on slight +provocation. The natives in turn hate their oppressors, and when the +chance comes betray them or leave them to perish in sickness and misery. +The upper Mississippi, on the other hand, comes from a plain where +agriculture is carried on with more labor-saving devices than are found +anywhere else in the world. There States like Wisconsin and Minnesota +stand in the forefront of educational and social progress. The contrasts +between the corresponding rivers of the two Americas are typical of the +contrasts in the history of the two continents. + + + +CHAPTER III. THE GEOGRAPHIC PROVINCES OF NORTH AMERICA + +The four great physical divisions of North America--the Laurentian +highland, the Appalachian highland, the plains, and the western +cordillera--are strikingly different in form and structure. The +Laurentian highland presents a monotonous waste of rough hills, +irregular valleys, picturesque lakes, and crooked rivers. Most of it +is thinly clothed with pine trees and bushes such as the blueberry +and huckleberry. Yet everywhere the ancient rock crops out. No one can +travel there without becoming tiresomely familiar with fine-grained, +shattered schists, coarse granites, and their curiously banded +relatives, the gneisses. This rocky highland stretches from a little +north of the St. Lawrence River to Hudson Bay, around which it laps in +the form of a V, and so is known as the Archaean V or shield. + +Everywhere this oldest part of the Western Hemisphere presents +unmistakable signs of great age. The schists by their fine crumpling and +scaly flakes of mineral show that they were formed deep in the bowels +of the earth, for only there could they be subjected to the enormous +pressure needed to transform their minerals into sheets as thin as +paper. The coarse granites and gneisses proclaim still more clearly that +they must have originated far down in the depths of the earth; their +huge crystals of mica, quartz, hornblende, feldspar, and other minerals +could never have been formed except under a blanket of rock which almost +prevented the original magmas from cooling. The thousands or tens of +thousands of feet of rock which once overlay the schists and still more +the granites and gneisses must have been slowly removed by erosion, for +there was no other way to get rid of them. This process must have +taken tens of millions of years, and yet the whole work must have been +practically completed a hundred or perhaps several hundred million years +ago. We know this because the selfsame ancient eroded surface which +is exposed in the Laurentian highland is found dipping down under the +oldest known fossiliferous rocks. Traces of that primitive land surface +are found over a large part of the American continent. Elsewhere they +are usually buried under later strata laid down when the continent +sank in part below sea-level. Only in Laurentia has the land remained +steadily above the reach of the ocean throughout the millions of years. + +Today this old, old land might be as rich as many others if climate +had been kind to it. Its soil, to be sure, would in many parts be sandy +because of the large amount of quartz in the rocks. That would be a +small handicap, however, provided the soil were scores of feet deep like +the red soil of the corresponding highland in the Guiana region of +South America. But today the North American Laurentia has no soil worth +mentioning. For some reason not yet understood this was the part +of America where snow accumulated most deeply and where the largest +glaciers were formed during the last great glacial period. Not once but +many times its granite surface was shrouded for tens of thousands of +years in ice a mile or more thick. As the ice spread outward in almost +every direction, it scraped away the soil and gouged innumerable hollows +in the softer parts of the underlying rock. It left the Laurentian +highland a land of rocky ribs rising between clear lakes that fill the +hollows. The lakes are drained by rapid rivers which wind this way +and that in hopeless confusion as they strive to move seaward over the +strangely uneven surface left by the ice. Such a land is good for the +hunter and trapper. It is also good for the summer pleasure-seeker who +would fain grow strong by paddling a canoe. For the man who would make +a permanent home it is a rough, inscrutable region where one has need of +more than most men's share of courage and persistence. Not only did +the climate of the past cause the ice to scrape away the soil, but +the climate of the present is so cold that even where new soil has +accumulated the farmer can scarcely make a living. + +Around the borders of the Laurentian highland the ice accomplished a +work quite different from the devastation of the interior. One of its +chief activities was the scouring of a series of vast hollows which +now hold the world's largest series of lakes. Even the lakes of Central +Africa cannot compare with our own Great Lakes and the other smaller +lakes which belong to the same series. These additional lakes begin +in the far north with Great Bear Lake and continue through Great Slave +Lake, Lake Athabasca, and Lake Winnipeg to the Lake of the Woods, which +drains into Lake Superior. All these lakes lie on the edge of the great +Laurentian shield, where the ice, crowding down from the highland to +the north and east, was compressed into certain already existent hollows +which it widened, deepened, and left as vast bowls ready to be filled +with lakes. + +South and southwest of the Laurentian highland the great ice sheet +proved beneficial to man. There, instead of leaving the rock naked, +as in the Laurentian region, it merely smoothed off many of the +irregularities of the surface and covered large areas with the most +fertile soil. + +In doing this, to be sure, the ice-cap scoured some hollows and left a +vastly larger number of basins surrounded in whole or in part by glacial +debris. These have given rise to the innumerable lakes, large and small, +whose beauty so enhances the charms of Canada, New England, New York, +Minnesota, and other States. They serve as reservoirs for the water +supply of towns and power plants and as sources of ice and fish. Though +they take land from agriculture, they probably add to the life of +the community as much in other ways as they detract in this. Moreover +glaciation diverted countless streams from their old courses and made +them flow over falls and rapids from which water-power can easily be +developed. That is one reason why glaciated New England contains over +forty per cent of all the developed water-power in the United States. + +Far more important, however, than the glacial lakes and rivers is the +fertile glacial soil. It comes fresh from the original rocks and has not +yet been exhausted by hundreds of thousands of years of weathering. +It also has the advantage of being well mixed, for generally it is the +product of scrapings from many kinds of rocks, each of which contributes +its own particular excellence to the general composition. Take Wisconsin +as an example. * Most parts of that State have been glaciated, but in +the southwest there lies what is known as the "driftless area" because +it is not covered with the "drift" or glacial debris which is thickly +strewn over the rest of the State. A comparison of otherwise similar +counties lying within and without the driftless area shows an +astonishing contrast. In 1910 the average value of all the farm land in +twenty counties covered with drift amounted to $56.90 per acre. In six +counties partly covered with drift and partly driftless the value was +$59.80 per acre, while in thirteen counties in the driftless area it was +only $33.30 per acre. In spite of the fact that glaciation causes swamps +and lakes, the proportion of land cultivated in the glaciated areas is +larger than in the driftless. In the glaciated area 61 per cent of the +land is improved and in the driftless area only 43.5 per cent. Moreover, +even though the underlying rock and the original topography be of the +same kind in both cases, the average yield of crops per acre is greater +where the ice has done its work. Where the country rock consists of +limestone, which naturally forms a rich soil, the difference in favor +of the glaciated area amounts to only 1 or 2 per cent. Where the country +rock is sandy, the soil is so much improved by a mixture of fertilizing +limestone or even of clay and other materials that the average yield +of crops per acre in the glaciated areas is a third larger than in the +driftless. Taking everything into consideration it appears that the +ancient glaciation of Wisconsin increases the present agricultural +output by from 20 to 40 per cent. Upwards of 10,000,000 acres of +glaciated land have already been developed in the most populous parts of +the State. If the average value of all products on this area is reckoned +at $15 per acre and if the increased value of agricultural products due +to glaciation amounts to 30 per cent, then the net value of glaciation +per year to the farmers of Wisconsin is $45,000,000. This means about +$300 for each farmer in the glaciated area. + + + * R. H. Whitbeck, "Economic Aspects of Glaciation in Wisconsin", +in "Annals of the Association of American Geographers," vol. III in +(1913), pp. 62-67. + + +Wisconsin is by no means unique. In Ohio, for instance, there is also +a driftless area. * It lies in the southeast along the Ohio River. The +difference in the value of the farm land there and in the glaciated +region is extraordinary. In the driftless area the average value per +acre in 1910 was less than $24, while in the glaciated area it was +nearly $64. Year by year the proportion of the population of the State +in the unglaciated area is steadily decreasing. The difference between +the two parts of the State is not due to the underlying rock structure +or to the rainfall except to a slight degree. Some of the difference is +due to the fact that important cities such as Cleveland and Toledo lie +on the fertile level strip of land along the lake shore, but this strip +itself, as well as the lake, owes much of its character to glaciation. +It appears, therefore, that in Ohio, perhaps even more than in +Wisconsin, man prospers most in the parts where the ice has done its +work. + + + * William H. Hess, "The Influence of Glaciation in Ohio," in +"Bulletin of the Geographical Society of Philadelphia," vol. XV (1917), +pp. 19-42. + + +We have taken Wisconsin and Ohio as examples, but the effect of +glaciation in those States does not differ materially from its effect +all over southern Canada and the northern United States from New England +to Kansas and Minnesota. Each year the people of these regions are +richer by perhaps a billion dollars because the ice scraped its way down +from Laurentia and spread out over the borders of the great plains on +the west and of the Appalachian region on the east. + +We have considered the Laurentian highland and the glaciation which +centered there. Let us now turn to another highland only the northern +part of which was glaciated. The Appalachian highland, the second great +division of North America, consists of three parallel bands which extend +southwestward from Newfoundland and the St. Lawrence River to Georgia +and Alabama. The eastern and most important band consists of hills and +mountains of ancient crystalline rocks, somewhat resembling those of the +Laurentian highland but by no means so old. West of this comes a broad +valley eroded for the most part in the softer portions of a highly +folded series of sedimentary rocks which are of great age but younger +than the crystalline rocks to the east. The third band is the Alleghany +plateau, composed of almost horizontal rocks which lie so high and have +been so deeply dissected that they are often called mountains. + +The three Appalachian bands by no means preserve a uniform character +throughout their entire length. The eastern crystalline band has its +chief development in the northeast. There it comprises the whole of New +England and a large part of the maritime provinces of Canada as well as +Newfoundland. Its broad development in New England causes that region to +be one of the most clearly defined natural units of the United States. +Ancient igneous rocks such as granite lie intricately mingled with old +and highly metamorphosed sediments. Since some of the rocks are hard and +others soft and since all have been exposed to extremely long erosion, +the topography of New England consists typically of irregular masses +of rounded hills free from precipices. Here and there hard masses of +unusually resistant rock stand up as isolated rounded heights, like +Mount Katahdin in Maine. They are known as "monadnocks" from the +mountain of that name in southern New Hampshire. In other places larger +and more irregular masses of hard rock form mountain groups like the +White Mountains, the Green Mountains, and the Berkshires, each of which +is merely a great series of monadnocks. + +In the latitude of southern New York the crystalline rocks are +compressed into narrow compass and lose their mountainous character. +They form the irregular hills on which New York City itself is built and +which make the suburbs of Westchester County along the eastern Hudson +so diverse and beautiful. To the southeast the topography of the old +crystalline band becomes still less pronounced, as may be seen in the +rolling, fertile hills around Philadelphia. Farther south the band +divides into two parts, the mountains proper and the Piedmont plateau. +The mountains begin at the Blue Ridge, which in Virginia raises its +even-topped heights mile after mile across the length of that State. In +North Carolina, however, they lose their character as a single ridge +and expand into the broad mass of the southern Appalachians. There Mount +Mitchell dominates the eastern part of the American continent and is +surrounded by over thirty other mountains rising to a height of at least +six thousand feet. The Piedmont plateau, which lies at the eastern foot +of the Blue Ridge, is not really a plateau but a peneplain or ancient +lowland worn almost to a plain. It expands to a width of one hundred +miles in Virginia and the Carolinas and forms the part of those States +where most of the larger towns are situated. Among its low gentle +heights there rises an occasional little monadnock like Chapel Hill, +where the University of North Carolina lies on a rugged eminence which +strikingly recalls New England. For the most part, however, the hills +of the Piedmont region are lower and more rounded than those in +the neighborhood of Philadelphia. The country thus formed has many +advantages, for it is flat enough to be used for agriculture and yet +varied enough to be free from the monotony of the level plains. + +The prolonged and broken inner valley forming the second band of the +Appalachians was of some importance as a highway in the days of the +Indians. Today the main highways of traffic touch it only to cross it as +quickly as possible. From Lake Champlain it trends straight southward in +the Hudson Valley until the Catskills have been passed. Then, while the +railroads and all the traffic go on down the gorge of the Hudson to +New York, the valley swings off into Pennsylvania past Scranton, +Wilkesbarre, and Harrisburg. There the underlying rock consists of a +series of alternately hard and soft layers which have been crumpled up +much as one might wrinkle a rug with one's foot. The pressure involved +in the process changed and hardened the rocks so much that the coal +which they contain was converted into anthracite, the finest coal in all +the world and the only example of its kind. Even the famous Welsh coal +has not been so thoroughly hardened. During a long period of erosion the +tops of the folded layers were worn off to a depth of thousands of feet +and the whole country was converted into an almost level plain. Then +in the late geological period known as the early Tertiary the land was +lifted up again, and once more erosion went on. The soft rocks were thus +etched away until broad valleys were formed. The hard layers were left +as a bewildering succession of ridges with flat tops. A single ridge +may double back and forth so often that the region well deserves the old +Indian name of the "Endless Mountains." Southwestward the valley grows +narrower, and the ridges which break its surface become straighter. +Everywhere they are flat-topped, steep-sided, and narrow, while between +them lie parts of the main valley floor, flat and fertile. Here in the +south, even more clearly than in the north, the valley is bordered +on the east by the sharply upstanding range of the crystalline +Appalachians, while on the west with equal regularity it comes to an end +in an escarpment which rises to the Alleghany plateau. + +This plateau, the third great band of the Appalachians, begins on the +south side of the Mohawk Valley. To the north its place is taken by +the Adirondacks, which are an outlier of the great Laurentian area of +Canada. The fact that the outlier and the plateau are separated by the +low strip of the Mohawk Valley makes this the one place where the highly +complex Appalachian system can easily be crossed. If the Alleghany +plateau joined the Adirondacks, Philadelphia instead of New York would +be the greatest city of America. Where the plateau first rises on the +south side of the Mohawk, it attains heights of four thousand feet in +the Catskill Mountains. We think of the Catskills as mountains, but +their steep cliffs and table-topped heights show that they are really +the remnants of a plateau, the nearly horizontal strata of which +have not yet been worn away. Westward from the Catskills the plateau +continues through central New York to western Pennsylvania. Those who +have traveled on the Pennsylvania Railroad may remember how the railroad +climbs the escarpment at Altoona. Farther east the train has passed +alternately through gorges cut in the parallel ridges and through +fertile open valleys forming the main floor of the inner valley. Then it +winds up the long ascent of the Alleghany front in a splendid horseshoe +curve. At the top, after a short tunnel, the train emerges in a wholly +different country. The valleys are without order or system. They wind +this way and that. The hills are not long ridges but isolated bits left +between the winding valleys. Here and there beds of coal blacken the +surface, for here we are among the rocks from which the world's largest +coal supply is derived. Since the layers lie horizontally and have never +been compressed, the same material which in the inner valley has been +changed to hard, clean-burning anthracite here remains soft and smoky. + +In its southwestern continuation through West Virginia and Kentucky +to Tennessee the plateau maintains many of its Pennsylvanian +characteristics, but it now rises higher and becomes more inaccessible. +The only habitable portions are the bottoms of the valleys, but they are +only wide enough to support a most scanty population. Between them most +of the land is too rough for anything except forests. Hence the people +who live at the bottoms of the valleys are strangely isolated. They see +little or nothing of the world at large or even of their neighbors. The +roads are so few and the trails so difficult that the farmers cannot +easily take their produce to market. Their only recourse has been to +convert their bulky corn into whisky, which occupied little space in +proportion to its value. Since the mountaineer has no other means of +getting ready money, it is not strange that he has become a moonshiner +and has fought bitterly for what he genuinely believed to be his rights +in that occupation. Education has not prospered on the plateau because +the narrowness of the valleys causes the population to be too poor and +too scattered to support schools. For the same reason feuds grow up. +When people live by themselves they become suspicious. Not being used to +dealing with their neighbors, they suspect the motives of all but their +intimate friends. Moreover, in those deep valleys, with their steep +sides and their general inaccessibility, laws cannot easily be enforced, +and therefore each family takes the law into its own hands. + +Today the more rugged parts of the Appalachian system are chiefly +important as a hindrance to communication. On the Atlantic slope of the +old crystalline band there are great areas of gentle relief where an +abundant population can dwell. Westward on the edges of the plateau and +the plains beyond a still greater population can find a living, but in +the intervening space there is opportunity for only a few. The great +problem is to cross the mountains as easily as possible. Each accessible +crossing-place is associated with a city. Boston, as well as New York, +owes much to the low Mohawk-Hudson route, but is badly handicapped +because it has no easy means of crossing the eastern crystalline band. +Philadelphia, on the other hand, benefits from the fact that in its +vicinity the crystallizes are low and can readily be crossed even +without the aid of the valleys of the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. +It is handicapped, however, by the Alleghany escarpment at Altoona, even +though this is lower there than farther south. Baltimore, in the same +way, owes much of its growth to the easy pathways of the Susquehanna +on the north and the Potomac on the south. Farther south both the +crystalline band and the Alleghany plateau become more difficult to +traverse, so that communication between the Atlantic coast and the +Mississippi Valley is reduced to small proportions. Happy is New York +in its situation where no one of the three bands of the Appalachians +opposes any obstacle. The plains of North America form the third of the +four main physical divisions of the continent. For the most part they +lie between the great western cordillera on one side and the Laurentian +and Appalachian highlands on the other. Yet they lap around the southern +end of the Appalachians and run far up the Atlantic coast to New York. +They remained beneath the sea till a late date, much later than the +other three divisions. They were not, however, covered with deep water +like that of the abysmal oceans, but only with shallow seas from which +the land at times emerged. In spite of the old belief to the contrary, +the continents appear to be so permanent that they have occupied +practically their present positions from the remotest geological times. +They have moved slowly up and down, however, so that some parts have +frequently been submerged, and the plains are the parts that remained +longest under water. + +The plains of North America may be divided into four parts according +to the character of their surface: the Atlantic coastal plain, the +prairies, the northwestern peneplain, and the southwestern high plains. +The Atlantic coastal plain lies along the Atlantic coast from New York +southward to Florida and Alabama. It also forms a great embayment up the +Mississippi Valley as far as the Ohio River, and it extends along the +shore of the Gulf of Mexico to the Rio Grande. The chief characteristic +of this Atlantic and Gulf coastal plain is its belted nature. One layer +of rocks is sandy, another consists of limestone, and a third of clay. +When uplifted and eroded each assumes its own special topography and is +covered with its own special type of vegetation. Thus in South Carolina +and Georgia the crystalline Piedmont band of the Appalachian province +is bordered on the southeast by a belt of sandstone. This rock is so +far from the sea and has been raised so high above it that erosion has +converted it into a region of gentle hills, whose tops are six hundred +or seven hundred feet above sea-level. Its sandy soil is so poor that +farming is difficult. The hills are largely covered with pine, yielding +tar and turpentine. Farther seaward comes a broad band of younger rock +which forms a clayey soil or else a yellow sandy loam. These soils are +so rich that splendid cotton crops can be raised, and hence the region +is thickly populated. Again there comes a belt of sand, the so-called +"pine barrens," which form a poor section about fifty miles inland from +the coast. Finally the coastal belt itself has emerged from beneath the +sea so recently and lies so nearly at sea-level that it has not been +greatly eroded, and is still covered with numerous marshes and swamps. +The rich soil and the moisture are good for rice, but the region is so +unhealthy and so hard to drain that only small parts are inhabited. + +Everywhere in the coastal plain this same belted character is more +or less evident. It has much to do with all sorts of activities from +farming to politics. On consulting the map showing the cotton production +of the United States in 1914, one notices the two dark bands in the +southeast. One of them, extending from the northwestern part of South +Carolina across Georgia and Alabama, is due to the fertile soil of +the Piedmont region. The other, lying nearer the sea, begins in North +Carolina and extends well into Alabama before it swings around to the +northwest toward the area of heavy production along the Mississippi. It +is due to the fertile soil of that part of the coastal plain known +as the "cotton belt." Portions of it are called the "black belt," not +because of the colored population, but because of the darkness of the +soil. Since this land has always been prosperous, it has regularly been +conservative in politics. + +The Atlantic coastal plain is by no means the only part of the United +States where the fertility of the soil is the dominant fact in the life +of the people. Because of their rich soil the prairies which extend from +western Ohio to the Missouri River and northward into Canada are fast +becoming the most steadily prosperous part of America. They owe their +surpassing richness largely to glaciation. We have already seen how the +coming of the ice-sheet benefited the regions on the borders of the old +Laurentian highland. This same benefit extended over practically the +whole of what are now the prairies. Before the advent of the ice the +whole section consisted of a broadly banded coastal plain much older +than that of the Atlantic coast. When the ice with its burden of +material scraped from the hills of the north passed over the coastal +plain, it filled the hollows with rich new soil. The icy streams that +flowed out from the glaciers were full of fine sediment, which they +deposited over enormous flood plains. During dry seasons the winds +picked up this dust and spread it out still more widely, forming the +great banks of yellow loess whose fertile soil mantles the sides of many +a valley in the Mississippi basin. Thus glaciers, streams, and winds +laid down ten, twenty, fifty, or even one hundred feet of the finest, +most fertile soil. We have already seen how much the soil was improved +by glaciation in Wisconsin and Ohio. It was in the prairie States that +this improvement reached a maximum. The soil there is not only fine +grained and free from rocks, but it consists of particles brought from +widely different sources and is therefore full of all kinds of plant +foods. In most parts of the world a fine-grained soil is formed only +after a prolonged period of weathering which leaches out many valuable +chemical elements. In the prairies, however, the soil consists largely +of materials that were mechanically ground to dust by the ice without +being exposed to the action of weathering. Thus they have reached their +present resting-places without the loss of any of their original plant +foods. When such a soil is found with a climate which is good for crops +and which is also highly stimulating to man, the combination is almost +ideal. There is some justification for those who say that the north +central portion of the United States is more fortunate than any other +part of the earth. Nowhere else, unless in western Europe, is there such +a combination of fertile soil, fine climate, easy communication, and +possibilities for manufacturing and commerce. Iron from that outlier of +the Laurentian highland which forms the peninsula of northern Michigan +can easily be brought by water almost to the center of the prairie +region. Coal in vast quantities lies directly under the surface of this +region, for the rock of the ancient coastal plain belongs to the same +Pennsylvanian series which yields most of the world's coal. Here man is, +indeed, blessed with resources and opportunities scarcely equaled in any +other part of the world, and finds the only drawbacks to be the extremes +of temperature in both winter and summer and the remoteness of the +region from the sea. Because of the richness of their heritage and +because they live safely protected from threats of foreign aggression, +the people who live in this part of the world are in danger of being +slow to feel the currents of great world movements. + +The western half of the plains of North America consists of two parts +unlike either the Atlantic coastal plain or the prairies. From South +Dakota and Nebraska northward far into Canada and westward to the Rocky +Mountains there extends an ancient peneplain worn down to gentle relief +by the erosion of millions of years. It is not so level as the plains +farther east nor so low. Its western margin reaches heights of four or +five thousand feet. Here and there, especially on the western side, it +rises to the crest of a rugged escarpment where some resistant layer of +rocks still holds itself up against the forces of erosion. Elsewhere its +smooth surfaces are broken by lava-capped mesas or by ridges where some +ancient volcanic dike is so hard that it has not yet been worn away. +The soil, though excellent, is thinner and less fertile than in the +prairies. Nevertheless the population might in time become as dense and +prosperous as almost any in the world if only the rainfall were more +abundant and good supplies of coal were not quite so far away. Yet in +spite of these handicaps the northwestern peneplain with its vast +open stretches, its cattle, its wheat, and its opportunities is a most +attractive land. + +South of Nebraska and Wyoming the "high plains," the last of the four +great divisions of the plains, extend as far as western Texas. These, +like the prairies, have been built up by deposits brought from other +regions. In this case, however, the deposits consist of gravel, sand, +and silt which the rivers have gradually washed out from the Rocky +Mountains. As the rivers have changed their courses from one bed to +another, layer after layer has been laid down to form a vast plain +like a gently sloping beach hundreds of miles wide. In most places the +streams are no longer building this up. Frequently they have carved +narrow valleys hundreds of feet deep in the materials which they +formerly deposited. Elsewhere, however, as in western Kansas, most of +the country is so flat that the horizon is like that of the ocean. It +seems almost incredible that at heights of four or five thousand feet +the plains can still be so wonderfully level. When the grass is green, +when the spring flowers are at their best, it would be hard to find a +picture of greater beauty. Here the buffalo wandered in the days before +the white man destroyed them. Here today is the great cattle region of +America. Here is the region where the soul of man is filled with the +feeling of infinite space. + +To the student of land forms there is an ever-present contrast between +those due directly to the processes which build up the earth's surface +and those due to the erosive forces which destroy what the others have +built. In the great plains of North America two of the divisions, that +is, the Atlantic coastal plain of the southeast and the peneplain of the +northwest, owe their present form to the forces of erosion. The other +two, that is, the prairies and the high plains, still bear the impress +of the original processes of deposition and have been modified to only a +slight extent by erosion. + +A similar but greater contrast separates the mountains of eastern North +America and those of the western cordillera--the fourth and last of the +main physical divisions of the continent. In both the Laurentian and +the Appalachian highlands the eastern mountains show no trace of the +original forms produced by the faulting of the crust or by volcanic +movements. All the original distinctive topography has been removed. +What we see today is the product of erosion working upon rocks that were +thousands of feet beneath the surface when they were brought to their +present positions. In the western cordillera, on the contrary, although +much of the present form of the land is due to erosion, a vast amount is +due directly to so-called "tectonic" activities such as the breaking of +the crust, the pouring out of molten lavas, and the bursting forth of +explosive eruptions. + +The character of these tectonic activities has differed widely in +different parts of the cordillera. A broad upheaval of great blocks +of the earth's crust without tilting or disturbance has produced the +plateaus of Arizona and Utah. The gorges that have been rapidly cut +into such great upheaved blocks form part of the world's most striking +scenery. The Grand Canyon of the Colorado with its tremendous platforms, +mesas, and awe-inspiring cliffs could have been formed in no other way. +Equally wonderful are some of the narrow canyons in the broadly upheaved +plateaus of southern Utah where the tributaries of the Virgin and other +rivers have cut red or white chasms thousands of feet deep and so narrow +that at their bottoms perpetual twilight reigns. It is a curious proof +of the fallibility of human judgment that these great gorges are often +cited as the most striking examples of the power of erosion. Wonderful +as these gorges certainly are, the Piedmont plain or the northwestern +peneplain is far more wonderful. Those regions had their grand canyons +once upon a time, but now erosion has gone so far that it has reduced +the whole area to the level of the bottoms of the gorges. Though such +a fate is in store for all the marvelous scenery of the western +cordillera, we have it, for the present at least, as one of the most +stimulating panoramas of our American environment. No man worthy of the +name can sit on the brink of a great canyon or gaze up from the dark +depths of a gorge without a sense of awe and wonder. There, as in few +other places, Nature shows with unmistakable grandeur the marvelous +power and certainty with which her laws work out the destiny of the +universe. + +In other parts of the great American cordillera some of the simplest and +youngest mountain ridges in the world are found. In southern Oregon, for +example, lava blocks have been broken and uplifted and now stand with +steep fresh faces on one side and with the old surface inclining more +gently on the other. Tilted blocks on a larger scale and much more +deeply carved by erosion are found in the lofty St. Elias Mountain of +Alaska, where much of the erosion has been done by some of the world's +greatest glaciers. The western slope of the Wasatch Mountains facing the +desert of Utah is the wall of a huge fracture, as is the eastern face +of the Sierra Nevadas facing the deserts of Nevada. Each of these great +faces has been deeply eroded. At the base, however, recent breaking and +upheaval of the crust have given rise to fresh uneroded slopes. Some +take the form of triangular facets, where a series of ridges has been +sliced across and lifted up by a great fault. Others assume the shape +of terraces which sometimes continue along the base of the mountains for +scores of miles. In places they seem like bluffs cut by an ancient lake, +but suddenly they change their altitude or pass from one drainage area +to another as no lake-formed strand could possibly do. + +In other parts of the cordillera, mountains have been formed by a single +arching of the crust without any breaking. Such is the case in the Uinta +Mountains of northwestern Utah and in some of the ranges of the Rocky +Mountains in Colorado. The Black Hills of South Dakota, although lying +out in the plains, are an example of the same kind of structure and +really belong to the cordillera. In them the layers of the earth's crust +have been bent up in the form of a great dome. The dome structure, to be +sure, has now been largely destroyed, for erosion has long been active. +The result is that the harder strata form a series of concentric ridges, +while between them are ring-shaped valleys, one of which is so level and +unbroken that it is known to the Indians as the "race-course." In +other parts of the cordillera great masses of rock have been pushed +horizontally upon the tops of others. In Montana, for example, the +strata of the plains have been bent down and overridden by those of +the mountains. These are only a few of the countless forms of breaking, +faulting, and crumpling which have given to the cordillera an almost +infinite variety of scenery. + +The work of mountain building is still active in the western cordillera, +as is evident from such an event as the San Francisco earthquake. In the +Owens Valley region in southern California the gravelly beaches of old +lakes are rent by fissures made within a few years by earthquakes. In +other places fresh terraces on the sides of the valley mark the lines of +recent earth movements, while newly formed lakes lie in troughs at +their base. These Owens Valley movements of the crust are parts of the +stupendous uplift which has raised the Sierra Nevada to heights of over +14,000 feet a few miles to the west. Along the fault line at the base +of the mountains there runs for over 9.50 miles the world's longest +aqueduct, which was built to relieve Los Angeles from the danger of +drought. It is a strange irony of fate that so delicate and so vital +an artery of civilization should be forced to lie where a renewal of +earthquake movements may break it at any time. Yet there was no other +place to put it, for in spite of man's growing control of nature he +was forced to follow the topography of the region in which he lived and +labored. + +On the southern side of the Mohave Desert a little to the east of where +the Los Angeles aqueduct crosses the mountains in its southward course, +the record of an earthquake is preserved in unique fashion. The steep +face of a terrace is covered with trees forty or fifty years old. Near +the base the trees are bent in peculiar fashion. Their lower portions +stand at right angles to the steeply sloping face of the terrace, but +after a few feet the trunks bend upward and stand vertically. Clearly +when these trees were young the terrace was not there. Then an +earthquake came. One block of the earth's crust was dropped down while +another was raised up. Along the dividing line a terrace was formed. The +trees that happened to stand along the line were tilted and left in a +slanting position on the sloping surface between the two parts of the +earth's crust. They saw no reason to stop growing, but, turning their +tips toward the sky, they bravely pushed upward. Thus they preserve in a +striking way the record of this recent movement of the earth's crust. + +Volcanoes as well as earth movements have occurred on a grand scale +within a few hundred years in the cordillera. Even where there is today +no visible volcanic activity, recent eruptions have left traces as +fresh as if they had occurred but yesterday. On the borders of the Grand +Canyon of the Colorado one can see not only fresh cones of volcanic +ash but lava which has poured over the edges of the cliffs and hardened +while in the act of flowing. From Orizaba and Popocatepetl in Mexico +through Mount San Francisco in Arizona, Lassen Peak and Mount Shasta +in California, Mount Rainier with its glaciers in the Cascade Range of +Washington, and Mount Wrangell in Alaska, the cordillera contains an +almost unbroken chain of great volcanoes. All are either active at +present or have been active within very recent times. In 1912 Mount +Katmai, near the northwestern end of the volcanic chain, erupted so +violently that it sent dust around the whole world. The presence of the +dust caused brilliant sunsets second only to those due to Krakatoa +in 1883. It also cut off so much sunlight that the effect was felt in +measurements made by the Smithsonian Institution in the French provinces +of North Africa. In earlier times, throughout the length of the +cordillera great masses of volcanic material were poured out to form +high plateaus like those of southern Mexico or of the Columbia River in +Oregon. In Utah some of these have been lifted up so that heavy caps of +lava now form isolated sheets topping lofty plateaus. There the lowland +shepherds drive their sheep in summer and live in absolute isolation for +months at a time. There, as everywhere, the cordillera bears the marks +of mountains in the making, while the mountains of eastern America bear +the marks of those that were made when the world was young. + +The geysers and hot springs of the Yellowstone are another proof of +recent volcanic activity. They owe their existence to hot rocks which +lie only a little way below the surface and which not long ago were +molten lava. The terraces and platforms built by the geysers are another +evidence that the cordillera is a region where the surface of the earth +is still being shaped into new forms by forces acting from within. The +physical features of the country are still in process of construction. + +In spite of the importance of the constructive forces which are still +building up the mountains, much of the finest scenery of the cordillera +is due to the destructive forces of erosion. The majestic Columbia +Canyon, like others of its kind, is the work of running water. Glaciers +also have done their part. During the glacial period the forces which +control the paths of storms did not give to the cordillera region such +an abundance of snow as was sifted down upon Laurentia. Therefore no +such huge continental glaciers have flowed out over millions of square +miles of lower country. Nevertheless among the mountains themselves the +ice gouged and scraped and smoothed and at its lower edges deposited +great moraines. Its work today makes the cliffs and falls of the +Yosemite one of the world's most famous bits of scenery. This scenery +is young and its beauty will pass in a short time as geology counts the +years, for in natural scenery as in human life it is youth that makes +beauty. The canyons, waterfalls, and geysers of the cordillera share +their youth with the lakes, waterfalls, and rapids due to recent +glaciation in the east. Nevertheless, though youth is the condition of +most striking beauty, maturity and old age are the condition of greatest +usefulness. The young cordillera with its mountains still in the making +can support only a scanty population, whereas the old eastern mountains, +with the lines of long life engraved upon every feature, open their arms +to man and let him live and prosper. + +It is not enough that we should picture merely the four divisions of the +land of our continent. We must see how the land meets the sea. In low +latitudes in both the Old World and the New, the continents have tended +to emerge farther and farther from the sea during recent geological +times. Hence on the eastern side of both North and South America from +New Jersey to Brazil the ocean is bordered for the most part by coastal +plains, uplifted from the sea only a short time ago. On the mountainous +western side of both continents, however, the sea bottom shelves +downward so steeply that its emergence does not give rise to a plain +but merely to a steep slope on which lie a series of old beaches several +hundred and even one thousand feet above the present shore line. Such +conditions are not favorable to human progress. The coastal plains +produced by uplift of the land may be fertile and may furnish happy +homes for man, but they do not permit ready access to the sea because +they have no harbors. The chief harbor of Mexico at Vera Cruz is merely +a little nick in the coast-line and could never protect a great fleet, +even with the help of its breakwater. Where an enterprising city like +Los Angeles lies on the uplifted Pacific coast, it must spend millions +in wresting a harbor from the very jaws of the sea. + +In high latitudes in all parts of the world the land has recently been +submerged beneath the sea. In some places, especially those like the +coasts of Virginia and central California which lie in middle latitudes, +a recent slight submergence has succeeded a previous large emergence. +Wherever such sinking of the land has taken place, it has given rise to +countless bays, gulfs, capes, islands, and fiords. The ocean water has +entered the valleys and has drowned their lower parts. It has surrounded +the bases of hills and left them as islands; it has covered low valleys +and has created long sounds where traffic may pass with safety even in +great storms. Though much land has thus been lost which would be good +for agriculture, commerce has been wonderfully stimulated. Through Long +Island Sound there pass each day hundreds of boats which again and again +would suffer distress and loss if they were not protected from the open +sea. It is no accident that of the eight largest metropolitan districts +in the United States five have grown up on the shores of deep inlets +which are due to the drowning of valleys. + +Nor must the value of scenery be forgotten in a survey such as this. +Year by year we are learning that in this restless, strenuous American +life of ours vacations are essential. We are learning, too, that the +love of beauty is one of Nature's greatest healers. Regions like the +coast of Maine and Puget Sound, where rugged land and life-giving ocean +interlock, are worth untold millions because of their inspiring beauty. +It is indeed marvelous that in the latitude of the northern United +States and southern Canada so many circumstances favorable to human +happiness are combined. Fertile soil, level plains, easy passage across +the mountains, coal, iron, and other metals imbedded in the rocks, and +a stimulating climate, all shower their blessings upon man. And with all +these blessings goes the advantage of a coast which welcomes the mariner +and brings the stimulus of foreign lands, while at the same time it +affords rest and inspiration to the toilers here at home. + + + +CHAPTER IV. THE GARMENT OF VEGETATION + +No part of the world can be truly understood without a knowledge of its +garment of vegetation, for this determines not only the nature of the +animal inhabitants but also the occupations of the majority of +human beings. Although the soil has much to do with the character of +vegetation, climate has infinitely more. It is temperature which causes +the moss and lichens of the barren tundras in the far north to be +replaced by orchids, twining vines, and mahogany trees near the equator. +It is rainfall which determines that vigorous forests shall grow in the +Appalachians in latitudes where grasslands prevail in the plains and +deserts in the western cordillera. + +Forests, grass-lands, deserts, represent the three chief types of +vegetation on the surface of the earth. Each is a response to certain +well-defined conditions of climate. Forests demand an abundance of +moisture throughout the entire season of growth. Where this season +lasts only three months the forest is very different from where it lasts +twelve. But no forest can be vigorous if the ground habitually becomes +dry for a considerable period during which the weather is warm enough +for growth. Desert vegetation, on the other hand, which consists +primarily of bushes with small, drought-resistant leaves, needs only a +few irregular and infrequent showers in order to endure long periods +of heat and drought. Discontinuity of moisture is the cause of deserts, +just as continuity is the necessary condition of forest growth. Grasses +prevail where the climatic conditions are intermediate between those of +the forest and the desert. Their primary requisite is a short period of +fairly abundant moisture with warmth enough to ripen their seeds. Unlike +the trees of the forests, they thrive even though the wet period be only +a fraction of the entire time that is warm enough for growth. Unlike +the bushes of the desert, they rarely thrive unless the ground is +well soaked for at least a few weeks. Most people think of forests as +offering far more variety than either deserts or grass-lands. To them +grass is just grass, while trees seem to possess individuality. In +reality, however, the short turfy grass of the far north differs from +the four-foot fronds of the bunchy saccaton grass of Arizona, and from +the far taller tufts of the plumed pampas grass, much more than the pine +tree differs from the palm. Deserts vary even more than either forests +or grass-lands. The traveler in the Arizona desert, for example, has +been jogging across a gravelly plain studded at intervals of a few yards +with little bushes a foot high. The scenery is so monotonous and the +noon sunshine so warm that he almost falls asleep. When he wakes from +his daydream, so weird are his surroundings that he thinks he must be in +one of the places to which Sindbad was carried by the roc. The trail has +entered an open forest of joshuas, as the big tree yuccas are called in +Arizona. Their shaggy trunks and uncouth branches are rendered doubly +unkempt by swordlike, ashy-yellow dead leaves that double back on the +trunk but refuse to fall to the ground. At a height of from twelve to +twenty feet each arm of the many-branched candelabrum ends in a stiff +rosette of gray-green spiky leaves as tough as hemp. Equally bizarre and +much more imposing is a desert "stand" of giant suhuaros, great fluted +tree-cacti thirty feet or more high. In spite of their size the suhuaros +are desert types as truly as is sagebrush. + +In America the most widespread type of forest is the evergreen +coniferous woodland of the north. Its pines, firs, spruces, hemlocks, +and cedars which are really junipers, cover most of Canada together with +northern New England and the region south of Lakes Huron and Superior. +At its northern limit the forest looks thoroughly forlorn. The gnarled +and stunted trees are thickly studded with half-dead branches bent down +by the weight of snow, so that the lower ones sweep the ground, while +the upper look tired and discouraged from their struggle with an +inclement climate. Farther south, however, the forest loses this +aspect of terrific struggle. In Maine, for example, it gives a pleasant +impression of comfortable prosperity. Wherever the trees have room to +grow, they are full and stocky, and even where they are crowded together +their slender upspringing trunks look alert and energetic. The signs +of death and decay, indeed, appear everywhere in fallen trunks, dead +branches, and decayed masses of wood, but moss and lichens, twinflowers +and bunchberries so quickly mantle the prostrate trees that they do not +seem like tokens of weakness. Then, too, in every open space thousands +of young trees bank their soft green masses so gracefully that one has +an ever-present sense of pleased surprise as he comes upon this younger +foliage out of the dim aisles among the bigger trees. + +Except on their southern borders the great northern forests are not good +as a permanent home for man. The snow lies so late in the spring and the +summers are so short and cool that agriculture does not prosper. As a +home for the fox, marten, weasel, beaver, and many other fur-bearing +animals, however, the coniferous forests are almost ideal. That is why +the Hudson's Bay Company is one of the few great organizations which +have persisted and prospered from colonial times to the present. As long +ago as 1670 Charles II granted to Prince Rupert and seventeen noblemen +and gentlemen a charter so sweeping that, aside from their own powers +of assimilation, there was almost no limit to what the "Governor and +Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson's Bay" might +acquire. By 1749, nearly eighty years after the granting of the charter, +however, the Company had only four or five forts on the coast of Hudson +Bay, with about 120 regular employees. Nevertheless the poor Indians +were so ignorant of the value of their furs and the consequent profits +were so large that, after Canada had been ceded to Great Britain in +1763, a rival organization, the Northwest Fur Company of Montreal, was +established. Then there began an era that was truly terrible for the +Indians of the northern forest. In their eagerness to get the valuable +furs the companies offered the Indians strong liquors in an abundance +that ruined the poor red man, body and soul. Moreover the fur-bearing +animals were killed not only in winter but during the breeding season. +Many mother animals were shot and their little ones were left to die. +Hence in a short time the wild creatures of the great northern forest +were so scarce that the Indians well-nigh starved. + +In spite of this slaughter of fur-bearing animals, the same Company +still draws fat dividends from the northern forest and its furry +inhabitants. If the forest had been more habitable, it would long ago +have been occupied by settlers, as have its warmer, southern portions, +and the Company would have ceased to exist. Aside from the regions too +cold or too dry to support any vegetation whatever, few parts of the +world are more deadening to civilization than the forests of the far +north. Near the northern limit of the great evergreen forest of North +America wild animals are so rare that a family of hunting Indians can +scarcely find a living in a thousand square miles. Today the voracious +maw of the daily newspaper is eating the spruce and hemlock by means of +relentless saws and rattling pulp-mills. In the wake of the lumbermen +settlers are tardily spreading northward from the more favored tracts +in northern New England and southern Canada. Nevertheless most of the +evergreen forests of the north must always remain the home of wild +animals and trappers, a backward region in which it is easy for a great +fur company to maintain a practical monopoly. + +Outliers of the pine forest extend far down into the United States. The +easternmost lies in part along the Appalachians and in part along the +coastal plain from southern New Jersey to Texas. The coastal forest +is unlike the other coniferous forests in two respects, for its +distribution and growth are not limited by long winters but by sandy +soil which quickly becomes dry. This drier southern pine forest lacks +the beauty of its northern companion. Its trees are often tall and +stately, but they are usually much scattered and are surrounded by +stretches of scanty grass. There is no trace of the mossy carpet and +dense copses of undergrowth that add so much to the picturesqueness of +the forests farther north. The unkempt half-breed or Indian hunter +is replaced by the prosaic gatherer of turpentine. As the man of the +southern forests shuffles along in blue or khaki overalls and carries +his buckets from tree to tree, he seems a dull figure contrasted with +the active northern hunter who glides swiftly and silently from trap to +trap on his rawhide snowshoes. Yet though the southern pine forest may +be less picturesque than the northern, it is more useful to man. In +spite of its sandy soil, much of this forest land is being reclaimed, +and all will some day probably be covered by farms. + +Two other outliers of the northern evergreen forest extend southward +along the cool heights of the Rocky Mountains and of the Pacific coast +ranges of the United States. In the Olympic and Sierra Nevada ranges +the most western outlier of this northern band of vegetation probably +contains the most inspiring forests of the world. There grow the +vigorous Oregon pines, firs, and spruces, and the still more famous Big +Trees or sequoias. High on the sides of the Sierra above the yuccas, the +live oaks, and the deciduous forest of the lower slopes, one meets these +Big Trees. To come upon them suddenly after a long, rough tramp over +the sunny lower slopes is the experience of a lifetime. Upward the great +trees rise sheer one hundred feet without a branch. The huge fluted +trunks encased in soft, red bark six inches or a foot thick are +more impressive than the columns of the grandest cathedral. It seems +irreverent to speak above a whisper. Each tree is a new wonder. One has +to walk around it and study it to appreciate its enormous size. Where a +tree chances to stand isolated so that one can see its full majesty, the +sense of awe is tempered by the feeling that in spite of their size the +trees have a beauty all their own. Lifted to such heights, the branches +appear to be covered with masses of peculiarly soft and rounded foliage +like the piled-up banks of a white cumulus cloud before a thunderstorm. +At the base of such a tree the eye is caught by the sharp, triangular +outline of one of its young progeny. The lower branches sweep the +ground. The foliage is harsh and rough. In almost no other species of +trees is there such a change from comparatively ungraceful youth to a +superbly beautiful old age. + +The second great type of American forest is deciduous. The trees have +broad leaves quite unlike the slender needles or overlapping scales of +the northern evergreens. Each winter such forests shed their leaves. +Among the mountains where the frosts come suddenly, the blaze of glory +and brilliance of color which herald the shedding of the leaves are +surpassed in no other part of the world. Even the colors of the Painted +Desert in northern Arizona and the wonderful flowers of the California +plains are less pleasing. In the Painted Desert the patches of red, +yellow, gray-blue, white, pale green, and black have a garish, almost +repellent appearance. In California the flame-colored acres of poppies +in some places, of white or yellow daisylike flowers in others, or of +purple blossoms elsewhere have a softer expression than the bare soil +of the desert. Yet they lack the delicate blending and harmony of colors +which is the greatest charm of the autumn foliage in the deciduous +forests. Even where the forests consist of such trees as birches, +beeches, aspens, or sycamores, whose leaves merely turn yellow in the +fall, the contrast between this color and the green tint of summer or +the bare branches of winter adds a spice of variety which is lacking in +other and more monotonous forests. + +From still other points of view the deciduous forest has an almost +unequaled degree of variety. In one place it consists of graceful little +birches whose white trunks shimmering in the twilight form just the +background for ghosts. Contrast them with the oak forest half a mile +away. There the sense of gracefulness gives place to a feeling of +strength. The lines are no longer vertical but horizontal. The knotted +elbows of the branches recall the keels of sturdy merchantmen of bygone +days. The acorns under foot suggest food for the herds of half-wild pigs +which roam among the trees in many a southern county. Of quite another +type are the stately forests of the Appalachians where splendid magnolia +and tulip trees spread their broad limbs aloft at heights of one hundred +feet or more. + +Deciduous forests grow in the well-balanced regions where summer and +winter approach equality, where neither is unduly long, and where +neither is subject to prolonged drought. They extend southward from +central New England, the Great Lakes, and Minnesota, to Mississippi, +Arkansas, and eastern Texas. They predominate even in parts of such +prairie States as Michigan, Indiana, southern Illinois, and southeastern +Missouri. No part of the continent is more populous or more progressive +than the regions once covered by deciduous forests. In the United States +nearly sixty per cent of the inhabitants live in areas reclaimed from +such forests. Yet the area of the forests is less than a quarter of the +three million square miles that make up the United States. + +In their relation to human life the forests of America differ far more +than do either grass-lands or deserts. In the far north, as we have +seen, the pine forests furnish one of the least favorable environments. +In middle latitudes the deciduous forests go to the opposite extreme +and furnish the most highly favored of the homes of man. Still farther +southward the increasing luxuriance of the forests, especially along +the Atlantic coast, renders them less and less favorable to mankind. In +southern Mexico and Yucatan the stately equatorial rain forest, the most +exuberant of all types of vegetation and the most unconquerable by man, +makes its appearance. It forms a discontinuous belt along the wet east +coast and on the lower slopes of the mountains from southern Yucatan to +Venezuela. Then it is interrupted by the grasslands of the Orinoco, but +revives again in still greater magnificence in the Guianas. Thence +it stretches not only along the coast but far into the little known +interior of the Great Amazon basin, while southward it borders all the +coast as far as southern Brazil. In the Amazon basin it reaches its +highest development and becomes the crowning glory of the vegetable +world, the most baffling obstacle to human progress. + +Except in its evil effects on man, the equatorial rain forest is the +antithesis of the forests of the extreme north. The equatorial trees are +hardwood giants, broad leaved, bright flowered, and often fruit-bearing. +The northern trees are softwood dwarfs, needle-leaved, flowerless, and +cone-bearing. The equatorial trees are often branchless for one hundred +feet, but spread at the top into a broad overarching canopy which shuts +out the sun perpetually. The northern trees form sharp little pyramids +with low, widely spreading branches at the base and only short twigs at +the top. In the equatorial forests there is almost no underbrush. The +animals, such as monkeys, snakes, parrots, and brilliant insects, live +chiefly in the lofty treetops. In the northern forests there is almost +nothing except underbrush, and the foxes, rabbits, weasels, ptarmigans, +and mosquitoes live close to the ground in the shelter of the branches. +Both forests are alike, however, in being practically uninhabited by +man. Each is peopled only by primitive nomadic hunters who stand at the +very bottom in the scale of civilization. + +Aside from the rain forest there are two other types in tropical +countries--jungle and scrub. The distinction between rain forest, +jungle, and scrub is due to the amount and the season of rainfall. An +understanding of this distinction not only explains many things in +the present condition of Latin America but also in the history of +pre-Columbian Central America. Forests, as we have seen, require that +the ground be moist throughout practically the whole of the season that +is warm enough for growth. Since the warm season lasts throughout the +year within the tropics, dense forests composed of uniformly large trees +corresponding to our oaks, maples, and beeches will not thrive unless +the ground is wet most of the time. Of course there may be no rain for a +few weeks, but there must be no long and regularly recurrent periods of +drought. Smaller trees and such species as the cocoanut palm are much +less exacting and will flourish even if there is a dry period of several +months. Still smaller, bushy species will thrive even when the rainfall +lasts only two or three months. Hence where the rainy season lasts most +of the year, rain forest prevails; where the rainy and dry seasons do +not differ greatly in length, tropical jungle is the dominant growth; +and where the rainy season is short and the dry season long, the jungle +degenerates into scrub or bush. + +The relation of scrub, jungle, and rain forest is well illustrated in +Yucatan, where the ancient Mayas reared their stately temples. On the +northern coast the annual rainfall is only ten or fifteen inches and is +concentrated largely in our summer months. There the country is covered +with scrubby bushes six to ten feet high. These are beautifully green +during the rainy season from June to October, but later in the year +lose almost all their leaves. The landscape would be much like that of +a thick, bushy pasture in the United States at the same season, were +it not that in the late winter and early spring some of the bushes bear +brilliant red, yellow, or white flowers. As one goes inland from the +north coast of Yucatan the rainfall increases. The bushes become taller +and denser, trees twenty feet high become numerous, and many rise thirty +or forty feet or even higher. This is the jungle. Its smaller portions +suggest a second growth of timber in the deciduous forests of the United +States fifteen or twenty years after the cutting of the original forest, +but here there is much more evidence of rapid growth. A few species of +bushes and trees may remain green throughout the year, but during the +dry season most of the jungle plants lose their leaves, at least in +part. + +With every mile that one advances into the more rainy interior, the +jungle becomes greener and fresher, the density of the lower growths +increases, and the proportion of large trees becomes greater until +finally jungle gives place to genuine forest. There many of the trees +remain green throughout the year. They rise to heights of fifty or sixty +feet even on the borders of their province, and at the top form a canopy +so thick that the ground is shady most of the time. Even in the drier +part of the year when some of the leaves have fallen, the rays of the +sun scarcely reach the ground until nine or ten o'clock in the morning. +Even at high noon the sunlight straggles through only in small patches. +Long, sinuous lianas, often queerly braided, hang down from the trees; +epiphytes and various parasitic growths add their strange green and red +to the complex variety of vegetation. Young palms grow up almost in +a day and block a trail which was hewn out with much labor only a few +months before. Wherever the death of old trees forms an opening, a +thousand seedlings begin a fierce race to reach the light. Everywhere +the dominant note is intensely vigorous life, rapid growth, and quick +decay. + +In their effect on man, the three forms of tropical forest are very +different. In the genuine rain forest agriculture is almost impossible. +Not only does the poor native find himself baffled in the face of +Nature, but the white man is equally at a loss. Many things combine to +produce this result. Chief among them are malaria and other tropical +diseases. When a few miles of railroad were being built through a +strip of tropical forest along the coast of eastern Guatemala, it was +impossible to keep the laborers more than twenty days at a time; indeed, +unless they were sent away at the end of three weeks, they were almost +sure to be stricken with virulent malarial fevers from which many died. +An equally potent enemy of agriculture is the vegetation itself. Imagine +the difficulty of cultivating a garden in a place where the weeds grow +all the time and where many of them reach a height of ten or twenty +feet in a single year. Perhaps there are people in the world who might +cultivate such a region and raise marvelous crops, but they are not the +indolent people of tropical America; and it is in fact doubtful whether +any kind of people could live permanently in the tropical forest and +retain energy enough to carry on cultivation. Nowhere in the world is +there such steady, damp heat as in these shadowy, windless depths +far below the lofty tops of the rain forest. Nowhere is there greater +disinclination to work than among the people who dwell in this region. +Consequently in the vast rain forests of the Amazon basin and in +similar small forests as far north as Central America, there are today +practically no inhabitants except a mere handful of the poorest and most +degraded people in the world. Yet in ancient times the northern border +of the rain forest was the seat of America's most advanced civilization. +The explanation of this contradiction will appear later. * + + + * See Chapter 5, Aztecs. + + +Tropical jungle borders the rain forest all the way from southern Mexico +to southern Brazil. It treats man far better than does the rain forest. +In marked contrast to its more stately neighbor, it contains abundant +game. Wild fruits ripen at almost all seasons. A few banana plants and +palm trees will well-nigh support a family. If corn is planted in a +clearing, the return is large in proportion to the labor. So long as +the population is not too dense, life is so easy that there is little to +stimulate progress. Hence, although the people of the jungle are +fairly numerous, they have never played much part in history. Far more +important is the role of those living in the tropical lands where scrub +is the prevailing growth. In our day, for example, few tropical lowlands +are more progressive than the narrow coastal strip of northern Yucatan. +There on the border between jungle and scrub the vegetation does not +thrive sufficiently to make life easy for the chocolate-colored natives. +Effort is required if they would make a living, yet the effort is not +so great as to be beyond the capacity of the indolent people of the +tropics. + +Leaving the forests, let us step out into the broad, breezy grass-lands. +One would scarcely expect that a journey poleward out of the forest of +northern Canada would lead to an improvement in the conditions of human +life, yet such is the case. Where the growing season becomes so short +that even the hardiest trees disappear, grassy tundras replace the +forest. By furnishing food for such animals as the musk-ox, they are a +great help to the handful of scattered Indians who dwell on the northern +edge of the forest. In summer, when the animals grow fat on the short +nutritious grass, the Indians follow them out into the open country and +hunt them vigorously for food and skins to sustain life through the long +dreary winter. In many cases the hunters would advance much farther into +the grass-lands were it not that the abundant musk-oxen tempt the Eskimo +of the seacoast also to leave their homes and both sides fear bloody +encounters. + +With the growth of civilization the advantage of the northern +grass-lands over the northern forests becomes still more apparent. The +domestic reindeer is beginning to replace the wild musk-ox. The +reindeer people, like the Indian and Eskimo hunters, must be nomadic. +Nevertheless their mode of life permits them to live in much greater +numbers and on a much higher plane of civilization than the hunters. +Since they hunt the furbearing animals in the neighboring forests during +the winter, they diminish the food supply of the hunters who dwell +permanently in the forest, and thus make their life still more +difficult. The northern forests bid fair to decline in population rather +than increase. In this New World of ours, strange as it may seem, the +almost uninhabited forest regions of the far north and of the equator +are probably more than twice as large as the desert areas with equally +sparse population. + +South of the tundras the grass-lands have a still greater advantage over +the forests. In the forest region of the Laurentian highland abundant +snow lasts far into the spring and keeps the ground so wet and cold that +no crops can be raised. Moreover, because of the still greater abundance +of snow in former times, the largest of ice sheets, as we have seen, +accumulated there during the Glacial Period and scraped away most of +the soil. The grassy plains, on the contrary, are favored not only by +a deep, rich soil, much of which was laid down by the ice, but by the +relative absence of snow in winter and the consequent rapidity with +which the ground becomes warm in the spring. Hence the Canadian plains +from the United States boundary northward to latitude 57 degrees contain +a prosperous agricultural population of over a million people, while +the far larger forested areas in the same latitude support only a few +thousand. + +The question is often asked why, in a state of nature, trees are so +scarce on the prairies--in Iowa, for instance--although they thrive +when planted. In answer we are often told that up to the middle of the +nineteenth century such vast herds of buffaloes roamed the prairies that +seedling trees could never get a chance to grow. It is also said that +prairie fires sweeping across the plains destroyed the little trees +whenever they sprouted. Doubtless the buffaloes and the fires helped +to prevent forest growth, but another factor appears to be still more +important. All the States between the Mississippi River and the Rocky +Mountains receive much more rain in summer than in winter. But as the +soil is comparatively dry in the spring when the trees begin their +growth, they are handicapped. They could grow if nothing else interfered +with them, just as peas will grow in a garden if the weeds are kept out. +If peas, however, are left uncared for, the weeds gain the upper hand +and there are no peas the second year. If the weeds are left to contend +with grass, the grass in the end prevails. In the eastern forest region, +if the grass be left to itself, small trees soon spring up in its midst. +In half a century a field of grass goes back to forest because trees +are especially favored by the climate. In the same way in the prairies, +grass is especially favored, for it is not weakened by the spring +drought, and it grows abundantly until it forms the wonderful stretches +of waving green where the buffalo once grew fat. Moreover the fine +glacial soil of the prairies is so clayey and compact that the roots of +trees cannot easily penetrate it. Since grasses send their roots only +into the more friable upper layers of soil, they possess another great +advantage over the trees. + +Far to the south of the prairies lie the grass-lands of tropical +America, of which the Banos of the Orinoco furnish a good example. +Almost everywhere their plumed grasses have been left to grow +undisturbed by the plough, and even grazing animals are scarce. These +extremely flat plains are flooded for months in the rainy season from +May to October and are parched in the dry season that follows. As +trees cannot endure such extremes, grasses are the prevailing growth. +Elsewhere the nature of the soil causes many other grassy tracts to +be scattered among the tropical jungle and forest. Trees are at a +disadvantage both in porous, sandy soils, where the water drains away +too rapidly, and in clayey soil, where it is held so long that the +ground is saturated for weeks or months at a time. South of the tropical +portion of South America the vast pampas of Argentina closely resemble +the North American prairies and the drier plains to the west of +them. Grain in the east and cattle in the west are fast causing the +disappearance of those great tussocks of tufted grasses eight or nine +feet high which hold among grasses a position analogous to that of the +Big Trees of California among trees of lower growth. + +It is often said that America has no real deserts. This is true in the +sense that there are no regions such as are found in Asia and Africa +where one can travel a hundred miles at a stretch and scarcely see a +sign of vegetation-nothing but barren gravel, graceful wavy sand dunes, +hard wind-swept clay, or still harder rock salt broken into rough blocks +with upturned edges. In the broader sense of the term, however, America +has an abundance of deserts--regions which bear a thin cover of bushy +vegetation but are too dry for agriculture without irrigation. On the +north such deserts begin in southern Canada where a dry region abounding +in small salt lakes lies at the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains. +In the United States the deserts lie almost wholly between the Sierra +Nevada and the Rocky Mountain ranges, which keep out any moisture that +might come from either the west or the east. Beginning on the north with +the sagebrush plateau of southern Washington, the desert expands to a +width of seven hundred miles in the gray, sage-covered basins of Nevada +and Utah. In southern California and Arizona the sage-brush gives place +to smaller forms like the saltbush, and the desert assumes a sterner +aspect. Next comes the cactus desert extending from Arizona far south +into Mexico. One of the notable features of the desert is the extreme +heat of certain portions. Close to the Nevada border in southern +California, Death Valley, 250 feet below sea-level, is the hottest +place in America. There alone among the American regions familiar to the +writer does one have that feeling of intense, overpowering aridity which +prevails so often in the deserts of Arabia and Central Asia. Some +years ago a Weather Bureau thermometer was installed in Death Valley at +Furnace Creek, where the only flowing water in more than a hundred miles +supports a depressing little ranch. There one or two white men, helped +by a few Indians, raise alfalfa, which they sell at exorbitant prices to +deluded prospectors searching for riches which they never find. Though +the terrible heat ruins the health of the white men in a year or two, +so that they have to move away, they have succeeded in keeping +a thermometer record for some years. No other properly exposed, +out-of-door thermometer in the United States, or perhaps in the world, +is so familiar with a temperature of 100 degrees F. or more. During the +period of not quite fifteen hundred days from the spring of 1911 to May, +1915, a maximum temperature of 100 degrees F. or more was reached on +five hundred and forty-eight days, or more than one-third of the time. +On July 10, 1913, the mercury rose to 134 degrees F. and touched the top +of the tube. How much higher it might have gone no one can tell. That +day marks the limit of temperature yet reached in this country according +to official records. In the summer of 1914 there was one night when the +thermometer dropped only to 114 degrees F., having been 128 degrees +F. at noon. The branches of a peppertree whose roots had been freshly +watered wilted as a flower wilts when broken from the stalk. + +East and south of Death Valley lies the most interesting section of the +American desert, the so-called succulent desert of southern Arizona and +northern Mexico. There in greatest profusion grow the cacti, perhaps the +latest and most highly specialized of all the great families of plants. +There occur such strange scenes as the "forests" of suhuaros, whose +giant columns have already been described. Their beautiful crowns of +large white flowers produce a fruit which is one of the mainstays of the +Papagos and other Indians of the regions. In this same region the yucca +is highly developed, and its tall stalks of white or greenish flowers +make the desert appear like a flower garden. In fact this whole +desert, thanks to light rains in summer as well as winter, appears +extraordinarily green and prosperous. Its fair appearance has deceived +many a poor settler who has vainly tried to cultivate it. + +Farther south the deserts of America are largely confined to plateaus +like those of Mexico and Peru or to basins sheltered on all sides from +rain-bearing winds. In such basins the suddenness of the transition +from one type of vegetation to another is astonishing. In Guatemala, +for instance, the coast is bordered by thick jungle which quickly gives +place to magnificent rain forest a few miles inland. This continues +two or three score miles from the coast until a point is reached where +mountains begin to obstruct the rain-bearing trade-winds. At once the +rain forest gives place to jungle; in a few miles jungle in its turn +is replaced by scrub; and shortly the scrub degenerates to mere desert +bush. Then in another fifty miles one rises to the main plateau passing +once more through scrub. This time the scrub gives place to grass-lands +diversified by deciduous trees and pines which give the country a +distinctly temperate aspect. On such plateaus the chief civilization of +the tropical Latin-American countries now centers. In the past, however, +the plateaus were far surpassed by the Maya lowlands of Yucatan and +Guatemala. + +We are wont to think of deserts as places where the plants are of few +kinds and not much crowded. As a matter of fact, an ordinary desert +supports a much greater variety of plants than does either a forest or +a prairie. The reason is simple. Every desert contains wet spots near +springs or in swamps. Such places abound with all sorts of water-loving +plants. The deserts also contain a few valleys where the larger streams +keep the ground moist at all seasons. In such places the variety of +trees is as great as in many forests. Moreover almost all deserts have +short periods of abundant moisture. + +At such times the seeds of all sorts of little annual plants, including +grasses, daisies, lupines, and a host of others, sprout quickly, and +give rise to a carpet of vegetation as varied and beautiful as that of +the prairie. Thus the desert has not only its own peculiar bushes and +succulents but many of the products of vegetation in swamps, grasslands, +and forests. Though much of the ground is bare in the desert, the plants +are actually crowded together as closely as possible. The showers of +such regions are usually so brief that they merely wet the surface. At +a depth of a foot or more the soil of many deserts never becomes moist +from year's end to year's end. It is useless for plants to send their +roots deep down under such circumstances, for they might not reach water +for a hundred feet. Their only recourse is to spread horizontally. The +farther they spread, the more water they can absorb after the scanty +showers. Hence the plants of the desert throttle one another by +extending their roots horizontally, just as those of the forest kill one +another by springing rapidly upward and shutting out the light. + +Vegetation, whether in forests, grasslands, or deserts, is the primary +source of human sustenance. Without it man would perish miserably; and +where it is deficient, he cannot rise to great heights in the scale of +civilization. Yet strangely enough the scantiness of the vegetation of +the deserts was a great help in the ascent of man. Only in dry regions +could primitive man compete with nature in fostering the right kind +of vegetation. In such regions arose the nations which first practised +agriculture. There man became comparatively civilized while his +contemporaries were still nomadic hunters in the grasslands and the +forests. + + + +CHAPTER V. THE RED MAN IN AMERICA + +When the white man first explored America, the parts of the continent +that had made most progress were by no means those that are most +advanced today. * None of the inhabitants, to be sure, had risen above +barbarism. Yet certain nations or tribes had advanced much higher +than others. There was a great contrast, for example, between the +well-organized barbarians of Peru and the almost completely unorganized +Athapascan savages near Hudson Bay. + + + * In the present chapter most of the facts as to the Indians +north of Mexico are taken from the admirable "Handbook of American +Indians North of Mexico," edited by F. W. Hodge, Smithsonian +Institution, Bureau of Ethnology, Bulletin 30, Washington, 1907, two +volumes. In summing up the character and achievements of the Indians +I have drawn also on other sources, but have everywhere taken pains +to make no statements which are not abundantly supported by this +authoritative publication. In some cases I have not hesitated to +paraphrase considerable portions of its articles. + + +In the northern continent aboriginal America reached its highest +development in three typical environments. The first of these regions +centered in the valley of Mexico where dwelt the Aztecs, but it extended +as far north as the Pueblos in Arizona and New Mexico. The special +feature of the environment was the relatively dry, warm climate with the +chief rainfall in summer. The Indians living in this environment +were notable for their comparatively high social organization and for +religious ceremonials whose elaborateness has rarely been surpassed. +On the whole, the people of this summer rain or Mexican type were not +warlike and offered little resistance to European conquest. Some tribes, +to be sure, fought fiercely at first, but yielded within a few years; +the rest submitted to the lordly Spaniards almost without a murmur. +Their civilization, if such we may call it, had long ago seen its +best days. The period of energy and progress had passed, and a time of +inertia and decay had set in. A century after the Spaniards had +overcome the aborigines of Mexico, other Europeans--French, English, +and Dutch--came into contact with a sturdier type of red man, best +represented by the Iroquois or Five Nations of central New York. +This more active type dwelt in a physical environment notable for two +features--the abundance of cyclonic storms bringing rain or snow at all +seasons and the deciduous forest which thickly covered the whole +region. Unlike the Mexican, the civilization of the Iroquois was young, +vigorous, and growing. It had not learned to express itself in durable +architectural forms like those of Mexico, nor could it rival the older +type in social and religious organization. In political organization, +however, the Five Nations had surpassed the other aboriginal peoples of +North America. When the white man became acquainted with the Iroquois in +the seventeenth century, he found five of their tribes organized into +a remarkable confederation whose avowed object was to abolish war among +themselves and to secure to all the members the peaceful exercise of +their rights and privileges. So well was the confederation organized +that, in spite of war with its enemies, it persisted for at least two +hundred years. One of the chief characteristics of the Iroquois was +their tremendous energy. They were so energetic that they pursued +their enemies with an implacable relentlessness similar to the restless +eagerness with which the people of the region from New York to Chicago +now pursue their business enterprises. This led the Iroquois to torture +their prisoners with the utmost ingenuity and cruelty. Not only did the +savages burn and mutilate their captives, but they sometimes added the +last refinement of torture by compelling the suffering wretches to +eat pieces of flesh cut from their own bodies. Energy may lead to +high civilization, but it may also lead to excesses of evil. The third +prominent aboriginal type was that of the fishermen of the coast of +British Columbia, especially the Haidas of the Queen Charlotte Islands. +The most important features of their environment were the submerged +coast with its easy navigation, the mild oceanic climate, and the dense +pine forests. The Haidas, like the Iroquois, appear to have been a +people who were still advancing. Such as it was, their greatness was +apparently the product of their own ingenuity and not, like that of +the Mexicans, an inheritance from a greater past. The Haidas lacked the +relentless energy of the Iroquois and shared the comparatively gentle +character which prevailed among all the Indians along the Pacific Coast. +They were by no means weaklings, however. Commercially, for instance, +they seem to have been more advanced than any North American tribe +except those in the Mexican area. In architecture they stood equally +high. We are prone to think of the Mexicans as the best architects among +the aborigines, but when the white man came even the Aztecs were merely +imitating the work of their predecessors. The Haidas, on the contrary, +were showing real originality. They had no stone with which to build, +for their country is so densely forested that stone is rarely visible. +They were remarkably skillful, however, in hewing great beams from the +forest. With these they constructed houses whose carved totem poles and +graceful facades gave promise of an architecture of great beauty. Taking +into account the difficulties presented by a material which was not +durable and by tools which were nothing but bits of stone, we must +regard their totem poles and mural decorations as real contributions to +primitive architecture. + +In addition to these three highest types of the red man there were many +others. Each, as we shall see, owed its peculiarities largely to the +physical surroundings in which it lived. Of course different tribes +possessed different degrees of innate ability, but the chief differences +in their habits and mode of life arose from the topography, the climate, +the plants, and the animals which formed the geographical setting of +their homes. + +In previous chapters we have gained some idea of the topography of the +New World and of the climate in its relation to plants and animals. We +have also seen that climate has much to do with human energy. We have +not, however, gained a sufficiently clear idea of the distribution +of climatic energy. A map of the world showing how energy would be +distributed if it depended entirely upon climate clarifies the subject. +The dark shading of the map indicates those regions where energy is +highest. It is based upon measurements of the strength of scores +of individuals, upon the scholastic records of hundreds of college +students, upon the piecework of thousands of factory operatives, and +upon millions of deaths and births in a score of different countries. It +takes account of three chief climatic conditions--temperature, humidity, +and variability. It also takes account of mental as well as physical +ability. Underneath it is a map of the distribution of civilization +on the basis of the opinion of fifty authorities in fifteen different +countries. The similarity of the two maps is so striking that there can +be little question that today the distribution of civilization agrees +closely with the distribution of climatic energy. When Egypt, Babylonia, +Greece, and Rome were at the height of their power this agreement was +presumably the same, for the storm belt which now gives variability +and hence energy to the thickly shaded regions in our two maps then +apparently lay farther south. It is generally considered that no race +has been more closely dependent upon physical environment than were the +Indians. Why, then, did the energizing effect of climate apparently have +less effect upon them than upon the other great races? Why were not +the most advanced Indian tribes found in the same places where white +civilization is today most advanced? Climatic changes might in part +account for the difference, but, although such changes apparently +took place on a large scale in earlier times, there is no evidence of +anything except minor fluctuations since the days of the first white +settlements. Racial inheritance likewise may account for some of the +differences among the various tribes, but it was probably not the chief +factor. That factor was apparently the condition of agriculture among +people who had neither iron tools nor beasts of burden. Civilization +has never made much progress except when there has been a permanent +cultivation of the ground. It has been said that "the history of +agriculture is the history of man in his most primitive and most +permanent aspect." If we examine the achievements and manner of life of +the Indians in relation to the effect of climate upon agriculture and +human energy, as well as in relation to the more obvious features +of topography and vegetation, we shall understand why the people of +aboriginal America in one part of the continent differed so greatly from +those in another part. In the far north the state of the inhabitants +today is scarcely different from what it was in the days of Columbus. +Then, as now, the Eskimos had practically no political or social +organization beyond the family or the little group of relatives who +lived in a single camp. They had no permanent villages, but moved from +place to place according to the season in search of fish, game, and +birds. They lived this simple life not because they lacked ability but +because of their surroundings. Their kayaks or canoes are marvels of +ingenuity. With no materials except bones, driftwood, and skins they +made boats which fulfilled their purpose with extraordinary perfection. +Seated in the small, round hole which is the only opening in the deck +of his canoe, the Eskimo hunter ties his skin jacket tightly outside +the circular gunwale and is thus shut into a practically water-tight +compartment. Though the waves dash over him, scarcely a drop enters the +craft as he skims along with his double paddle among cakes of floating +ice. So, too, the snowhouse with its anterooms and curved entrance +passage is as clever an adaptation to the needs of wanderers in a land +of ice and snow as is the skyscraper to the needs of a busy commercial +people crowded into great cities. The fact that the oilburning, +soapstone lamps of the Eskimo were the only means of producing +artificial light in aboriginal America, except by ordinary fires, is +another tribute to the ingenuity of these northerners. So, too, is the +fire-drill by which they alone devised a means of increasing the speed +with which one stick could be twirled against another to produce fire. +In view of these clever inventions it seems safe to say that the Eskimo +has remained a nomadic savage not because he lacks inventive skill but +partly because the climate deadens his energies and still more because +it forbids him to practice agriculture. + +Southward and inland from the coastal homes of the Eskimo lies the great +region of the northern pine forests. It extends from the interior of +Alaska southeastward in such a way as to include most of the Canadian +Rockies, the northern plains from Great Bear Lake almost to Lake +Winnipeg, and most of the great Laurentian shield around Hudson Bay and +in the peninsula of Labrador. Except among the inhabitants of the narrow +Pacific slope and those of the shores of Labrador and the St. Lawrence +Valley, a single type of barbarism prevailed among the Indians of all +the vast pine forest area. Only in a small section of the wheat-raising +plains of Alberta and Saskatchewan have their habits greatly changed +because of the arrival of the white man. Now as always the Indians in +these northern regions are held back by the long, benumbing winters. +They cannot practice agriculture, for no crops will grow. They cannot +depend to any great extent upon natural vegetation, for aside from +blueberries, a few lichens, and one or two other equally insignificant +products, the forests furnish no food except animals. These lowly people +seem to have been so occupied with the severe struggle with the elements +that they could not even advance out of savagery into barbarism. They +were homeless nomads whose movements were determined largely by the food +supply. + +Among the Athapascans who occupied all the western part of the northern +pine forests, clothing was made of deerskins with the hair left on. The +lodges were likewise of deer or caribou skins, although farther +south these were sometimes replaced by bark. The food of these tribes +consisted of caribou, deer, moose, and musk-ox together with smaller +animals such as the beaver and hare. They also ate various kinds of +birds and the fish found in the numerous lakes and rivers. They killed +deer by driving them into an angle formed by two converging rows +of stakes, where they were shot by hunters lying in wait. Among the +Kawchodinne tribe near Great Bear Lake hares were the chief source of +both food and clothing. When an unusually severe winter or some other +disaster diminished the supply, the Indians believed that the animals +had mounted to the sky by means of the trees and would return by the +same way. In 1841 owing to scarcity of hares many of this tribe died of +starvation, and numerous acts of cannibalism are said to have occurred. +Small wonder that civilization was low and that infanticide, especially +of female children, was common. Among such people women were naturally +treated with a minimum of respect. Since they were not skilled as +hunters, there was relatively little which they could contribute toward +the sustenance of the family. Hence they were held in low esteem, for +among most primitive people woman is valued largely in proportion to her +economic contribution. Her low position is illustrated by the peculiar +funeral custom of the Takulli, an Athapascan tribe on the Upper Frazer +River. A widow was obliged to remain upon the funeral pyre of her +husband till the flames reached her own body. When the fire had died +down she collected the ashes of her dead and placed them in a basket, +which she was obliged to carry with her during three years of servitude +in the family of her husband. At the end of that time a feast was held, +when she was released from thraldom and permitted to remarry if she +desired. + +Poor and degraded as the people of the northern forests may have +been, they had their good traits. The Kutchins of the Yukon and Lower +Mackenzie regions, though they killed their female children, were +exceedingly hospitable and kept guests for months. Each head of a family +took his turn in feasting the whole band. On such occasions etiquette +required the host to fast until the guests had departed. At such feasts +an interesting wrestling game was played. First the smallest boys began +to wrestle. The victors wrestled with those next in strength and so on +until finally the strongest and freshest man in the band remained the +final victor. Then the girls and women went through the same progressive +contest. It is hard to determine whether the people of the northern +pine forest were more or less competent than their Eskimo neighbors. It +perhaps makes little difference, for it is doubtful whether even a +race with brilliant natural endowments could rise far in the scale of +civilization under conditions so highly adverse. + +The Eskimos of the northern coasts and the people of the pine forests +were not the only aborigines whose development was greatly retarded +because they could not practice agriculture. All the people of +the Pacific coast from Alaska to Lower California were in similar +circumstances. Nevertheless those living along the northern part of this +coast rose to a much higher level than did those of California. This has +sometimes been supposed to show that geographical environment has +little influence upon civilization, but in reality it proves exactly the +opposite. + +The coast of British Columbia was one of the three chief centers of +aboriginal America. As The Encyclopaedia Britannica * puts it: "The +Haida people constituted with little doubt the finest race and that most +advanced in the arts of the entire west coast of North America." They +and their almost equally advanced Tlingit and Tsimshian neighbors on the +mainland displayed much mechanical skill, especially in canoe-building, +woodcarving, and the working of stone and copper, as well as in making +blankets and baskets. To this day they earn a considerable amount of +money by selling their carved objects of wood and slate to traders and +tourists. Their canoes were hollowed out of logs of cedar and were often +very large. Houses which were sometimes 40 by 100 feet were built of +huge cedar beams and planks, which were first worked with stone and +were then put together at great feasts. These correspond to the "raising +bees" at which the neighbors gathered to erect the frames of houses in +early New England. Each Haida house ordinarily had a single carved totem +pole in the middle of the gable end which faced toward the beach. Often +the end posts in front were also carved and the whole house was painted. +Another evidence of the fairly advanced state of the Haidas was their +active commercial intercourse with regions hundreds of miles away. +At their "potlatches," as the raising bees were called by the whites, +trading went on vigorously. Carved copper plates were among the articles +which they esteemed of highest value. Standing in the tribe depended +on the possession of property rather than on ability in war, in which +respect the Haidas were more like the people of today than were any of +the other Indian tribes. + + + * 11th Edition, vol. XXII, p. 730. + + +Slavery was common among the Haidas. Even as late as 1861, 7800 Tlingits +held 828 slaves. Slavery may not be a good institution in itself, but +it indicates that people are well-to-do, that they dwell in permanent +abodes, and that they have a well-established social order. Among the +more backward Iroquois, captives rarely became genuine slaves, for the +social and economic organization was not sufficiently developed to admit +of this. The few captives who were retained after a fight were adopted +into the tribe of the captors or else were allowed to live with them and +shift for themselves--a practice very different from that of the Haidas. + +Another feature of the Haidas' life which showed comparative progress +was the social distinctions which existed among them. One of the ways +in which individuals maintained their social position was by giving away +quantities of goods of all kinds at the potlatches which they organized. +A man sometimes went so far as to strip himself of nearly every +possession except his house. In return for this, however, he obtained +what seemed to him an abundant reward in the respect with which his +fellow-tribesmen afterward regarded him. At subsequent potlatches he +received in his turn a measure of their goods in proportion to his own +gifts, so that he was sometimes richer than before. These potlatches +were social as well as industrial functions, and dancing and singing +were interspersed with the feasting. One of the amusements was a musical +contest in which singers from one tribe or band would contend with +one another as to which could remember the greatest number of songs or +accurately repeat a new song after hearing it for the first time. At the +potlatches the children of chiefs were initiated into secret societies. +They had their noses, ears, and lips pierced for ornaments, and some +of them were tattooed. This great respect for social position which the +Haidas manifested is doubtless far from ideal, but it at least indicates +that a part of the tribe was sufficiently advanced to accumulate +property and to pass it on to its descendants--a custom that is almost +impossible among tribes which move from place to place. The question +suggests itself why these coast barbarians were so much in advance +of their neighbors a few hundred miles away in the pine woods of the +mountains. The climate was probably one reason for this superiority. +Instead of being in a region like the center of the pine forests of +British Columbia where human energy is sapped by six or eight months of +winter, the Haidas enjoyed conditions like those of Scotland. Although +snow fell occasionally, severe cold was unknown. Nor was there great +heat in summer. The Haidas dwelt where both bodily strength and mental +activity were stimulated. In addition to this advantage of a favorable +climate these Indians had a large and steady supply of food close at +hand. Most of their sustenance was obtained from the sea and from the +rivers, in which the runs of salmon furnished abundant provisions, which +rarely failed. In Hecate Strait, between the Queen Charlotte Islands and +the mainland, there were wonderfully productive halibut fisheries, from +which a supply of fish was dried and packed away for the winter, so that +there was always a store of provisions on hand. The forests in their +turn furnished berries and seeds, as well as bears, mountain goats, and +other game. + +Moreover the people of the northwest coast had the advantage of not +being forced to move from place to place in order to follow the fish. +They lived on a drowned shore where bays, straits, and sounds are +extraordinarily numerous. The great waves of the Pacific are shut out +by the islands so that the waterways are almost always safe for canoes. +Instead of moving their dwellings in order to follow the food supply, +as the Eskimo and the people of the pine forest were forced to do, the +Haidas and their neighbors were able without difficulty to bring their +food home. At all seasons the canoes made it easy to transport large +supplies of fish from places even a hundred miles away. Having settled +dwellings, the Haidas could accumulate property and acquire that feeling +of permanence which is one of the most important conditions for the +development of civilization. Doubtless the Haidas were intellectually +superior to many other tribes, but even if they had not been greatly +superior, their surroundings would probably have made them stand +relatively high in the scale of civilization. Southward from the Haidas, +around Puget Sound and in Washington and Oregon, there was a gradual +decline in civilization. The Chinook Indians of the lower Columbia, +beyond the limits of the great northern archipelago, had large communal +houses occupied by three or four families of twenty or more individuals. +Their villages were thus fairly permanent, although there was much +moving about in summer owing to the nature of the food supply, which +consisted chiefly of salmon, with roots and berries indigenous to the +region. The people were noted as traders not only among themselves but +with surrounding tribes. They were extremely skillful in handling their +canoes, which were well made, hollowed out of single logs, and often +of great size. In disposition they are described as treacherous and +deceitful, especially when their cupidity was aroused. Slaves were +common and were usually obtained by barter from surrounding tribes, +though occasionally by successful raids. These Indians of Oregon by no +means rivaled the Haidas, for their food supply was less certain and +they did not have the advantage of easy water communication, which did +so much to raise the Haidas to a high level of development. + +Of the tribes farther south an observer says: "In general rudeness +of culture the California Indians are scarcely above the Eskimo, and +whereas the lack of development of the Eskimo on many sides of their +nature is reasonably attributable in part to their difficult and +limiting environment, the Indians of California inhabit a country +naturally as favorable, it would seem, as it might be. If the degree of +civilization attained by a people depends in any large measure on their +habitat, as does not seem likely, it might be concluded from the case of +the California Indians that natural advantages were an impediment rather +than an incentive to progress." In some of the tribes, such as the Hupa, +for example, there existed no organization and no formalities in the +government of the village. Formal councils were unknown, although the +chief might and often did ask advice of his men in a collected body. In +general the social structure of the California Indians was so simple +and loose that it is hardly correct to speak of their tribes. Whatever +solidarity there was among these people was due in part to family ties +and in part to the fact that they lived in the same village and spoke +the same dialect. Between different groups of these Indians, the common +bond was similarity of language as well as frequency and cordiality of +intercourse. In so primitive a condition of society there was neither +necessity nor opportunity for differences of rank. The influence of +chiefs was small and no distinct classes of slaves were known. Extreme +poverty was the chief cause of the low social and political organization +of these Indians. The Maidus in the Sacramento Valley were so poor that, +in addition to consuming every possible vegetable product, they not +only devoured all birds except the buzzard, but ate badgers, skunks, +wildcats, and mountain lions, and even consumed salmon bones and deer +vertebrae. They gathered grasshoppers and locusts by digging large +shallow pits in a meadow or flat. Then, setting fire to the grass on all +sides, they drove the insects into the pit. Their wings being burned off +by the flames, the grasshoppers were helpless and were thus collected +by the bushel. Again of the Moquelumne, one of the largest tribes in +central California, it is said that their houses were simply frameworks +of poles and brush which in winter were covered with earth. In summer +they erected cone-shaped lodges of poles among the mountains. In +favorable years they gathered large quantities of acorns, which formed +their principal food, and stored them for winter use in granaries raised +above the ground. Often, however, the crop was poor, and the Indians +were left on the verge of starvation. + +Finally in the far south, in the peninsula of Lower California, the +tribes were "probably the lowest in culture of any Indians in North +America, for their inhospitable environment which made them wanderers, +was unfavorable to the foundation of government even of the rude and +unstable kind found elsewhere." The Yuman tribes of the mountains east +of Santiago wore sandals of maguey fiber and descended from their own +territory among the mountains "to eat calabash and other fruits" that +grew beside the Colorado River. They were described as "very dirty on +account of the much mescal they eat." Others speak of them as "very +filthy in their habits. To overcome vermin they coat their heads with +mud with which they also paint their bodies. On a hot day it is by no +means unusual to see them wallowing in the mud like pigs." They were +"exceedingly poor, having no animals except foxes of which they had +a few skins. The dress of the women in summer was a shirt and a bark +skirt. The men appear to have been practically unclothed during this +season. The practice of selling children seems to have been common. +Their sustenance was fish, fruits, vegetables, and seeds of grass, +and many of the tribes were said to have been dreadfully scorbutic." +A little to the east of these degraded savages the much more advanced +Mohave tribe had its home on the lower Colorado River. The contrast +between these neighboring tribes throws much light on the reason for the +low estate of the California Indians. "No better example of the power +of environment to better man's condition can be found than that shown +as the lower Colorado is reached. Here are tribes of the same family (as +those of Lower California) remarkable not only for their fine physical +development, but living in settled villages with well-defined tribal +lines, practising a rude, but effective, agriculture, and well advanced +in many primitive Indian arts. The usual Indian staples were raised +except tobacco, these tribes preferring a wild tobacco of their region +to the cultivated." * + + + * Hodge, "Handbook of American Indians." + + +This quotation is highly significant. With it should be compared the +fact that there is no evidence that corn or anything else was cultivated +in California west of the Rio Colorado Valley. California is a region +famous throughout America for its agriculture, but its crops are +European in origin. Even in the case of fruits, such as the grape, +which have American counterparts, the varieties actually cultivated were +brought from Europe. Wheat and barley, the chief foodstuffs for which +California and similar subtropical regions are noted, were unknown +in the New World before the coming of the white man. In pre-Columbian +America corn was the only cultivated cereal. The other great staples +of early American agriculture were beans and pumpkins. All three are +preeminently summer crops and need much water in July and August. In +California there is no rain at this season. Though the fall rains, which +begin to be abundant in October and November, do not aid these +summer crops, they favor wheat and barley. The winter rains and the +comparatively warm winter weather permit these grains to grow slowly but +continuously. When the warm spring arrives, there is still enough rain +to permit wheat and barley to make a rapid growth and to mature their +seeds long before the long, dry summer begins. The comparatively dry +weather of May and June is just what these cereals need to ripen the +crop, but it is fatal to any kind of agriculture which depends on summer +rain. + +Crops can of course be grown during the summer in California by means of +irrigation, but this is rarely a simple process. If irrigation is to +be effective in California, it cannot depend on the small streams which +practically dry up during the long, rainless summer, but it must depend +on comparatively large streams which flow in well-defined channels. With +our modern knowledge and machinery it is easy for us to make canals and +ditches and to prepare the level fields needed to utilize this water. A +people with no knowledge of agriculture, however, and with no iron tools +cannot suddenly begin to practice a complex and highly developed system +of agriculture. In California there is little or none of the natural +summer irrigation which, in certain parts of America, appears to have +been the most important factor leading to the first steps in tilling the +ground. The lower Colorado, however, floods broad areas every summer. +Here, as on the Nile, the retiring floods leave the land so moist +that crops can easily be raised. Hence the Mohave Indians were able to +practice agriculture and to rise well above their kinsmen not only in +Lower California but throughout the whole State. + +In the Rocky Mountain region of the United States, just as on the +Pacific coast, the condition of the tribes deteriorated more and more +the farther they lived to the south. In the regions where the rainfall +comes in summer, however, and hence favors primitive agriculture, there +was a marked improvement. The Kutenai tribes lived near the corner where +Idaho, Montana, and British Columbia now meet. They appear to have +been of rather high grade, noteworthy for their morality, kindness, and +hospitality. More than any other Indians of the Rocky Mountain region, +they avoided drunkenness and lewd intercourse with the whites. Their +mental ability was comparatively high, as appears from their skill in +buffalo-hunting, in making dugouts and bark canoes, and in constructing +sweat-houses and lodges of both skins and rushes. Even today the lower +Kutenai are noted for their water-tight baskets of split roots. Moreover +the degree to which they used the plants that grew about them for food, +medicine, and economical purposes was noteworthy. They also had an +esthetic appreciation of several plants and flowers--a gift rare among +Indians. These people lived in the zone of most stimulating climate and, +although they did not practice agriculture and had little else in their +surroundings to help them to rise above the common level, they dwelt in +a region where there was rain enough in summer to prevent their being +on the verge of starvation, as the Indians of California usually were. +Moreover they were near enough to the haunts of the buffalo to depend on +that great beast for food. Since one buffalo supplies as much food as a +hundred rabbits, these Indians were vastly better off than the people of +the drier parts of the western coast. + +South of the home of the Kutenai, in eastern Oregon, southern Idaho, +Nevada, Utah, and neighboring regions dwelt the Utes and other Shoshoni +tribes. In this region the rainfall, which is no greater than that of +California, occurs chiefly in winter. The long summer is so dry that, +except by highly developed methods of irrigation, agriculture is +impossible. Hence it is not surprising to find a traveler in 1850 +describing one tribe of the Ute family as "without exception the most +miserable looking set of human beings I ever saw. They have hitherto +subsisted principally on snakes, lizards, roots." The lowest of all the +Ute tribes were those who lived in the sage-brush. The early explorer, +Bonneville, found the tribes of Snake River wintering in brush shelters +without roofs merely heaps of brush piled high, behind which the Indians +crouched for protection from wind and snow. Crude as such shelters may +seem, they were the best that could be constructed by people who dwelt +where there was no vegetation except little bushes, and where the soil +was for the most part sandy or so salty that it could not easily be made +into adobe bricks. + +The food of these Utes and Shoshonis was no better than their shelters. +There were no large animals for them to hunt; rabbits were the best that +they could find. Farther to the east, where the buffalo wandered during +part of the year and where there are some forests, the food was better, +the shelters were more effective, and, in general, the standard of +living was higher, although racially the two groups of people were +alike. In this case, as in others, the people whose condition was lowest +were apparently as competent as those whose material conditions were +much better. Today, although the Ute Indians, like most of their race, +are rather slow, some tribes, such as the Payutes, are described as +not only "peaceful and moral," but also "industrious." They are highly +commended for their good qualities by those who have had the best +opportunities for judging. While not as bright in intellect as some of +the prairie tribes whom we shall soon consider, they appear to possess +more solidity of character. By their willingness and efficiency as +workers they have made themselves necessary to the white farmers +and have thus supplied themselves with good clothing and many of the +comforts of life. They have resisted, too, many of the evils coming from +the advance of civilization, so that one agent speaks of these Indians +as presenting the singular anomaly of improving by contact with the +whites. Apparently their extremely low condition in former times was due +merely to that same handicap of environment which kept back the Indians +of California. + +Compare these backward but not wholly ungifted Utes with the Hopi who +belonged to the same stock. The relatively high social organization of +the latter people and the intricacy and significance of their religious +ceremonials are well known. Mentally the Hopi seem to be the equal +of any tribe, but it is doubtful whether they have much more innate +capacity than many of their more backward neighbors. Nevertheless they +made much more progress before the days of the white man, as can easily +be seen in their artistic development. Every one who has crossed the +continent by the Santa Fe route knows how interesting and beautiful +are their pottery, basketry, and weaving. Not only in art but also +in government the Hopi are highly advanced. Their governing body is +a council of hereditary elders together with the chiefs of religious +fraternities. Among these officials there is a speaker chief and a war +chief, but there seems never to have been any supreme chief of all the +Hopi. Each pueblo has an hereditary chief who directs all the communal +work, such as the cleaning of the springs and the general care of the +village. Crimes are rare. This at first sight seems strange in view of +the fact that no penalty was inflicted for any crime except sorcery, but +under Hopi law all transgressions could be reduced to sorcery. One +of the most striking features of Hopi life was its rich religious +development. The Hopi recognized a large number of supernatural beings +and had a great store of most interesting and poetic mythological +tales. The home of the Hopi would seem at first sight as unfavorable to +progress as that of their Ute cousins, but the Hopi have the advantage +of being the most northwesterly representatives of the Indians who dwell +within the regions of summer rain. Fortunately for them, their country +is too desert and unforested for them to subsist to any great degree +by the chase. They are thus forced to devote all their energy to +agriculture, through which they have developed a relatively high +standard of living. They dwell far enough south to have their heaviest +rainfall in summer and not in winter, as is the case in Utah, so that +they are able to cultivate crops of corn and beans. Where such an +intensive system of agriculture prevails, the work of women is as +valuable as that of men. The position of woman is thus relatively high +among the Hopi, for she is useful not only for her assistance in the +labors of the field but also for her skill in preserving the crops, +grinding the flour, and otherwise preparing the comparatively varied +food which this tribe fortunately possesses. + +From northern New Mexico and Arizona to Mexico City summer rains, dry +winters, and still drier springs, are the rule. Forests are few, and +much of the country is desert. The more abundant the rains, the +greater the number of people and the greater the opportunities for the +accumulation of wealth, and thus for that leisure which is necessary +to part of a community if civilization is to make progress. That is +one reason why the civilization of the summer rain people becomes more +highly developed as they go from north to south. The fact that the +altitude of the country increases from the United States border +southward also tends in the same direction, for it causes the climate to +be cooler and more bracing at Mexico City than at places farther north. + +The importance of summer rains in stimulating growth and in facilitating +the early stages of agriculture is noteworthy. Every one familiar with +Arizona and New Mexico knows how the sudden summer showers fill the +mountain valleys with floods which flow down upon the plain and rapidly +spread out into broad, thin sheets, often known as playas. There the +water stands a short time and then either sinks into the ground or +evaporates. Such places are favored with the best kind of natural +irrigation, and after the first shower it is an easy matter for the +primitive farmer to go out and drop grains of corn into holes punched +with a stick. Thereafter he can count on other showers to water his +field while the corn sprouts and grows to maturity. All that he needs +to do is to watch the field to protect it from the rare depredations +of wild animals. As time goes on the primitive farmer realizes the +advantage of leading the water to particularly favorable spots and thus +begins to develop a system of artificial irrigation. In regions where +such advantageous conditions prevail, the people who live permanently +in one place succeed best, for the work that they do one year helps them +the next. They are not greatly troubled by weeds, for, though grasses +grow as well as corn in the places where the water spreads out, the +grasses take the form of little clumps which can easily be pulled up. +In the drier parts of the area of summer rain, it becomes necessary to +conserve the water supply to the utmost. The Hopi consider sandy fields +the best, for the loose sand on top acts as a natural blanket to prevent +evaporation from the underlying layers. Sometimes in dry seasons the +Hopi use extraordinary methods to help their seeds to sprout. For +instance, they place a seed in a ball of saturated mud which they +bury beneath several inches of sand. As the sand prevents evaporation, +practically all the water is retained for the use of the seed, which +thereupon sprouts and grows some inches by the time the first summer +floods arrive. + +The Indians of the Great Plains lived a very different life from that +of the natives of either the mountains or the Pacific coast. In the far +north, to be sure, the rigorous climate caused all the Indians to live +practically alike, whether in the Rockies, the plains, or the Laurentian +highland. South of them, in that great central expanse stretching from +the latitude of Lake Winnipeg to the Rio Grande River, the Indians +of the plains possessed a relatively uniform type of life peculiar to +themselves. This individuality was due partly to the luxuriant carpet of +grass which covered the plains and partly to the supply of animal +food afforded by the vast herds of buffaloes which roamed in tens +of thousands throughout the whole territory. The grass was important +chiefly because it prevented the Indians from engaging in agriculture, +for it must never be forgotten that the Indians had neither iron tools +nor beasts of burden to aid them in overcoming the natural difficulties +in the way of agriculture. To be sure, they did occasionally pound +meteoric iron into useful implements, but this substance was so rare +that probably not one Indian in a hundred had ever seen a piece. The +Indians were quite familiar with copper, but there is not the slightest +evidence that they had discovered any means of hardening it. Metals +played no real part in the life of any of the Indians of America, and +without such tools as iron spades and hoes it was impossible for them to +cultivate grassland. If they burned the prairie and dropped seeds into +holes, the corn or beans which they thus planted were sure to be choked +by the quickly springing grass. To dig away the tough sod around the +hole for each seed would require an almost incredible amount of work +even with iron tools. To accomplish this with wooden spades, rude hoes +made of large flakes of flint, or the shoulder blades of the buffalo, +was impossible on any large scale. Now and then in some river bottom +where the grass grew in clumps and could be easily pulled up, a little +agriculture was possible. That is all that seems to have been attempted +on the great grassy plains. + +The Indians could not undertake any widespread cultivation of the plains +not only because they lacked iron tools but also because they had no +draft animals. The buffalo was too big, too fierce, and too stupid to +be domesticated. In all the length and breadth of the two Americas there +was no animal to take the place of the useful horse, donkey, or ox. The +llama was too small to do anything but carry light loads, and it could +live only in a most limited area among the cold Andean highlands. Even +if the aboriginal Americans could have made iron ploughs, they could not +have ploughed the tough sod without the aid of animals. Moreover, +even if the possession of metal tools and beasts of burden had made +agriculture possible in the grass-lands, it would have been difficult, +in the absence of wood for fences, to prevent the buffalo from eating up +the crops or at least from tramping through them and spoiling them. Thus +the fertile land of the great plains remained largely unused until the +white man came to the New World bringing the iron tools and domestic +animals that were necessary to successful agriculture. + +Although farming of any sort was almost as impossible in the plains +as in the dry regions of winter rains farther west, the abundance of +buffaloes made life much easier in many respects. It is astonishing to +see how many purposes these animals served. An early traveler who dwelt +among one of the buffalo-hunting tribes, the Tonkawa of central Texas, +says: "Besides their meat it [the buffalo] furnishes them liberally what +they desire for conveniences. The brains are used to soften skins, the +horns for spoons and drinking cups, the shoulder blades to dig up and +clear off the ground, the tendons for threads and bow strings, the hoofs +to glue the arrow-feathering. From the tail-hair they make ropes +and girths, from the wool, belts and various ornaments. The hide +furnishes... shields, tents, shirts, footwear, and blankets to protect +them from the cold." * + + + *See Hodge, "Handbook of American Indians," vol. II, p. 781. + + +The buffalo is a surprisingly stupid animal. When a herd is feeding it +is possible for a man to walk into the midst of it and shoot down an +animal. Even when one of their companions falls dead, the buffaloes +pay no attention to the hunter provided he remains perfectly still. The +wounded animals are not at first dangerous but seek to flee. Only when +pursued and brought to bay do they turn on their pursuers. When the +Indians of an encampment united their forces, as was their regular +habit, they were able to slaughter hundreds of animals in a few days. +The more delicate parts of the meat they ate first, often without +cooking them. The rest they dried and packed away for future use, while +they prepared the hides as coverings for the tents or as rugs in which +to sleep. + +Wherever the buffaloes were present in large numbers, the habits of the +Indians were much the same. They could not live in settled villages, +for there was no assurance that the buffalo would come to any particular +place each year. The plains tribes were therefore more thoroughly +nomadic than almost any others, especially after the introduction of +horses. Because they wandered so much, they came into contact with +other tribes to an unusual degree, and much of the contact was friendly. +Gradually the Indians developed a sign language by which tribes of +different tongues could communicate with one another. At first these +signs were like pictographs, for the speaker pointed as nearly as +possible to the thing that he desired to indicate, but later they became +more and more conventional. For example, man, the erect animal, was +indicated by throwing up the hand, with its back outward and the index +finger extending upward. Woman was indicated by a sweeping downward +movement of the hand at the side of the head with fingers extended to +denote long hair or the combing of flowing locks. + +Among the plains Indians, the Dakotas, the main tribe of the Sioux +family, are universally considered to have stood highest not only +physically but mentally, and probably morally. Their bravery was never +questioned, and they conquered or drove out every rival except the +Chippewas. Their superiority was clearly seen in their system of +government. Personal fitness and popularity determined chieftainship +more than did heredity. The authority of the chief was limited by the +Band Council, without whose approbation little or nothing could be +accomplished. In one of the Dakota tribes, the Tetons, the policing of a +village was confided to two or three officers who were appointed by the +chief and who remained in power until their successors were appointed. +Day and night they were always on the watch, and so arduous were their +labors that their term of service was necessarily short. The brevity of +their term, however, was atoned for by the greatness of their authority, +for in the suppression of disturbances no resistance was suffered. Their +persons were sacred, and if in the execution of their duty they struck +even a chief of the second class they could not be punished. + +The Dakotas, who lived in the region where their name is still +preserved, inhabited that part of the great plain which is climatically +most favorable to great activity. It is perhaps because of their +response to the influence of this factor of geographical environment +that they and their neighbors are the best known of the plains tribes. +Their activity in later times is evident from the fact that the Tetons +were called "the plundering Arabs of America." If their activities +had been more wisely directed, they might have made a great name for +themselves in Indian history. In the arts they stood as high as could +be expected in view of the wandering life which they led and the limited +materials with which they had to work. In the art of making pictographs, +for instance, they excelled all other tribes, except perhaps the Kiowas, +a plains tribe of Colorado and western Kansas. On the hides of buffalo, +deer, and antelope which formed their tents, the Dakotas painted +calendars, which had a picture for each year, or rather for each winter, +while those of the Kiowas had a summer symbol and a winter symbol. +Probably these calendars reveal the influence of the whites, but they at +least show that these people of the plains were quickwitted. + +Farther south the tribes of the plains stood on a much lower level than +the Dakotas. The Spanish explorer, Cabeza de Vaca, describes the Yguases +in Texas, among whom he lived for several years, in these words: "Their +support is principally roots which require roasting two days. Many are +very bitter. Occasionally they take deer and at times fish, but the +quantity is so small and the famine so great that they eat spiders and +eggs of ants, worms, lizards, salamanders, snakes, and vipers that kill +whom they strike, and they eat earth and all that there is, the dung of +deer, things I omit to mention and I earnestly believe that were there +stones in that land they would eat them. They save the bones of the fish +they consume, the snakes and other animals, that they may afterward beat +them together and eat the powder." During these painful periods, they +bade Cabeza de Vaca "not to be sad. There would soon be prickly pears, +although the season of this fruit of the cactus might be months distant. +When the pears were ripe, the people feasted and danced and forgot their +former privations. They destroyed their female infants to prevent them +being taken by their enemies and thus becoming the means of increasing +the latter's number." + +East of the Great Plains there dwelt still another important type of +Indians, the people of the deciduous forests. Their home extended from +the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. As we have already seen, the +Iroquois who inhabited the northern part of this region were in many +respects the highest product of aboriginal America. The northern +Iroquois tribes, especially those known as the Five Nations, were second +to no other Indian people north of Mexico in political organization, +statecraft, and military prowess. Their leaders were genuine diplomats, +as the wily French and English statesmen with whom they treated soon +discovered. One of their most notable traits was the reverence which +they had for the tribal law. The wars that they waged were primarily +for political independence, for the fundamental principle of their +confederation was that by uniting with one another they would secure the +peace and welfare of all with whom they were connected by ties of blood. +They prevented blood feuds by decreeing that there should be a price for +the killing of a co-tribesman, and they abstained from eating the flesh +of their enemies in order to avoid future strife. So thoroughly did they +believe in the rights of the individual that women were accorded a high +position. Among some of the tribes the consent of all the women who had +borne children was required before any important measure could be taken. +Candidates for a chiefship were nominated by the votes of the mothers, +and, as lands and houses were the property of the women, their power in +the tribe was great. + +The Iroquois were sedentary and agricultural, and depended on the chase +for only a small part of their existence. The northern tribes were +especially noted for their skill in building fortifications and houses. +Their so-called castles were solid wooden structures with platforms +running around the top on the inside. From the platforms stones and +other missiles could be hurled down upon besiegers. According to our +standards such dwellings were very primitive, but they were almost as +great an advance upon the brush piles of the Utes as our skyscrapers +are upon them. Farther south in the Carolinas, the Cherokees, another +Iroquoian tribe, stand out prominently by reason of their unusual mental +ability. Under the influence of the white man, the Cherokees were the +first to adopt a constitutional form of government embodied in a code +of laws written in their own language. Their language was reduced to +writing by means of an alphabet which one of their number named Sequoya +had devised. Sequoya and other leaders, however, may not have been +pure Indians, for by that time much white blood had been mixed with the +tribe. Yet even before the coming of the white man the Cherokees were +apparently more advanced in agriculture than the Iroquois were, but less +advanced in their form of government, in their treatment of women, and +in many other respects. In general, as we go from north to south in +the region of deciduous forests, we find that among the early Indians +agriculture became more and more important and the people more +sedentary, though not always more progressive in other ways. The +Catawbas, for instance, in South Carolina were sedentary agriculturists +and seem to have differed little in general customs from their +neighbors. Their men were brave and honest but lacking in energy. In +the Muskhogean family of Indians, comprising the Creeks, Choctaws, +Chickasaws, and Seminoles, who occupied the Gulf States from Georgia to +Mississippi, all the tribes were agricultural and sedentary and occupied +villages of substantial houses. The towns near the tribal frontiers were +usually palisaded, but those more remote from invasion were unprotected. +All these Indians were brave but not warlike in the violent fashion of +the Five Nations. The Choctaws would fight only in self-defense, it was +said, but the Creeks and especially the Chickasaws were more aggressive. +In their government these Muskhogean tribes appear to have attained +a position corresponding to their somewhat advanced culture in other +respects. Yet their confederacies were loose and flimsy compared with +that of the Five Nations. Another phase of the life of the tribes in the +southern part of the region of deciduous forests is illustrated by +the Natchez of Mississippi. These people were strictly sedentary and +depended chiefly upon agriculture for a livelihood. They possessed +considerable skill in the arts. For instance, they wove a cloth from the +inner bark of the mulberry tree and made excellent pottery. They also +constructed great mounds of earth upon which to erect their dwellings +and temples. Like a good many of the other southern tribes, they fought +when it was necessary, but they were peaceable compared with the Five +Nations. They had a form of sun-worship resembling that of Mexico, and +in other ways their ideas were like those of the people farther south. +For instance, when a chief died, his wives were killed. In times of +distress the parents frequently offered their children as sacrifice. + +Many characteristics of the Natchez and other southern tribes seem to +indicate that they had formerly possessed a civilization higher than +that which prevailed when the white man came. The Five Nations, on +the contrary, apparently represent an energetic people who were on the +upward path and who might have achieved great things if the whites had +not interrupted them. The southern Indians resemble people whose best +days were past, for the mounds which abound in the Gulf States appear +to have been built chiefly in pre-Columbian days. Their objects of +art, such as the remarkable wooden mortars found at Key Marco and the +embossed copper plates found elsewhere in Florida, point to a highly +developed artistic sense which was no longer in evidence at the coming +of the white man. + +It is interesting to see the way in which climatic energy tended to give +the Five Nations a marked superiority over the tribesmen of the South, +while agriculture tended in the opposite direction. There has been much +discussion as to the part played by agriculture among the primitive +Americans, especially in the northeast. Corn, beans, and squashes were +an important element in the diet of the Indians of the New England +region, while farther south potatoes, sunflower seeds, and melons +were also articles of food. The New England tribes knew enough about +agriculture to use fish and shells for fertilizer. They had wooden +mattocks and hoes made from the shoulder blades of deer, from tortoise +shells, or from conch shells set in handles. They also had stone hoes +and spades, while the women used short pickers or parers about a foot +long and five inches wide. Seated on the ground they used these to +break the upper part of the soil and to grub out weeds, grass, and old +cornstalks. They had the regular custom of burning over an old patch +each year and then replanting it. Sometimes they merely put the seeds in +holes and sometimes they dug up and loosened the ground for each seed. +Clearings they made by girdling the trees, that is, by cutting off the +bark in a circle at the bottom and thus causing the tree to die. The +brush they hacked or broke down and burned when it was dry enough. + +There is much danger of confusing the agricultural condition of the +Indian after the European had modified his life with his condition +before the European came to America. For instance, in the excellent +article on agriculture in the "Handbook of American Indians," conditions +prevailing as late as 1794 in the States south of the Great Lakes are +spoken of as if typical of aboriginal America. But at that time the +white man had long been in contact with the Indian, and iron tools +had largely taken the place of stone. The rapidity with which European +importations spread may be judged by the fact that as early as 1736 the +Iroquois in New York not only had obtained horses but were regularly +breeding them. The use of the iron axe of course spread with vastly +greater rapidity than that of the horse, for an axe or a knife was the +first thing that an Indian sought from the white man. In the eighteenth +century agriculture had thus become immeasurably easier than before, yet +even then the Indians still kept up their old habit of cultivating the +same fields only a short time. The regular practice was to cultivate +a field five, ten, and sometimes even twenty or more years, and then +abandon it. * + + + *Ordinarily it is stated that this practice was due to the +exhaustion of the soil. That, however, is open to question, for five +or ten years' desultory cultivation on the part of the Indian would +scarcely exhaust the soil so much that people would go to the great +labor of making new clearings and moving their villages. Moreover, in +the Southern States it is well known today that the soil is exhausted +much more rapidly than farther north because it contains less humus. +Nevertheless the southern tribes cultivated the land about their +villages for long periods. Tribes like the Creeks, the Cherokees, and +the Natchez appear to have been decidedly less prone to move than the +Iroquois, in spite of the relatively high development of these northern +nations. + + +What hindered agriculture most in the northern part of the deciduous +forest was the grass. Any one who has cultivated a garden knows how +rapidly the weeds grow. He also knows that there is no weed so hard to +exterminate as grass. When once it gets a foothold mere hoeing seems +only to make it grow the faster. The only way to get rid of grass when +once it has become well established is to plow the field and start over +again, but this the Indians could not do. When first a clearing was made +in the midst of the forest, there was no grass to be contended with. +Little by little, however, it was sure to come in, until at length what +had been a garden was in a fair way to become a meadow. Then the Indians +would decide that it was necessary to seek new fields. + +One might suppose that under such circumstances the Indians would merely +clear another patch of forest not far from the village and so continue +to live in the old place. This, however, they did not do because the +labor of making a clearing with stone axes and by the slow process of +girdling and burning the trees was so great that it was possible only in +certain favored spots where by accident the growth was less dense than +usual. When once a clearing became grassy, the only thing to do was to +hunt for a new site, prepare a clearing, and then move the village. This +was apparently the reason why the Iroquois, although successful in other +ways, failed to establish permanent towns like those of the Pueblos and +the Haidas. Their advancement not only in architecture but in many of +the most important elements of civilization was for this reason greatly +delayed. There was little to stimulate them to improve the land to which +they were attached, for they knew that soon they would have to move. + +Farther south the character of the grassy vegetation changes, and the +condition of agriculture alters with it. The grass ceases to have that +thick, close, turfy quality which we admire so much in the fields of the +north, and it begins to grow in bunches. Often a southern hillside may +appear from a distance to be as densely covered with grass as a New +England hayfield. On closer examination, however, the growth is seen +to consist of individual bunches which can easily be pulled up, so that +among the southern tribes the fields did not become filled with grass as +they did in the north, for the women had relatively little difficulty in +keeping out this kind of weed as well as others. + +In this survey of aboriginal America we have been impressed by the +contrast between two diverse aspects of the control of human activities +by physical environment. We saw, in the first place, that in our own +day the distribution of culture in America is more closely related to +climatic energy than to any other factor, because man is now so advanced +in the arts and crafts that agricultural difficulties do not impede him, +except in the far north and in tropical forests. Secondly, we have found +that, although all the geographical factors acted upon the Indian as +they do today, the absence of metals and beasts of burden compelled man +to be nomadic, and hence to remain in a low stage of civilization in +many places where he now can thrive. In the days long before Columbus +the distribution of civilization in the Red Man's Continent offered +still a third aspect, strikingly different both from that of today and +from that of the age of discovery. In that earlier period the great +centers of civilization were south of their present situation. In +the southern part of North America from Arizona to Florida there are +abundant evidences that the Indians whom the white man found were less +advanced than their predecessors. The abundant ruins of Arizona and New +Mexico, their widespread distribution, and the highly artistic character +of the pottery and other products of handicraft found in them seem to +indicate that the ancient population was both denser and more highly +cultured than that which the Europeans finally ousted. In the Gulf +States there is perhaps not much evidence that there was a denser +population at an earlier period, but the excellence of the pre-Columbian +handicrafts and the existence of a decadent sun worship illustrate the +way in which the civilization of the past was higher than that of +later days. The Aztecs, who figure so largely in the history of the +exploration and conquest of Mexico, were merely a warlike tribe which +had been fortunate in the inheritance of a relatively high civilization +from the past. So, too, the civilization found by the Spaniards at +places such as Mitla, in the extreme south of Mexico, could not compare +with that of which evidence is found in the ruins. Most remarkable of +all is the condition of Yucatan and Guatemala. In northern Yucatan the +Spaniards found a race of mild, decadent Mayas living among the relics +of former grandeur. Although they used the old temples as shrines, they +knew little of those who had built these temples and showed still +less capacity to imitate the ancient architects. Farther south in +the forested region of southern Yucatan and northern Guatemala the +conditions are still more surprising, for today these regions are almost +uninhabitable and are occupied by only a few sickly, degraded natives +who live largely by the chase. Yet in the past this region was the scene +of by far the highest culture that ever developed in America. There +alone in this great continent did men develop an architecture which, not +only in massiveness but in wealth of architectural detail and sculptural +adornment, vies with that of early Egypt or Chaldea. There alone did the +art of writing develop. Yet today in those regions the density of +the forest, the prevalence of deadly fevers, the extremely enervating +temperature, and the steady humidity are as hostile to civilization as +are the cold of the far north and the dryness of the desert. + +The only explanation of this anomaly seems to be that in the past the +climatic zones of the world have at certain periods been shifted +farther toward the equator than they are at present. Practically all +the geographers of America now believe that within the past two or three +thousand years climatic pulsations have taken place whereby places like +the dry Southwest have alternately experienced centuries of greater +moisture than at present and centuries as dry as today or even drier. +During the moist centuries greater storminess prevailed, so that the +climate was apparently better not only for agriculture but for human +energy. At such times the standard of living was higher than now not +only in the Southwest but in the Gulf States and in Mexico. In periods +when the deserts of the southwestern United States were wet, the Maya +region of Yucatan and Guatemala appears to have been relatively dry. +Then the dry belt which now extends from northern Mexico to the northern +tip of Yucatan apparently shifted southward. Such conditions would cause +the forests of Yucatan and Guatemala to become much less dense than at +present. This comparative deforestation would make agriculture easily +possible where today it is out of the question. At the same time the +relatively dry climate and the clearing away of the vegetation would to +a large degree eliminate the malarial fevers and other diseases which +are now such a terrible scourge in wet tropical countries. Then, too, +the storms which at the present time give such variability to the +climate of the United States would follow more southerly courses. In its +stimulating qualities the climate of the home of the Mayas in the days +of their prime was much more nearly like that which now prevails where +civilization rises highest. + +From first to last the civilization of America has been bound up with +its physical environment. It matters little whether we are dealing with +the red race, the black, or the white. Nor does it matter whether we +deal with one part of the continent or another. Wherever we turn we can +trace the influence of mountains and plains, of rocks and metals from +which tools are made, of water and its finny inhabitants, of the beasts +of the chase from the hare to the buffalo, of domestic animals, of the +native forests, grass-lands, and deserts, and, last but not least, of +temperature, moisture, and wind in their direct effects upon the human +body. At one stage of human development the possibilities of agriculture +may be the dominant factor in man's life in early America. At another, +domestic animals may be more important, and at still another, iron or +waterways or some other factor may be predominant. It is the part of +the later history of the American Continent to trace the effect of these +various factors and to chronicle the influence that they have had upon +man's progress. + + + + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + +Although many books deal with the physical features of the Western +Hemisphere and many others with the Indians, few deal with the two in +relation to one another. One book, however, stands out preeminent in +this respect, namely, Edward John Payne's "History of the New World +Called America," 2 vols. (1892-99). This book, which has never been +finished, attempts to explain the conditions of life among the American +aborigines as the result of geographical conditions, especially of the +food supply. Where the author carries this attempt into the field of +special customs and religious rites, he goes too far. Nevertheless his +work is uncommonly stimulating and deserves the careful attention of the +reader who would gain a broad grasp of the relation of geography to the +history of the New World. + +Two other good books which deal with the relation of geography to +American history are Miss Ellen C. Semple's "American History and +its Geographical Conditions" (1903) and A. P. Brigham's "Geographic +Influences in American History" (1903). Both of these books interpret +geography as if it included little except the form of the land. While +they bring out clearly the effect of mountain barriers, indented coasts, +and easy routes whether by land or water, they scarcely touch on the +more subtle relationships between man on the one hand and the climate, +plants, and animals which form the dominant features of his physical +environment on the other hand. + +In their emphasis on the form of the land both Semple and Brigham follow +the lead of W. M. Davis. In his admirable articles on America and the +United States in "The Encyclopaedia Britannica" (11th edition) and in +The International Geography edited by H. R. Mill (1901), Davis has given +an uncommonly clear and vivid description of the main physical features +of the New World. Living beings, however, play little part in this +description, so that the reader is not led to an understanding of how +physical geography affects human actions. + +Other good descriptions of the North American continent are found in +the following books: I. C. Russell's "North America" (1904), Stanford's +"Compendium of Modern Geography and Travel," including the volumes on +Canada, the United States, and Central America, and the great volumes +on America in "The Earth and its Inhabitants" by Elise Reclus, 19 vols. +(1876-1894). Russell's book is largely physiographic but contains some +good chapters on the Indians. In Stanford's "Compendium" the purpose +is to treat man and nature in their relation to one another, but +the relationships are not clearly brought out, and there is too much +emphasis on purely descriptive and encyclopedic matter. So far as +interest is concerned, the famous work by Elise Reclus holds high rank. +It is an encyclopedia of geographical facts arranged and edited in such +a way that it has all the interest of a fine book of travel. Like most +of the other books, however, it fails to bring out relationships. + +As sources of information on the Indians, two books stand out with +special prominence. "The American Race," by D. G. Brinton (1891), is +a most scholarly volume devoted largely to a study of the Indians on +a linguistic basis. It contains some general chapters, however, on the +Indians and their environment, and these are most illuminating. The +other book is the "Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico," edited +by F. W. Hodge, and published by the United States Bureau of Ethnology +(Washington, 1897, 1910, 1911). Its two large volumes are arranged in +encyclopedic form. The various articles are written by a large number +of scholars, including practically all the students who were at work on +Indian ethnology at the time of publication. Many of the articles are +the best that have been written and will not only interest the general +reader but will contribute to an understanding of what America was when +the Indians came here and what it still is today. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Red Man's Continent, by Ellsworth Huntington + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RED MAN'S CONTINENT *** + +***** This file should be named 3066.txt or 3066.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/6/3066/ + +Produced by The James J. 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GREGORY'S UNIVERSITY; THANKS TO ALEV AKMAN. + + +THE RED MAN'S CONTINENT, A CHRONICLE OF ABORIGINAL AMERICA +BY ELLSWORTH HUNTINGTON + +NEW HAVEN: YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS +TORONTO: GLASGOW, BROOK & CO. +LONDON: HUMPHREY MILFORD +OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS +1919 + + +PREFACE + +In writing this book the author has aimed first to present in +readable form the main facts about the geographical environment +of American history. Many important facts have been omitted or +have been touched upon only lightly because they are generally +familiar. On the other hand, special stress has been laid on +certain broad phases of geography which are comparatively +unfamiliar. One of these is the similarity of form between the +Old World and the New, and between North and South America; +another is the distribution of indigenous types of vegetation in +North America; and a third is the relation of climate to health +and energy. In addition to these subjects, the influence of +geographical conditions upon the life of the primitive Indians +has been emphasized. This factor is especially important because +people without iron tools and beasts of burden, and without any +cereal crops except corn, must respond to their environment very +differently from civilized people of today. Limits of space and +the desire to make this book readable have led to the omission of +the detailed proof of some of the conclusions here set forth. The +special student will recognize such cases and will not judge them +until he has read the author's fuller statements elsewhere. The +general reader, for whom this book is designed, will be thankful +for the omission of such purely technical details. + +CONTENTS + +I. THE APPROACHES TO AMERICA +II. THE FORM OF THE CONTINENT +III. THE GEOGRAPHIC PROVINCES OF NORTH AMERICA +IV. THE GARMENT OF VEGETATION +V. THE RED MAN IN AMERICA +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + + + +THE RED MAN'S CONTINENT + + +CHAPTER I. THE APPROACHES TO AMERICA + +Across the twilight lawn at Hampton Institute straggles a group +of sturdy young men with copper-hued complexions. Their day has +been devoted to farming, carpentry, blacksmithing, or some other +trade. Their evening will be given to study. Those silent +dignified Indians with straight black hair and broad, strong +features are training their hands and minds in the hope that some +day they may stand beside the white man as equals. Behind them, +laughing gayly and chattering as if without a care in the world, +comes a larger group of kinky-haired, thick-lipped youths with +black skins and African features. They, too, have been working +with the hands to train the mind. Those two diverse races, red +and black, sit down together in a classroom, and to them comes +another race. The faces that were expressionless or merely +mirthful a minute ago light up with serious interest as the +teacher comes into the room. She stands there a slender, +golden-haired, blue-eyed Anglo-Saxon girl just out of college--a +mere child compared with the score of swarthy, stalwart men as +old as herself who sit before her. Her mobile features seem to +mirror a hundred thoughts while their impassive faces are moved +by only one. Her quick speech almost trips in its eagerness not +to waste the short, precious hour. Only a strong effort holds her +back while she waits for the slow answers of the young men whom +she drills over and over again in simple problems of arithmetic. +The class and the teacher are an epitome of American history. +They are more than that. They are an epitome of all history. + +History in its broadest aspect is a record of man's migrations +from one environment to another. America is the last great goal +of these migrations. He who would understand its history must +know its mountains and plains, its climate, its products, and its +relation to the sea and to other parts of the world. He must know +more than this, however, for he must appreciate how various +environments alter man's energy and capacity and give his +character a slant in one direction or another. He must also know +the paths by which the inhabitants have reached their present +homes, for the influence of former environments upon them may be +more important than their immediate surroundings. In fact, the +history of North America has been perhaps more profoundly +influenced by man's inheritance from his past homes than by the +physical features of his present home. It is indeed of vast +importance that trade can move freely through such natural +channels as New York Harbor, the Mohawk Valley, and the Great +Lakes. It is equally important that the eastern highlands of the +United States are full of the world's finest coal, while the +central plains raise some of the world's most lavish crops. Yet +it is probably even more important that because of his +inheritance from a remote ancestral environment man is energetic, +inventive, and long-lived in certain parts of the American +continent, while elsewhere he has not the strength and mental +vigor to maintain even the degree of civilization to which he +seems to have risen. + +Three streams of migration have mainly determined the history of +America. One was an ancient and comparatively insignificant +stream from Asia. It brought the Indian to the two great +continents which the white man has now practically wrested from +him. A second and later stream was the great tide which rolled in +from Europe. It is as different from the other as West is from +East. Thus far it has not wholly obliterated the native people, +for between the southern border of the United States on the one +hand, and the northern borders of Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay +on the other, the vast proportion of the blood is still Indian. +The European tide may in time dominate even this region, but for +centuries to come the poor, disinherited Indians will continue to +form the bulk of the population. The third stream flowed from +Africa and was as different from either of the others as South is +from North. + +The differences between one and another of these three streams of +population and the antagonisms which they have involved have +greatly colored American history. The Indian, the European, and +the Negro apparently differ not only in outward appearance but in +the much more important matter of mentality. According to +Brinton* the average brain capacity of Parisians, including +adults of both sexes, is 1448 cubic centimeters. That of the +American Indian is 1376, and that of the Negro 1344 cubic +centimeters. With this difference in size there appears to be a +corresponding difference in function. Thus far not enough +accurate tests have been made upon Indians to enable us to draw +reliable conclusions. The Negro, however, has been tested on an +extensive scale. The results seem to leave little doubt that +there are real and measurable differences in the mental powers of +races, just as we know to be the case among individuals. The +matter is so important that we may well dwell on it a moment +before turning to the cause of the differences in the three +streams of American immigrants. If there is a measurable +difference between the inherent brain power of the white race and +the black, it is practically certain that there are also +measurable differences between the white and the red. + +* D. G. Brinton. "The American Race." + + +Numerous tests indicate that in the lower mental powers there is +no great difference between the black and the white. In physical +reactions one is as quick as the other. In the capacity of the +senses and in the power to perceive and to discriminate between +different kinds of objects there is also practical equality. When +it comes to the higher faculties, however, such as judgment, +inventiveness, and the power of organization, a difference begins +to be apparent. These, as Ferguson* says, are the traits that +"divide mankind into the able and the mediocre, the brilliant and +the dull, and they determine the progress of civilization more +directly than do the simple fundamental powers which man has in +common with the lower animals." On the basis of the most +exhaustive study yet made, Ferguson believes that, apart from all +differences due to home training and environment, the average +intellectual power of the colored people of this country is only +about three-fourths as great as that of white persons of the same +amount of training. He believes it probable, indeed, that this +estimate is too high rather than too low. As to the Indian, his +past achievements and present condition indicate that +intellectually he stands between the white man and the Negro in +about the position that would be expected from the capacity of +his brain. If this is so, the mental differences in the three +streams of migration to America are fully as great as the outward +and manifest physical differences and far more important. + +* G. O. Ferguson. "The Psychology of the Negro," New York, 1916. + + +Why does the American Indian differ from the Negro, and the +European from both? This is a question on which we can only +speculate. But we shall find it profitable to study the paths by +which these diverse races found their way to America from man's +primeval home. According to the now almost universally accepted +theory, all the races of mankind had a common origin. But where +did man make the change from a four-handed, tree-dwelling little +ape to a much larger, upright creature with two hands and two +feet? It is a mistake to suppose that because he is hairless he +must have originated in a warm climate. In fact quite the +opposite seems to be the case, for apparently he lost his hair +because he took to wearing the skins of slain beasts in order +that he might have not only his own hair but that of other +animals as a protection from the cold. + +In our search for the starting-place of man's slow migration to +America our first step should be to ascertain what responses to +physical environment are common to all men. If we find that all +men live and thrive best under certain climatic conditions, it is +fair to assume that those conditions prevailed in man's original +home, and this conclusion will enable us to cast out of the +reckoning the regions where they do not prevail. A study of the +relations of millions of deaths to weather conditions indicates +that the white race is physically at its best when the average +temperature for night and day ranges from about 50 to 73 degrees +F. and when the air is neither extremely moist nor extremely dry. +In addition to these conditions there must be not only seasonal +changes but frequent changes from day to day. Such changes are +possible only where there is a distinct winter and where storms +are of frequent occurrence. The best climate is, therefore, one +where the temperature ranges from not much below the +freezing-point at night in winter to about 80 degrees F. by day +in summer, and where the storms which bring daily changes are +frequent at all seasons. + +Surprising as it may seem, this study indicates that similar +conditions are best for all sorts of races. Finns from the Arctic +Circle and Italians of sunny Sicily have the best health and +greatest energy under practically the same conditions; so too +with Frenchmen, Japanese, and Americans. Most surprising of all, +the African black man in the United States is likewise at his +best in essentially the same kind of weather that is most +favorable for his white fellow-citizens, and for Finns, Italians, +and other races. For the red race, no exact figures are +available, but general observation of the Indian's health and +activity suggests that in this respect he is at one with the rest +of mankind. + +For the source of any characteristic so widespread and uniform as +this adaptation to environment we must go back to the very +beginning of the human race. Such a characteristic must have +become firmly fixed in the human constitution before primitive +man became divided into races, or at least before any of the +races had left their original home and started on their long +journey to America. On the way to this continent one race took on +a dark reddish or brownish hue and its hair grew straight and +black; another became black skinned and crinkly-haired, while a +third developed a white skin and wavy blonde hair. Yet throughout +the thousands of years which brought about these changes, all +the races apparently retained the indelible constitutional +impress of the climate of their common birthplace. Man's physical +adaptation to climate seems to be a deep-seated physiological +fact like the uniformity of the temperature of the blood in all +races. Just as a change in the temperature of the blood brings +distress to the individual, so a change of climate apparently +brings distress to a race. Again and again, to be sure, on +the way to America, and under many other circumstances, man has +passed through the most adverse climates and has survived, but he +has flourished and waxed strong only in certain zones. + +Curiously enough man's body and his mind appear to differ in +their climatic adaptations. Moreover, in this respect the black +race, and perhaps the red, appears to be diverse from the white. +In America an investigation of the marks of students at West +Point and Annapolis indicates that the best mental work is done +when the temperature averages not much above 40 degrees F. for +night and day together. Tests of school children in Denmark point +to a similar conclusion. On the other hand, daily tests of +twenty-two Negroes at Hampton Institute for sixteen months +suggest that their mental ability may be greatest at a +temperature only a little lower than that which is best for the +most efficient physical activity. No tests of this sort have ever +been made upon Indians, but such facts as the inventiveness of +the Eskimo, the artistic development of the people of northern +British Columbia and southern Alaska, and the relatively high +civilization of the cold regions of the Peruvian plateau suggest +that the Indian in this respect is more like the white race than +the black. Perhaps man's mental powers underwent their chief +evolution after the various races had left the aboriginal home in +which the physical characteristics becamefixed. Thus the races, +though alike in their physical response to climate, may possibly +be different in their mental response because they have +approached America by different paths. + +Before we can understand how man may have been modified on his +way from his original home to America, we must inquire as to the +geographical situation of that home. Judging by the climate which +mankind now finds most favorable, the human race must have +originated in the temperate regions of Europe, Asia, or North +America. We are not entirely without evidence to guide to a +choice of one of the three continents. There is a scarcity of +indications of preglacial man in the New World and an abundance +of such indications in the Old. To be sure, several skulls found +in America have been supposed to belong to a time before the +last glacial epoch. In every case, however, there has been +something to throw doubt on the conclusion. For instance, some +human bones found at Vero in Florida in 1915 seem to be very old. +Certain circumstances, however, suggest that possibly they may +not really belong to the layers of gravel in which they were +discovered but may have been inserted at some later time. In the +Old World, on the contrary, no one doubts that many human skulls +and other parts of skeletons belong to the interglacial epoch +preceding the last glacial epoch, while some appear to date from +still more remote periods. Therefore no matter at what date man +may have come to America, it seems clear that he existed in the +Old World much earlier. This leaves us to choose between Europe +and Asia. The evidence points to central Asia as man's original +home, for the general movement of human migrations has been +outward from that region and not inward. So, too, with the great +families of mammals, as we know from fossil remains. From the +earliest geological times the vast interior of Asia has been the +great mother of the world, the source from which the most +important families of living things have come. + +Suppose, then, that we place in central Asia the primitive home +of the thin-skinned, hairless human race with its adaptation to a +highly variable climate with temperatures ranging from freezing +to eighty degrees. Man could not stay there forever. He was bound +to spread to new regions, partly because of his innate migratory +tendency and partly because of Nature's stern urgency. Geologists +are rapidly becoming convinced that the mammals spread from their +central Asian point of origin largely because of great variations +in climate.* Such variations have taken place on an enormous +scale during geological times. They seem, indeed, to be one of +the most important factors in evolution. Since early man lived +through the successive epochs of the glacial period, he must have +been subject to the urgency of vast climatic changes. During the +half million years more or less of his existence, cold, stormy, +glacial epochs lasting tens of thousands of years have again and +again been succeeded by warm, dry, interglacial epochs of equal +duration. + +* W. D. Matthew. "Climate and Evolution," N. Y. Acad. Sci., 1915. + + +During the glacial epochs the interior of Asia was well watered +and full of game which supplied the primitive human hunters. With +the advent of each interglacial epoch the rains diminished, grass +and trees disappeared, and the desert spread over enormous +tracts. Both men and animals must have been driven to sore +straits for lack of food. Migration to better regions was the +only recourse. Thus for hundreds of thousands of years there +appears to have been a constantly recurring outward push from +the center of the world's greatest land mass. That push, with the +consequent overcrowding of other regions, seems to have been one +of the chief forces impelling people to migrate and cover the +earth. + +Among the primitive men who were pushed outward from the Asian +deserts during a period of aridity, one group migrated +northeastward toward the Kamchatkan corner of Asia. Whether they +reached Bering Sea and the Kamchatkan shore before the next epoch +of glaciation we do not know. Doubtless they moved slowly, +perhaps averaging only a few score or a hundred miles per +generation, for that is generally the way with migrations of +primitive people advancing into unoccupied territory. Yet +sometimes they may have moved with comparative rapidity. I have +seen a tribe of herdsmen in central Asia abandon its ancestral +home and start on a zigzag march of a thousand miles because of a +great drought. The grass was so scanty that there was not enough +to support the animals. The tribe left a trail of blood, for +wherever it moved it infringed upon the rights of others and so +with conflict was driven onward. In some such way the primitive +wanderers were kept in movement until at last they reached the +bleak shores of the North Pacific. Even there something--perhaps +sheer curiosity--still urged them on. The green island across the +bay may have been so enticing that at last a raft of logs was +knotted together with stout withes. Perhaps at first the men +paddled themselves across alone, but the hunting and fishing +proved so good that at length they took the women and children +with them, and so advanced another step along the route toward +America. At other times distress, strife, or the search for game +may have led the primitive nomads on and on along the coast +until a day came when the Asian home was left and the New World +was entered. The route by which primitive man entered America is +important because it determined the surroundings among which the +first Americans lived for many generations. It has sometimes been +thought that the red men came to America by way of the Kurile +Islands, Kamchatka, and the Aleutian Islands. If this was their +route, they avoided a migration of two or three thousand miles +through one of the coldest and most inhospitable of regions. +This, however, is far from probable. The distance from Kamchatka +to the first of the Aleutian Islands is over one hundred miles. +As the island is not in sight from the mainland, there is little +chance that a band of savages, including women, would +deliberately sail thither. There is equally little probability +that they walked to the island on the ice, for the sea is never +frozen across the whole width. Nevertheless the climate may at +that time have been colder than now. There is also a chance that +a party of savages may have been blown across to the island in a +storm. Suppose that they succeeded in reaching Bering Island, as +the most Asiatic of the Aleutians is called, the next step to +Copper Island would be easy. Then, however, there comes a stretch +of more than two hundred miles. The chances that a family would +ever cross this waste of ocean are much smaller than in the first +case. Still another possibility remains. Was there once a bridge +of land from Asia to America in this region? There is no evidence +of such a link between the two continents, for a few raised +beaches indicate that during recent geological times the Aleutian +Islands have been uplifted rather than depressed. + +The passage from Asia to America at Bering Strait, on the other +hand, is comparatively easy. The Strait itself is fifty-six miles +wide, but in the middle there are two small islands so that the +longest stretch of water is only about thirty-five miles. +Moreover the Strait is usually full of ice, which frequently +becomes a solid mass from shore to shore. Therefore it would be +no strange thing if some primitive savages, in hunting for seals +or polar bears, crossed the Strait, even though they had no +boats. Today the people on both sides of the Strait belong to the +American race. They still retain traditions of a time when their +ancestors crossed this narrow strip of water. The Thilanottines +have a legend that two giants once fought fiercely on the Arctic +Ocean. One would have been defeated had not a man whom he had +befriended cut the tendon of his adversary's leg. The wounded +giant fell into Bering Strait and formed a bridge across which +the reindeer entered America. Later came a strange woman bringing +iron and copper. She repeated her visits until the natives +insulted her, whereupon she went underground with her fire-made +treasures and came back no more. Whatever may have been the +circumstances that led the earliest families to cross from Asia +to America, they little recked that they had found a new +continent and that they were the first of the red race. + +Unless the first Americans came to the new continent by way of +the Kurile and Aleutian Islands, it was probably their misfortune +to spend many generations in the cold regions of northeastern +Asia and northwestern America. Even if they reached Alaska by the +Aleutian route but came to the islands by way of the northern end +of the Kamchatkan Peninsula, they must have dwelt in a place +where the January temperature averages - 10 degrees F. and where +there are frosts every month in the year. If they came across +Bering Strait, they encountered a still more severe climate. The +winters there are scarcely worse than in northern Kamchatka, but +the summers are as cold as the month of March in New York or +Chicago. + +Perhaps a prolonged sojourn in such a climate is one reason for +the stolid character of the Indians. Of course we cannot speak +with certainty, but we must, in our search for an explanation, +consider the conditions of life in the far north. Food is scanty +at all times, and starvation is a frequent visitor, especially in +winter when game is hard to get. The long periods of cold and +darkness are terribly enervating. The nervous white man goes +crazy if he stays too long in Alaska. Every spring the first +boats returning to civilization carry an unduly large proportion +of men who have lost their minds because they have endured too +many dark, cold winters. His companions say of such a man, "The +North has got him." Almost every Alaskan recognizes the danger. +As one man said to a friend, "It is time I got out of here." + +"Why?" said the friend, "you seem all right. What's the matter?" + +"Well," said the other, "you see I begin to like the smell of +skunk cabbage, and, when a man gets that way, it's time he went +somewhere else." + +The skunk cabbage, by the way, grows in Alaska in great thickets +ten feet high. The man was perfectly serious, for he meant that +his mind was beginning to act in ways that were not normal. +Nowhere is the strain of life in the far north better described +than in the poems of Robert W. Service. + +Oh, the awful hush that seemed to crush me down on every hand, +As I blundered blind with a trail to find through that blank and +bitter land; +Half dazed, half crazed in the winter wild, with its grim +heartbreaking woes, +And the ruthless strife for a grip on life that only the +sourdough knows! +North by the compass, North I pressed; river and peak and plain +Passed like a dream I slept to lose and waked to dream again. +River and plain and mighty peak--and who could stand unawed? +As their summits blazed, he could stand undazed at the foot of +the throne of God. +North, aye, North, through a land accurst, shunned by the +scouring brutes, +And all I heard was my own harsh word and the whine of the +malamutes, +Till at last I came to a cabin squat, built in the side of a +hill, +And I burst in the door, and there on the floor, frozen to death, +lay Bill.* + +* From "Ballads of a Cheechako." + + +The human organism inherits so delicate an adjustment to climate +that, in spite of man's boasted ability to live anywhere, the +strain of the frozen North eliminates the more nervous and active +types of mind. Only those can endure whose nerves lack +sensitiveness and who are able to bear long privation and the +strain of hunger and cold and darkness. Though the Indian may +differ from the white man in many respects, such conditions are +probably as bad for him as for any race. For this reason it is +not improbable that long sojourns at way stations on the cold, +Alaskan route from central Asia may have weeded out certain types +of minds. Perhaps that is why the Indian, though brave, stoical, +and hardy, does not possess the alert, nervous temperament which +leads to invention and progress. + +The ancestors of the red man unwittingly chose the easiest path +to America and so entered the continent first, but this was their +misfortune. They could not inherit the land because they chose a +path whose unfavorable influence, exerted throughout centuries, +left them unable to cope with later arrivals from other +directions. The parts of America most favorable for the Indian +are also best for the white man and Negro. There the alerter +minds of the Europeans who migrated in the other direction have +quickly eliminated the Indian. His long northern sojourn may be +the reason why farther south in tropical lands he is even now at +a disadvantage compared with the Negro or with the coolie from +the East Indies. In Central America, for instance, it is +generally recognized that Negroes stand the heat and moisture of +the lowlands better than Indians. According to a competent +authority: "The American Indians cannot bear the heat of the +tropics even as well as the European, not to speak of the African +race. They perspire little, their skin becomes hot, and they are +easily prostrated by exertion in an elevated temperature. They +are peculiarly subject to diseases of hot climates, as hepatic +disorders, showing none of the immunity of the African. +Furthermore, the finest physical specimens of the race are found +in the colder regions of the temperate zones, the Pampas and +Patagonian Indians in the south, the Iroquois and Algonkins in +the north; whereas, in the tropics they are generally undersized, +short-lived, of inferior muscular force and with slight tolerance +of disease."* "No one," adds another observer, "could live among +the Indians of the Upper Amazon without being struck with their +constitutional dislike to heat. The impression forced itself upon +my mind that the Indian lives as a stranger or immigrant in these +hot regions."** Thus when compared with the other inhabitants of +America, from every point of view the Indian seems to be at a +disadvantage, much of which may be due to the path which he took +from the Old World to the New. + +* D. G. Brinton, "The American Race," pp. 34, 35. + +** H. W. Bates, "The Naturalist on the River Amazons." vol.II, +pp. 200, 201. + + +Before the red man lost his American heritage, he must have +enjoyed it for thousands upon thousands of years. Otherwise he +never could have become so different from his nearest relative, +the Mongol. The two are as truly distinct races as are the white +man and the Malay. Nor could the Indians themselves have become +so extraordinarily diverse except during the lapse of thousands +of years. The Quichua of the cold highlands of Peru is as +different from the Maya of Yucatan or the Huron of southern +Canada as the Swede is from the Armenian or the Jew. The +separation of one stock from another has gone so far that almost +countless languages have been developed. In the United States +alone the Indians have fifty-five "families" of languages and in +the whole of America there are nearly two hundred such groups. +These comprise over one thousand distinct languages which are +mutually unintelligible and at least as different as Spanish and +Italian. Such differences might arise in a day at the Tower of +Babel, but in the processes of evolution they take thousands of +years. + +During those thousands of years the red man, in spite of his +Arctic handicap, by no means showed himself wholly lacking in +originality and inventive ability. In Yucatan two or three +thousand years ago the Mayas were such good scientists and +recorded their observations of the stars so accurately that they +framed a calendar more exact than any except the one that we have +used for the last two centuries. They showed still greater powers +of mind in inventing the art of writing and in their +architecture. Later we shall depict the environment under which +these things occurred; it is enough to suggest in passing that +perhaps at this period the ancestors of the Indians had +capacities as great as those of any people. Today they might +possibly hold their own against the white man, were it not for +the great handicap which they once suffered because Asia +approaches America only in the cold, depressing north. + +The Indians were not the only primitive people who were driven +from central Asia by aridity. Another group pushed westward +toward Europe. They fared far better than their Indian cousins +who went to the northeast. These prospective Europeans never +encountered benumbing physical conditions like those of +northeastern Asia and northwestern America. Even when ice +shrouded the northern part of Europe, the rest of the continent +was apparently favored with a stimulating climate. Then as now, +Europe was probably one of the regions where storms are most +frequent. Hence it was free from the monotony which is so deadly +in other regions. When the ice retreated our European ancestors +doubtless followed slowly in its wake. Thus their racial +character was evolved in one of the world's most stimulating +regions. Privation they must have suffered, and hardihood and +boldness were absolutely essential in the combat with storms, +cold, wild beasts, fierce winds, and raging waves. But under the +spur of constant variety and change, these difficulties were +merely incentives to progress. When the time came for the people +of the west of Europe to cross to America, they were of a +different caliber from the previous immigrants. + +Two facts of physical geography brought Europe into contact with +America. One of these was the islands of the North, the other the +trade-winds of the South. Each seems to have caused a preliminary +contact which failed to produce important results. As in the +northern Pacific, so in the northern Atlantic, islands are +stepping-stones from the Old World to the New. Yet because in the +latter case the islands are far apart, it is harder to cross the +water from Norway and the Lofoten Islands to Iceland and +Greenland than it is to cross from Asia by way of the Aleutian +Islands or Bering Strait. Nevertheless in the tenth century of +the Christian era bold Norse vikings made the passage in the face +of storm and wind. In their slender open ships they braved the +elements on voyage after voyage. We think of the vikings as +pirates, and so they were. But they were also diligent colonists +who tilled the ground wherever it would yield even the scantiest +living. In Iceland and Greenland they must have labored mightily +to carry on the farms of which the Sagas tell us. When they made +their voyages, honest commerce was generally in their minds quite +as much as was plunder. Leif, the son of that rough Red Eric who +first settled Greenland, made a famous voyage to Vinland, the +mainland of America. Like so many other voyagers he was bent on +finding a region where men could live happily and on filling his +boats with grapes, wood, or other commodities worth carrying +home. + +In view of the energy of the Norsemen, the traces of their +presence in the Western Hemisphere are amazingly slight. In +Greenland a few insignificant heaps of stones are supposed to +show where some of them built small villages. Far in the north +Stefansson found fair-haired, blue-eyed Eskimos. These may be +descendants of the Norsemen, although they have migrated +thousands of miles from Greenland. In Maine the Micmac Indians +are said to have had a curious custom which they may have learned +from the vikings. When a chief died, they chose his largest +canoe. On it they piled dry wood, and on the wood they placed the +body. Then they set fire to the pile and sent the blazing boat +out to sea. Perhaps in earlier times the Micmacs once watched the +flaming funeral pyre of a fair-haired viking. As the ruddy flames +leaped skyward and were reflected in the shimmering waves of the +great waters the tribesmen must have felt that the Great Spirit +would gladly welcome a chief who came in such a blaze of glory.* + +* For this information I am indebted to Mr. Stansbury Hagar. + + +It seems strange that almost no other traces of the strong +vikings are found in America. The explanation lies partly in the +length and difficulty of the ocean voyage, and partly in the +inhospitable character of the two great islands that served as +stepping-stones from the Old World to the New. Iceland with its +glaciers, storms, and long dreary winters is bad enough. +Greenland is worse. Merely the tip of that island was known to +the Norse --and small wonder, for then as now most of Greenland +was shrouded in ice. Various Scandinavian authors, however, have +thought that during the most prosperous days of the vikings the +conditions in Greenland were not quite so bad as at the present +day. One settlement, Osterbyden, numbered 190 farms, 12 churches, +2 monasteries, and 1 bishopric. It is even stated that +apple-trees bore fruit and that some wheat was raised. "Cattle- +raising and fishing," says Pettersson, "appear to have procured a +good living . . . . At present the whole stock of cattle in +Greenland does not amount to 100 animals."* In those days the ice +which borders all the east coast and much of the west seems to +have been less troublesome than now. In the earliest accounts +nothing is said of this ice as a danger to navigation. We are +told that the best sailing route was through the strait north of +Cape Farewell Island, where today no ships can pass because of +the ice. Since the days of the Norsemen the glaciers have +increased in size, for the natives say that certain ruins are now +buried beneath the ice, while elsewhere ruins can be seen which +have been cut off from the rest of the country by advancing +glacial tongues. + +* O. Pettersson, "Climatic Variations in Historic and Prehistoric +Times." Svenska Hydrogrifisk--Biologiska Kommissioneur Skrifter, +Haft V. Stockholm. + + +Why the Norsemen disappeared from the Western Hemisphere we do +not exactly know, but there are interesting hints of an +explanation. It appears that the fourteenth century was a time of +great distress. In Norway the crops failed year after year +because of cold and storms. Provinces which were formerly able to +support themselves by agriculture were obliged to import food. +The people at home were no longer able to keep in touch with the +struggling colony in Greenland. No supplies came from the home +land, no reenforcements to strengthen the colonists and make them +feel that they were a part of the great world. Moreover in the +late Norse sagas much is said about the ice along the Greenland +coast, which seems to have been more abundant than formerly. Even +the Eskimos seem to have been causing trouble, though formerly +they had been a friendly, peaceable people who lived far to the +north and did not disturb the settlers. In the fourteenth +century, however, they began to make raids such as are common +when primitive people fall into distress. Perhaps the storms and +the advancing ice drove away the seals and other animals, so that +the Eskimos were left hungry. They consequently migrated south +and, in the fifteenth century, finally wiped out the last of the +old Norse settlers. If the Norse had established permanent +settlements on the mainland of North America, they might have +persisted to this day. As it was, the cold, bleak climate of the +northern route across the Atlantic checked their progress. Like +the Indians, they had the misfortune of finding a route to +America through regions that are not good for man. + +Though islands may be stepping-stones between the Old World and +the New, they have not been the bringers of civilization. That +function in the history of man has been left to the winds. The +westerlies, however, which are the prevailing winds in the +latitude of the United States and Europe, have not been of much +importance. On the Atlantic side they were for many centuries a +barrier to contact between the Old World and the New. On the +Pacific side they have been known to blow Japanese vessels to the +shores of America contrary to the will of the mariners. Perhaps +the same thing may have happened in earlier times. Asia may thus +have made some slight contribution to primitive America, but no +important elements of civilization can be traced to this source. + +From latitude 30 degrees N. to 30 degrees S. the tradewinds +prevail. As they blow from the east, they make it easy for boats +to come from Africa to America. In comparatively recent times +they brought the slave ships from the Guinea coast to our +Southern States. The African, like the Indian, has passed through +a most unfavorable environment on his way from central Asia to +America. For ages he was doomed to live in a climate where high +temperature and humidity weed out the active type of human being. +Since activity like that of Europe means death in a tropical +climate, the route by way of Africa has been if anything worse +than by Bering Strait. + +By far the most important occurrence which can be laid at the +door of the trade-winds is the bringing of the civilization of +Europe and the Mediterranean to the New World. Twice this may +have happened, but the first occurrence is doubtful and left only +a slight impress. For thousands of years the people around the +Mediterranean Sea have been bold sailors. Before 600 B.C. Pharaoh +Necho, so Herodotus says, had sent Phenician ships on a +three-year cruise entirely around Africa. The Phenicians also +sailed by way of Gibraltar to England to bring tin from Cornwall, +and by 500 B.C. the Carthaginians were well acquainted with the +Atlantic coast of northern Africa. + +At some time or other, long before the Christian era, a ship +belonging to one of the peoples of the eastern Mediterranean was +probably blown to the shores of America by the steady +trade-winds. Of course, no one can say positively that such a +voyage occurred. Yet certain curious similarities between the Old +World and the New enable us to infer with a great deal of +probability that it actually happened. The mere fact, for +example, that the adobe houses of the Pueblo Indians of New +Mexico are strikingly like the houses of northern Africa and +Persia is no proof that the civilization of the Old World and the +New are related. A similar physical environment might readily +cause the same type of house to be evolved in both places. When +we find striking similarities of other kinds, however, the case +becomes quite different. The constellations of the zodiac, for +instance, are typified by twelve living creatures, such as the +twins, the bull, the lion, the virgin, the crab, and the goat. +Only one of the constellations, the scorpion, presents any real +resemblance to the animal for which it is named. Yet the signs of +the zodiac in Mediterranean lands and in pre-Columbian America +from Peru to southern Mexico are almost identical. Here is a list +showing the Latin and English names of the constellations and +their equivalents in the calendars of the Peruvians, Mexicans, +and Mayas. * + +* See S. Hagar, "The Bearing of Astronomy on the Problems of the +Unity or Plurality and the Probable Place of Origin of the +American Aborigines, in American Anthropologist," vol. XIV +(1912), pp. 43-48. + + +Sign English Peruvian Mexican Maya +-------------------------------------------------------- +Aries Ram Llama Flayer -- + +Taurus Bull (originally Stag) + Stag Stag or Deer Stag + +Gemini Twins Man and Woman Twins Two Generals + +Cancer Crab Cuttlefish Cuttlefish Cuttlefish + +Leo Lion Puma Ocelot Ocelot + +Virgo Virgin (Mother Goddess of Cereals) + Maize Mother Maize Mother Maize Mother + +Libra Scales (originally part of Scorpio) + Forks Scorpion Scorpion + +Scorpio Scorpion Mummy Scorpion Scorpion + +Sagittarius Bowman Arrows or Spears + Hunter and War God Hunter and War God + +Capricornus Sea Goat Beard Bearded God -- + +Aquarius Water Pourer Water Water Water + +Pisces Fishes(and Knot) Knot Twisted Reeds -- + + +Notice how closely these lists are alike. The ram does not appear +in America because no such animal was known there. The nearest +substitute was the llama. In the Old World the second +constellation is now called the bull, but curiously enough in +earlier days it was called the stag in Mesopotamia. The twins, +instead of being Castor and Pollux, may equally well be a man and +a woman or two generals. To landsmen not familiar with creatures +of the deep, the crab and the cuttlefish would not seem greatly +different. The lion is unknown in America, but the creature which +most nearly takes his place is the puma or ocelot. So it goes +with all the signs of the zodiac. There are little differences +between the Old World and the New, but they only emphasize the +resemblance. Mathematically there is not one chance in thousands +or even millions that such a resemblance could grow up by +accident. Other similarities between ceremonies or religious +words in the Old World and the New might be pointed out, but the +zodiac is illustration enough. + +Such resemblances, however, do not indicate a permanent +connection between Mediterranean civilization and that of Central +America. They do not even indicate that any one ever returned +from the Western Hemisphere to the Eastern previous to Columbus. +Nor do they indicate that the civilization of the New World arose +from that of the Old. They simply suggest that after the people +of the Mediterranean regions had become well civilized and after +those of America were also sufficiently civilized to assimilate +new ideas, a stray ship or two was blown by the trade-winds +across the Atlantic. That hypothetical voyage was the precursor +of the great journey of Columbus. Without the tradewinds this +historic discoverer never could have found the West Indies. +Suppose that a strong west wind had blown him backward on his +course when his men were mutinous. Suppose that he had been +forced to beat against head winds week after week. Is there one +chance in a thousand that even his indomitable spirit could have +kept his craft headed steadily into the west? But because there +were the trade-winds to bring him, the way was opened for the +energetic people of Europe to possess the new continent. Thus the +greatest stream of immigration commenced to flow, and the New +World began to take on a European aspect. + + + +CHAPTER II. THE FORM OF THE CONTINENT + +America forms the longest and straightest bone in the earth's +skeleton. The skeleton consists of six great bones, which may be +said to form a spheroidal tetrahedron, or pyramid with a +triangular base, for when a globe with a fairly rigid surface +collapses because of shrinkage, it tends to assume this form. +That is what has happened to the earth. Geologists tell us that +during the thousand million years, more or less, since geological +history began, the earth has grown cooler and hence has +contracted. Moreover some of the chemical compounds of the +interior have been transformed into other compounds which occupy +less space. For these reasons the earth appears to have +diminished in size until now its diameter is from two hundred to +four hundred miles less than formerly. During the process of +contraction the crust has collapsed in four main areas, roughly +triangular in shape. Between these stand the six ridges which we +have called the bones. Each of the four depressed areas forms a +side of our tetrahedron and is occupied by an ocean. The ridges +and the areas immediately flanking the oceans form the +continents. The side which we may think of as the base contains +the Arctic Ocean. The ridges surrounding it are broad and flat. +Large parts of them stand above sea-level and form the northern +portions of North America, Europe, and Asia. A second side is the +Pacific Ocean with the great ridge of the two Americas on one +hand and Asia and Australia on the other. Next comes the side +containing the Indian Ocean in the hollow and the ridges of +Africa and Australia on either hand. The last of the four sides +contains the Atlantic Ocean and is bounded by Africa and Europe +on one hand and North and South America on the other. Finally the +tip of the pyramid projects above the surrounding waters, and +forms the continent of Antarctica. + +It may seem a mere accident that this tip lies near the South +Pole, while the center of the opposite face lies near the North +Pole. Yet this has been of almost infinite importance in the +evolution not only of plants and animals but of men. The reason +is that this arrangement gives rise to a vast and almost +continuous land mass in comparatively high latitudes. Only in +such places does evolution appear to make rapid progress.* + +* W. D. Matthew, "Climate and Evolution," N. Y. Acad. Sci., 1915. + + +Evolution is especially stimulated by two conditions. The first +is that there shall be marked changes in the environment so that +the process of natural selection has full opportunity to do its +work. The second is that numerous new forms or mutants, as the +biologists call them, shall be produced. Both of these conditions +are most fully met in large continents in the temperate zone, for +in such places climatic variations are most extreme. Such +variations may take the form of extreme changes either from day +to night, from season to season, or from one century to another. +In any case, as Darwin long ago pointed out, they cause some +forms of life to perish while others survive. Thus climatic +variations are among the most powerful factors in causing natural +selection and hence in stimulating evolution. Moreover it has +lately been shown that variations in temperature are one of the +chief causes of organic variation. Morgan and Plough,* for +example, have discovered that when a certain fly, called the +drosophila, is subjected to extremes of heat or cold, the +offspring show an unusually strong tendency to differ from the +parents. Hence the climatic variability of the interior of large +continents in temperate latitudes provides new forms of life and +then selects some of them for preservation. The fossils found in +the rocks of the earth's crust support this view. They indicate +that most of the great families of higher animals originated in +the central part of the great land mass of Europe and Asia. A +second but much smaller area of evolution was situated in the +similar part of North America. From these two centers new forms +of life spread outward to other continents. Their movements were +helped by the fact that the tetrahedral form of the earth causes +almost all the continents to be united by bridges of land. + +* Unpublished manuscript. + + +If any one doubts the importance of the tetrahedral form, let him +consider how evolution would have been hampered if the land of +the globe were arranged as isolated masses in low latitudes, +while oceans took the place of the present northern continents. +The backwardness of the indigenous life of Africa shows how an +equatorial position retards evolution. The still more marked +backwardness of Australia with its kangaroos and duck-billed +platypuses shows how much greater is the retardation when a +continent is also small and isolated. Today, no less than in the +past, the tetrahedral form of the earth and the relation of the +tetrahedron to the poles and to the equator preserve the +conditions that favor rapid evolution. They are the dominant +factors in determining that America shall be one of the two great +centers of civilization. + +If North and South America be counted as one major land mass, and +Europe, Asia, and Africa as another, the two present the same +general features. Yet their mountains, plains, and coastal +indentations are so arranged that what is on the east in one is +on the west in the other. Their similarity is somewhat like that +of a man's two hands placed palms down on a table. + +On a map of the world place a finger of one hand on the western +end of Alaska and a finger of the other on the northeastern tip +of Asia and follow the main bones of the two continents. See how +the chief mountain systems, the Pacific "cordilleras," trend away +from one another, southeastward and southwestward. In the centers +of the continents they expand into vast plateaus. That of America +in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States reaches a width +of over a thousand miles, while that of Asia in Tibet and western +China expands to far greater proportions. + +From the plateaus the two cordilleras swing abruptly Atlantic- +ward. The Eurasian cordillera extends through the Hindu Kush, +Caucasus, and Asia Minor ranges to southern Europe and the Alps. +Then it passes on into Spain and ends in the volcanoes of the +Canary Islands. The American cordillera swings eastward in Mexico +and continues as the isolated ranges of the West Indies until it +ends in the volcanoes of Martinique. Central America appears at +first sight to be a continuation of the great cordillera, but +really it is something quite different--a mass of volcanic +material poured out in the gap where the main chain of mountains +breaks down for a space. In neither hemisphere, however, is the +main southward sweep of the mountains really lost. In the Old +World the cordillera revives in the mountains of Syria and +southern Arabia and then runs southward along the whole length of +eastern Africa. In America it likewise revives in the mighty +Andes, which take their rise fifteen hundred miles east of the +broken end of the northern cordillera in Mexico. In the Andes +even more distinctly than in Africa the cordillera forms a mighty +wall running north and south. It expands into the plateau of Peru +and Bolivia, just as its African compeer expands into that of +Abyssinia, but this is a mere incident. The main bone, so to +speak, keeps on in each case till it disappears in the great +southern ocean. Even there, however, it is not wholly lost, for +it revives in the cold, lofty continent of Antarctica, where it +coalesces once more with the other great tetrahedral ridges of +Africa and Australia. + +It is easy to see that these great cordilleras have turned most +of the earth's chief rivers toward the Atlantic and the Arctic +Oceans. That is why these two oceans with an area of only +forty-three million square miles receive the drainage from twenty +million square miles of land, while the far larger Indian and +Pacific Oceans with an area of ninety-one million square miles +receive the rivers of only ten million square miles. The world's +streams of civilization, like the rivers of water, have flowed +from the great cordilleras toward the Atlantic. Half of the +world's people, to be sure, are lodged in the relatively small +areas known as China and India on the Pacific side of the Old +World cordillera. Nevertheless the active streams of civilization +have flowed mainly on the other side--the side where man +apparently originated. From the earliest times the mountains have +served to determine man's chief migrations. Their rugged +fastnesses hinder human movements and thereby give rise to a +strong tendency to move parallel to their bases. During the days +of primitive man the trend of the mountains apparently directed +his migrations northeastward to Bering Strait and then +southeastward and southward from one end of America to the other. +In the same way the migrations to Europe and Africa which +ultimately reached America moved mainly parallel to the +mountains. + +From end to end of America the great mountains form a sharp +dividing line. The aboriginal tribes on the Pacific slope are +markedly different from those farther east across the mountains. +Brinton sums the case up admirably: + +"As a rule the tribes of the western coast are not connected with +any east of the mountains. What is more singular, although they +differ surprisingly among themselves in language, they have +marked anthropologic similarities, physical and psychical. +Virchow has emphasized the fact that the skulls from the northern +point of Vancouver's Island reveal an unmistakable analogy to +those from the southern coast of California; and this is to a +degree true of many intermediate points. Not that the crania have +the same indices. On the contrary, they present great and +constant differences within the same tribe; but these differences +are analogous one to the other, and on fixed lines. + +"There are many other physical similarities which mark the +Pacific Indians and contrast them with those east of the +mountains. The eyes are less oblique, the nose flatter, the lips +fuller, the chin more pointed, the face wider. There is more hair +on the face and in the axilla, and the difference between the +sexes is much more obvious. + +"The mental character is also in contrast. The Pacific tribes are +more quiet, submissive, and docile; they have less courage, and +less of that untamable independence which is so constant a +feature in the history of the Algonquins and Iroquois."* + +* D. G. Brinton, "The American Race," pp. 103-4. + + +Although mountains may guide migrations, the plains are the +regions where people dwell in greatest numbers. The plains in the +two great land masses of the Old World and the New have the same +inverse or right- and left-handed symmetry as the mountains. In +the north the vast stretches from the Mackenzie River to the Gulf +of Mexico correspond to the plains of Siberia and Russia from the +Lena to the Black Sea. Both regions have a vast sweep of +monotonous tundras at the north and both become fertile granaries +in the center. Before the white man introduced the horse, the ox, +and iron ploughs, there prevailed an extraordinary similarity in +the habits of the plains Indians from Texas to Alberta. All alike +depended on the buffalo; all hunted him in much the same way; all +used his skins for tents and robes, his bones for tools, and his +horns for utensils. All alike made him the center of their +elaborate rituals and dances. Because the plains of North America +were easy to traverse, the relatively high culture of the ancient +people of the South spread into the Mississippi Valley. Hence the +Natchez tribe of Mississippi had a highly developed form of +sun-worship and a well-defined caste system with three grades of +nobility in addition to the common people. Even farther north, +almost to the Ohio River, traces of the sun-worship of Mexico had +penetrated along the easy pathway of the plains. + +South of the great granaries of North America and Eurasia the +plains are broken, but occur again in the Orinoco region of South +America and the Sahara of Africa. Thence they stretch almost +unbroken toward the southern end of the continents. In view of +the fertility of the plains it is strange that the centers of +civilization have so rarely been formed in these vast level +expanses. + +The most striking of the inverse resemblances between America and +the Old World are found along the Atlantic border. In the north +of Europe the White Sea corresponds to Hudson Bay in America. +Farther toward the Atlantic Ocean Scandinavia with its mountains, +glaciers, and fiords is similar to Labrador, although more +favored because warmer. Next the islands of Great Britain occupy +a position similar to that of Newfoundland and Prince Edward +Island. But here again the eastern climate is much more favorable +than the western. Although practically all of Newfoundland is +south of England, the American island has only six inhabitants +per square mile, while the European country has six hundred. To +the east of the British Isles the North Sea, the Baltic, and +Lakes Ladoga and Onega correspond in striking fashion to the Gulf +of St. Lawrence, the river of the same name, and the Great Lakes +from Ontario to Superior. Next the indented shores of western +France and the peninsula of Spain resemble our own indented coast +and the peninsula of Florida. Here at last the American regions +are as favored as the European. Farther south the Mediterranean +and Black seas penetrate far into the interior just as does the +Gulf of Mexico, and each continent is nearly cut in two where the +canals of Suez and Panama respectively have been trenched. +Finally in the southern continents a long swing eastward in +America balances a similar swing westward in Africa. Thus Cape +Saint Roque and Cape Verde are separated by scarcely 16 degrees +of longitude, although the extreme points of the Gulf of Mexico +and the Black Sea are 140 degrees apart. Finally to the south of +the equator the continents swing away from one another once more, +preserving everywhere the same curious inverse relationship. + +Even more striking than the inverse resemblance of the New World +to the Old is the direct similarity of North and South America. +In physical form the two continents are astonishingly alike. Not +only does each have the typical triangular form which would +naturally arise from tetrahedral shrinking of the globe, but +there are four other cardinal points of resemblance. First, in +the northeast each possesses an area of extremely ancient rocks, +the Laurentian highlands of Quebec and Labrador in North America +and the highlands of Guiana in South America. Second, in the +southeast lie highlands of old but not the most ancient rocks +stretching from northeast to southwest in the Appalachian region +of North America, and in the Brazilian mountains of the southern +continent. Third, along the western side of each continent recent +crustal movements supplemented by volcanic action on a +magnificent scale have given rise to a complex series of younger +mountains, the two great cordilleras. Finally, the spaces between +the three mountain masses are occupied by a series of vast +confluent plains which in each case extend from the northern +ocean to the southern and bend around the southeastern highlands. +These plains are the newest part of America, for many of them +have emerged from the sea only in recent geological times. Taken +as a whole the resemblance between the two continents is +striking. + +If these four physiographic provinces of North and South America +lay in similar latitudes in the respective continents we might +expect each pair to have a closely similar effect on life. In +fauna, flora, and even in human history they would present broad +and important resemblances. As a matter of fact, however, they +are as different as can well be imagined. Where North America, is +bathed by icy waters full of seals and floating ice South America +is bathed by warm seas full of flying-fish and coral reefs. The +northern continent is broadest in the cool latitudes that are +most favorable for human activity. The southern expands most +widely in latitudes whose debilitating monotony of heat and +moisture is the worst of handicaps to human progress. The great +rivers of the northern continent correspond very closely to those +of the southern. The Mackenzie, however, is bound in the rigid +bands of winter for eight months each year, while the Orinoco, +the corresponding South American river, lies sweltering under a +tropical sun which burns its grassy plains to bitter dust even as +the sharp cold reduced the Mackenzie region to barren tundra. The +St. Lawrence flows through fertile grain fields and the homes of +an active people of the temperate zone, but the Amazon winds its +slow way amid the malarious languor of vast tropical forests in +which the trees shut out the sky and the few natives are +apathetic with the eternal inertia of the hot, damp tropics. + +Only when we come to the Mississippi in the northern continent +and the Rio de la Plata in the southern do we find a pair of +rivers which correspond to any degree in the character of the +life surrounding them, as well as in their physiographic +character. Yet even here there is a vast difference, especially +in the upper courses of the river. Each at its mouth flows +through a rich, fertile plain occupied by a progressive, +prosperous people. But the Rio de la Plata takes its rise in one +of the world's most backward plains, the home of uncivilized +Indians, heartless rubber adventurers, and the most rapacious of +officials. Not infrequently, the degenerate white men of these +regions, yielding to the subtle and insidious influence of the +tropics, inflict the most outrageous abuses upon the natives, and +even kill them on slight provocation. The natives in turn hate +their oppressors, and when the chance comes betray them or leave +them to perish in sickness and misery. The upper Mississippi, on +the other hand, comes from a plain where agriculture is carried +on with more labor-saving devices than are found anywhere else in +the world. There States like Wisconsin and Minnesota stand in the +forefront of educational and social progress. The contrasts +between the corresponding rivers of the two Americas are typical +of the contrasts in the history of the two continents. + + + +CHAPTER III. THE GEOGRAPHIC PROVINCES OF NORTH AMERICA + +The four great physical divisions of North America--the +Laurentian highland, the Appalachian highland, the plains, and +the western cordillera--are strikingly different in form and +structure. The Laurentian highland presents a monotonous waste of +rough hills, irregular valleys, picturesque lakes, and crooked +rivers. Most of it is thinly clothed with pine trees and bushes +such as the blueberry and huckleberry. Yet everywhere the ancient +rock crops out. No one can travel there without becoming +tiresomely familiar with fine-grained, shattered schists, coarse +granites, and their curiously banded relatives, the gneisses. +This rocky highland stretches from a little north of the St. +Lawrence River to Hudson Bay, around which it laps in the form of +a V, and so is known as the Archaean V or shield. + +Everywhere this oldest part of the Western Hemisphere presents +unmistakable signs of great age. The schists by their fine +crumpling and scaly flakes of mineral show that they were formed +deep in the bowels of the earth, for only there could they be +subjected to the enormous pressure needed to transform their +minerals into sheets as thin as paper. The coarse granites and +gneisses proclaim still more clearly that they must have +originated far down in the depths of the earth; their huge +crystals of mica, quartz, hornblende, feldspar, and other +minerals could never have been formed except under a blanket of +rock which almost prevented the original magmas from cooling. The +thousands or tens of thousands of feet of rock which once overlay +the schists and still more the granites and gneisses must have +been slowly removed by erosion, for there was no other way to get +rid of them. This process must have taken tens of millions of +years, and yet the whole work must have been practically +completed a hundred or perhaps several hundred million years ago. +We know this because the selfsame ancient eroded surface which is +exposed in the Laurentian highland is found dipping down under +the oldest known fossiliferous rocks. Traces of that primitive +land surface are found over a large part of the American +continent. Elsewhere they are usually buried under later strata +laid down when the continent sank in part below sea-level. Only +in Laurentia has the land remained steadily above the reach of +the ocean throughout the millions of years. + +Today this old, old land might be as rich as many others if +climate had been kind to it. Its soil, to be sure, would in many +parts be sandy because of the large amount of quartz in the +rocks. That would be a small handicap, however, provided the soil +were scores of feet deep like the red soil of the corresponding +highland in the Guiana region of South America. But today the +North American Laurentia has no soil worth mentioning. For some +reason not yet understood this was the part of America where snow +accumulated most deeply and where the largest glaciers were +formed during the last great glacial period. Not once but many +times its granite surface was shrouded for tens of thousands of +years in ice a mile or more thick. As the ice spread outward in +almost every direction, it scraped away the soil and gouged +innumerable hollows in the softer parts of the underlying rock. +It left the Laurentian highland a land of rocky ribs rising +between clear lakes that fill the hollows. The lakes are drained +by rapid rivers which wind this way and that in hopeless +confusion as they strive to move seaward over the strangely +uneven surface left by the ice. Such a land is good for the +hunter and trapper. It is also good for the summer +pleasure-seeker who would fain grow strong by paddling a canoe. +For the man who would make a permanent home it is a rough, +inscrutable region where one has need of more than most men's +share of courage and persistence. Not only did the climate of the +past cause the ice to scrape away the soil, but the climate of +the present is so cold that even where new soil has accumulated +the farmer can scarcely make a living. + +Around the borders of the Laurentian highland the ice +accomplished a work quite different from the devastation of the +interior. One of its chief activities was the scouring of a +series of vast hollows which now hold the world's largest series +of lakes. Even the lakes of Central Africa cannot compare with +our own Great Lakes and the other smaller lakes which belong to +the same series. These additional lakes begin in the far north +with Great Bear Lake and continue through Great Slave Lake, Lake +Athabasca, and Lake Winnipeg to the Lake of the Woods, which +drains into Lake Superior. All these lakes lie on the edge of the +great Laurentian shield, where the ice, crowding down from the +highland to the north and east, was compressed into certain +already existent hollows which it widened, deepened, and left as +vast bowls ready to be filled with lakes. + +South and southwest of the Laurentian highland the great ice +sheet proved beneficial to man. There, instead of leaving the +rock naked, as in the Laurentian region, it merely smoothed off +many of the irregularities of the surface and covered large areas +with the most fertile soil. + +In doing this, to be sure, the ice-cap scoured some hollows and +left a vastly larger number of basins surrounded in whole or in +part by glacial debris. These have given rise to the innumerable +lakes, large and small, whose beauty so enhances the charms of +Canada, New England, New York, Minnesota, and other States. They +serve as reservoirs for the water supply of towns and power +plants and as sources of ice and fish. Though they take land from +agriculture, they probably add to the life of the community as +much in other ways as they detract in this. Moreover glaciation +diverted countless streams from their old courses and made them +flow over falls and rapids from which water-power can easily be +developed. That is one reason why glaciated New England contains +over forty per cent of all the developed water-power in the +United States. + +Far more important, however, than the glacial lakes and rivers is +the fertile glacial soil. It comes fresh from the original rocks +and has not yet been exhausted by hundreds of thousands of years +of weathering. It also has the advantage of being well mixed, for +generally it is the product of scrapings from many kinds of +rocks, each of which contributes its own particular excellence to +the general composition. Take Wisconsin as an example.* Most +parts of that State have been glaciated, but in the southwest +there lies what is known as the "driftless area" because it is +not covered with the "drift" or glacial debris which is thickly +strewn over the rest of the State. A comparison of otherwise +similar counties lying within and without the driftless area +shows an astonishing contrast. In 1910 the average value of all +the farm land in twenty counties covered with drift amounted to +$56.90 per acre. In six counties partly covered with drift and +partly driftless the value was $59.80 per acre, while in thirteen +counties in the driftless area it was only $33.30 per acre. In +spite of the fact that glaciation causes swamps and lakes, the +proportion of land cultivated in the glaciated areas is larger +than in the driftless. In the glaciated area 61 per cent of the +land is improved and in the driftless area only 43.5 per cent. +Moreover, even though the underlying rock and the original +topography be of the same kind in both cases, the average yield +of crops per acre is greater where the ice has done its work. +Where the country rock consists of limestone, which naturally +forms a rich soil, the difference in favor of the glaciated area +amounts to only 1 or 2 per cent. Where the country rock is sandy, +the soil is so much improved by a mixture of fertilizing +limestone or even of clay and other materials that the average +yield of crops per acre in the glaciated areas is a third larger +than in the driftless. Taking everything into consideration it +appears that the ancient glaciation of Wisconsin increases the +present agricultural output by from 20 to 40 per cent. Upwards of +10,000,000 acres of glaciated land have already been developed in +the most populous parts of the State. If the average value of all +products on this area is reckoned at $15 per acre and if the +increased value of agricultural products due to glaciation +amounts to 30 per cent, then the net value of glaciation per year +to the farmers of Wisconsin is $45,000,000. This means about $300 +for each farmer in the glaciated area. + +* R. H. Whitbeck, "Economic Aspects of Glaciation in Wisconsin", +in "Annals of the Association of American Geographers," vol. III +in (1913), pp. 62-67. + + +Wisconsin is by no means unique. In Ohio, for instance, there is +also a driftless area.* It lies in the southeast along the Ohio +River. The difference in the value of the farm land there and in +the glaciated region is extraordinary. In the driftless area the +average value per acre in 1910 was less than $24, while in the +glaciated area it was nearly $64. Year by year the proportion of +the population of the State in the unglaciated area is steadily +decreasing. The difference between the two parts of the State is +not due to the underlying rock structure or to the rainfall +except to a slight degree. Some of the difference is due to the +fact that important cities such as Cleveland and Toledo lie on +the fertile level strip of land along the lake shore, but this +strip itself, as well as the lake, owes much of its character to +glaciation. It appears, therefore, that in Ohio, perhaps even +more than in Wisconsin, man prospers most in the parts where the +ice has done its work. + +* William H. Hess, "The Influence of Glaciation in Ohio," in +"Bulletin of the Geographical Society of Philadelphia," vol. XV +(1917), pp. 19-42. + + +We have taken Wisconsin and Ohio as examples, but the effect of +glaciation in those States does not differ materially from its +effect all over southern Canada and the northern United States +from New England to Kansas and Minnesota. Each year the people of +these regions are richer by perhaps a billion dollars because the +ice scraped its way down from Laurentia and spread out over the +borders of the great plains on the west and of the Appalachian +region on the east. + +We have considered the Laurentian highland and the glaciation +which centered there. Let us now turn to another highland only +the northern part of which was glaciated. The Appalachian +highland, the second great division of North America, consists of +three parallel bands which extend southwestward from Newfoundland +and the St. Lawrence River to Georgia and Alabama. The eastern +and most important band consists of hills and mountains of +ancient crystalline rocks, somewhat resembling those of the +Laurentian highland but by no means so old. West of this comes a +broad valley eroded for the most part in the softer portions of a +highly folded series of sedimentary rocks which are of great age +but younger than the crystalline rocks to the east. The third +band is the Alleghany plateau, composed of almost horizontal +rocks which lie so high and have been so deeply dissected that +they are often called mountains. + +The three Appalachian bands by no means preserve a uniform +character throughout their entire length. The eastern crystalline +band has its chief development in the northeast. There it +comprises the whole of New England and a large part of the +maritime provinces of Canada as well as Newfoundland. Its broad +development in New England causes that region to be one of the +most clearly defined natural units of the United States. Ancient +igneous rocks such as granite lie intricately mingled with old +and highly metamorphosed sediments. Since some of the rocks are +hard and others soft and since all have been exposed to extremely +long erosion, the topography of New England consists typically of +irregular masses of rounded hills free from precipices. Here and +there hard masses of unusually resistant rock stand up as +isolated rounded heights, like Mount Katahdin in Maine. They are +known as "monadnocks" from the mountain of that name in southern +New Hampshire. In other places larger and more irregular masses +of hard rock form mountain groups like the White Mountains, the +Green Mountains, and the Berkshires, each of which is merely a +great series of monadnocks. + +In the latitude of southern New York the crystalline rocks are +compressed into narrow compass and lose their mountainous +character. They form the irregular hills on which New York City +itself is built and which make the suburbs of Westchester County +along the eastern Hudson so diverse and beautiful. To the +southeast the topography of the old crystalline band becomes +still less pronounced, as may be seen in the rolling, fertile +hills around Philadelphia. Farther south the band divides into +two parts, the mountains proper and the Piedmont plateau. The +mountains begin at the Blue Ridge, which in Virginia raises its +even-topped heights mile after mile across the length of that +State. In North Carolina, however, they lose their character as a +single ridge and expand into the broad mass of the southern +Appalachians. There Mount Mitchell dominates the eastern part of +the American continent and is surrounded by over thirty other +mountains rising to a height of at least six thousand feet. The +Piedmont plateau, which lies at the eastern foot of the Blue +Ridge, is not really a plateau but a peneplain or ancient lowland +worn almost to a plain. It expands to a width of one hundred +miles in Virginia and the Carolinas and forms the part of those +States where most of the larger towns are situated. Among its low +gentle heights there rises an occasional little monadnock like +Chapel Hill, where the University of North Carolina lies on a +rugged eminence which strikingly recalls New England. For the +most part, however, the hills of the Piedmont region are lower +and more rounded than those in the neighborhood of Philadelphia. +The country thus formed has many advantages, for it is flat +enough to be used for agriculture and yet varied enough to be +free from the monotony of the level plains. + +The prolonged and broken inner valley forming the second band of +the Appalachians was of some importance as a highway in the days +of the Indians. Today the main highways of traffic touch it only +to cross it as quickly as possible. From Lake Champlain it trends +straight southward in the Hudson Valley until the Catskills have +been passed. Then, while the railroads and all the traffic go on +down the gorge of the Hudson to New York, the valley swings off +into Pennsylvania past Scranton, Wilkesbarre, and Harrisburg. +There the underlying rock consists of a series of alternately +hard and soft layers which have been crumpled up much as one +might wrinkle a rug with one's foot. The pressure involved in the +process changed and hardened the rocks so much that the coal +which they contain was converted into anthracite, the finest coal +in all the world and the only example of its kind. Even the +famous Welsh coal has not been so thoroughly hardened. During a +long period of erosion the tops of the folded layers were worn +off to a depth of thousands of feet and the whole country was +converted into an almost level plain. Then in the late geological +period known as the early Tertiary the land was lifted up again, +and once more erosion went on. The soft rocks were thus etched +away until broad valleys were formed. The hard layers were left +as a bewildering succession of ridges with flat tops. A single +ridge may double back and forth so often that the region well +deserves the old Indian name of the "Endless Mountains." +Southwestward the valley grows narrower, and the ridges which +break its surface become straighter. Everywhere they are +flat-topped, steep-sided, and narrow, while between them lie +parts of the main valley floor, flat and fertile. Here in the +south, even more clearly than in the north, the valley is +bordered on the east by the sharply upstanding range of the +crystalline Appalachians, while on the west with equal regularity +it comes to an end in an escarpment which rises to the Alleghany +plateau. + +This plateau, the third great band of the Appalachians, begins on +the south side of the Mohawk Valley. To the north its place is +taken by the Adirondacks, which are an outlier of the great +Laurentian area of Canada. The fact that the outlier and the +plateau are separated by the low strip of the Mohawk Valley makes +this the one place where the highly complex Appalachian system +can easily be crossed. If the Alleghany plateau joined the +Adirondacks, Philadelphia instead of New York would be the +greatest city of America. Where the plateau first rises on the +south side of the Mohawk, it attains heights of four thousand +feet in the Catskill Mountains. We think of the Catskills as +mountains, but their steep cliffs and table-topped heights show +that they are really the remnants of a plateau, the nearly +horizontal strata of which have not yet been worn away. Westward +from the Catskills the plateau continues through central New York +to western Pennsylvania. Those who have traveled on the +Pennsylvania Railroad may remember how the railroad climbs the +escarpment at Altoona. Farther east the train has passed +alternately through gorges cut in the parallel ridges and through +fertile open valleys forming the main floor of the inner valley. +Then it winds up the long ascent of the Alleghany front in a +splendid horseshoe curve. At the top, after a short tunnel, the +train emerges in a wholly different country. The valleys are +without order or system. They wind this way and that. The hills +are not long ridges but isolated bits left between the winding +valleys. Here and there beds of coal blacken the surface, for +here we are among the rocks from which the world's largest coal +supply is derived. Since the layers lie horizontally and have +never been compressed, the same material which in the inner +valley has been changed to hard, clean-burning anthracite here +remains soft and smoky. + +In its southwestern continuation through West Virginia and +Kentucky to Tennessee the plateau maintains many of its +Pennsylvanian characteristics, but it now rises higher and +becomes more inaccessible. The only habitable portions are the +bottoms of the valleys, but they are only wide enough to support +a most scanty population. Between them most of the land is too +rough for anything except forests. Hence the people who live at +the bottoms of the valleys are strangely isolated. They see +little or nothing of the world at large or even of their +neighbors. The roads are so few and the trails so difficult that +the farmers cannot easily take their produce to market. Their +only recourse has been to convert their bulky corn into whisky, +which occupied little space in proportion to its value. Since the +mountaineer has no other means of getting ready money, it is not +strange that he has become a moonshiner and has fought bitterly +for what he genuinely believed to be his rights in that +occupation. Education has not prospered on the plateau because +the narrowness of the valleys causes the population to be too +poor and too scattered to support schools. For the same reason +feuds grow up. When people live by themselves they become +suspicious. Not being used to dealing with their neighbors, they +suspect the motives of all but their intimate friends. Moreover, +in those deep valleys, with their steep sides and their general +inaccessibility, laws cannot easily be enforced, and therefore +each family takes the law into its own hands. + +Today the more rugged parts of the Appalachian system are chiefly +important as a hindrance to communication. On the Atlantic slope +of the old crystalline band there are great areas of gentle +relief where an abundant population can dwell. Westward on the +edges of the plateau and the plains beyond a still greater +population can find a living, but in the intervening space there +is opportunity for only a few. The great problem is to cross the +mountains as easily as possible. Each accessible crossing-place +is associated with a city. Boston, as well as New York, owes much +to the low Mohawk-Hudson route, but is badly handicapped because +it has no easy means of crossing the eastern crystalline band. +Philadelphia, on the other hand, benefits from the fact that in +its vicinity the crystallizes are low and can readily be crossed +even without the aid of the valleys of the Delaware and +Schuylkill rivers. It is handicapped, however, by the Alleghany +escarpment at Altoona, even though this is lower there than +farther south. Baltimore, in the same way, owes much of its +growth to the easy pathways of the Susquehanna on the north and +the Potomac on the south. Farther south both the crystalline band +and the Alleghany plateau become more difficult to traverse, so +that communication between the Atlantic coast and the Mississippi +Valley is reduced to small proportions. Happy is New York in its +situation where no one of the three bands of the Appalachians +opposes any obstacle. The plains of North America form the third +of the four main physical divisions of the continent. For the +most part they lie between the great western cordillera on one +side and the Laurentian and Appalachian highlands on the other. +Yet they lap around the southern end of the Appalachians and run +far up the Atlantic coast to New York. They remained beneath the +sea till a late date, much later than the other three divisions. +They were not, however, covered with deep water like that of the +abysmal oceans, but only with shallow seas from which the land at +times emerged. In spite of the old belief to the contrary, the +continents appear to be so permanent that they have occupied +practically their present positions from the remotest geological +times. They have moved slowly up and down, however, so that some +parts have frequently been submerged, and the plains are the +parts that remained longest under water. + +The plains of North America may be divided into four parts +according to the character of their surface: the Atlantic coastal +plain, the prairies, the northwestern peneplain, and the +southwestern high plains. The Atlantic coastal plain lies along +the Atlantic coast from New York southward to Florida and +Alabama. It also forms a great embayment up the Mississippi +Valley as far as the Ohio River, and it extends along the shore +of the Gulf of Mexico to the Rio Grande. The chief characteristic +of this Atlantic and Gulf coastal plain is its belted nature. One +layer of rocks is sandy, another consists of limestone, and a +third of clay. When uplifted and eroded each assumes its own +special topography and is covered with its own special type of +vegetation. Thus in South Carolina and Georgia the crystalline +Piedmont band of the Appalachian province is bordered on the +southeast by a belt of sandstone. This rock is so far from the +sea and has been raised so high above it that erosion has +converted it into a region of gentle hills, whose tops are six +hundred or seven hundred feet above sea-level. Its sandy soil is +so poor that farming is difficult. The hills are largely covered +with pine, yielding tar and turpentine. Farther seaward comes a +broad band of younger rock which forms a clayey soil or else a +yellow sandy loam. These soils are so rich that splendid cotton +crops can be raised, and hence the region is thickly populated. +Again there comes a belt of sand, the so-called "pine barrens," +which form a poor section about fifty miles inland from the +coast. Finally the coastal belt itself has emerged from beneath +the sea so recently and lies so nearly at sea-level that it has +not been greatly eroded, and is still covered with numerous +marshes and swamps. The rich soil and the moisture are good for +rice, but the region is so unhealthy and so hard to drain that +only small parts are inhabited. + +Everywhere in the coastal plain this same belted character is +more or less evident. It has much to do with all sorts of +activities from farming to politics. On consulting the map +showing the cotton production of the United States in 1914, one +notices the two dark bands in the southeast. One of them, +extending from the northwestern part of South Carolina across +Georgia and Alabama, is due to the fertile soil of the Piedmont +region. The other, lying nearer the sea, begins in North Carolina +and extends well into Alabama before it swings around to the +northwest toward the area of heavy production along the +Mississippi. It is due to the fertile soil of that part of the +coastal plain known as the "cotton belt." Portions of it are +called the "black belt," not because of the colored population, +but because of the darkness of the soil. Since this land has +always been prosperous, it has regularly been conservative in +politics. + +The Atlantic coastal plain is by no means the only part of the +United States where the fertility of the soil is the dominant +fact in the life of the people. Because of their rich soil the +prairies which extend from western Ohio to the Missouri River and +northward into Canada are fast becoming the most steadily +prosperous part of America. They owe their surpassing richness +largely to glaciation. We have already seen how the coming of the +ice-sheet benefited the regions on the borders of the old +Laurentian highland. This same benefit extended over practically +the whole of what are now the prairies. Before the advent of the +ice the whole section consisted of a broadly banded coastal plain +much older than that of the Atlantic coast. When the ice with its +burden of material scraped from the hills of the north passed +over the coastal plain, it filled the hollows with rich new soil. +The icy streams that flowed out from the glaciers were full of +fine sediment, which they deposited over enormous flood plains. +During dry seasons the winds picked up this dust and spread it +out still more widely, forming the great banks of yellow loess +whose fertile soil mantles the sides of many a valley in the +Mississippi basin. Thus glaciers, streams, and winds laid down +ten, twenty, fifty, or even one hundred feet of the finest, most +fertile soil. We have already seen how much the soil was improved +by glaciation in Wisconsin and Ohio. It was in the prairie States +that this improvement reached a maximum. The soil there is not +only fine grained and free from rocks, but it consists of +particles brought from widely different sources and is therefore +full of all kinds of plant foods. In most parts of the world a +fine-grained soil is formed only after a prolonged period of +weathering which leaches out many valuable chemical elements. In +the prairies, however, the soil consists largely of materials +that were mechanically ground to dust by the ice without being +exposed to the action of weathering. Thus they have reached their +present resting-places without the loss of any of their original +plant foods. When such a soil is found with a climate which is +good for crops and which is also highly stimulating to man, the +combination is almost ideal. There is some justification for +those who say that the north central portion of the United States +is more fortunate than any other part of the earth. Nowhere else, +unless in western Europe, is there such a combination of fertile +soil, fine climate, easy communication, and possibilities for +manufacturing and commerce. Iron from that outlier of the +Laurentian highland which forms the peninsula of northern +Michigan can easily be brought by water almost to the center of +the prairie region. Coal in vast quantities lies directly under +the surface of this region, for the rock of the ancient coastal +plain belongs to the same Pennsylvanian series which yields most +of the world's coal. Here man is, indeed, blessed with resources +and opportunities scarcely equaled in any other part of the +world, and finds the only drawbacks to be the extremes of +temperature in both winter and summer and the remoteness of the +region from the sea. Because of the richness of their heritage +and because they live safely protected from threats of foreign +aggression, the people who live in this part of the world are in +danger of being slow to feel the currents of great world +movements. + +The western half of the plains of North America consists of two +parts unlike either the Atlantic coastal plain or the prairies. +From South Dakota and Nebraska northward far into Canada and +westward to the Rocky Mountains there extends an ancient +peneplain worn down to gentle relief by the erosion of millions +of years. It is not so level as the plains farther east nor so +low. Its western margin reaches heights of four or five thousand +feet. Here and there, especially on the western side, it rises to +the crest of a rugged escarpment where some resistant layer of +rocks still holds itself up against the forces of erosion. +Elsewhere its smooth surfaces are broken by lava-capped mesas or +by ridges where some ancient volcanic dike is so hard that it has +not yet been worn away. The soil, though excellent, is thinner +and less fertile than in the prairies. Nevertheless the +population might in time become as dense and prosperous as almost +any in the world if only the rainfall were more abundant and good +supplies of coal were not quite so far away. Yet in spite of +these handicaps the northwestern peneplain with its vast open +stretches, its cattle, its wheat, and its opportunities is a most +attractive land. + +South of Nebraska and Wyoming the "high plains," the last of the +four great divisions of the plains, extend as far as western +Texas. These, like the prairies, have been built up by deposits +brought from other regions. In this case, however, the deposits +consist of gravel, sand, and silt which the rivers have gradually +washed out from the Rocky Mountains. As the rivers have changed +their courses from one bed to another, layer after layer has been +laid down to form a vast plain like a gently sloping beach +hundreds of miles wide. In most places the streams are no longer +building this up. Frequently they have carved narrow valleys +hundreds of feet deep in the materials which they formerly +deposited. Elsewhere, however, as in western Kansas, most of the +country is so flat that the horizon is like that of the ocean. It +seems almost incredible that at heights of four or five thousand +feet the plains can still be so wonderfully level. When the grass +is green, when the spring flowers are at their best, it would be +hard to find a picture of greater beauty. Here the buffalo +wandered in the days before the white man destroyed them. Here +today is the great cattle region of America. Here is the region +where the soul of man is filled with the feeling of infinite +space. + +To the student of land forms there is an everpresent contrast +between those due directly to the processes which build up the +earth's surface and those due to the erosive forces which destroy +what the others have built. In the great plains of North America +two of the divisions, that is, the Atlantic coastal plain of the +southeast and the peneplain of the northwest, owe their present +form to the forces of erosion. The other two, that is, the +prairies and the high plains, still bear the impress of the +original processes of deposition and have been modified to only a +slight extent by erosion. + +A similar but greater contrast separates the mountains of eastern +North America and those of the western cordillera--the fourth and +last of the main physical divisions of the continent. In both the +Laurentian and the Appalachian highlands the eastern mountains +show no trace of the original forms produced by the faulting of +the crust or by volcanic movements. All the original distinctive +topography has been removed. What we see today is the product of +erosion working upon rocks that were thousands of feet beneath +the surface when they were brought to their present positions. In +the western cordillera, on the contrary, although much of the +present form of the land is due to erosion, a vast amount is due +directly to so-called "tectonic" activities such as the breaking +of the crust, the pouring out of molten lavas, and the bursting +forth of explosive eruptions. + +The character of these tectonic activities has differed widely in +different parts of the cordillera. A broad upheaval of great +blocks of the earth's crust without tilting or disturbance has +produced the plateaus of Arizona and Utah. The gorges that have +been rapidly cut into such great upheaved blocks form part of the +world's most striking scenery. The Grand Canyon of the Colorado +with its tremendous platforms, mesas, and awe-inspiring cliffs +could have been formed in no other way. Equally wonderful are +some of the narrow canyons in the broadly upheaved plateaus of +southern Utah where the tributaries of the Virgin and other +rivers have cut red or white chasms thousands of feet deep and so +narrow that at their bottoms perpetual twilight reigns. It is a +curious proof of the fallibility of human judgment that these +great gorges are often cited as the most striking examples of the +power of erosion. Wonderful as these gorges certainly are, the +Piedmont plain or the northwestern peneplain is far more +wonderful. Those regions had their grand canyons once upon a +time, but now erosion has gone so far that it has reduced the +whole area to the level of the bottoms of the gorges. Though such +a fate is in store for all the marvelous scenery of the western +cordillera, we have it, for the present at least, as one of the +most stimulating panoramas of our American environment. No man +worthy of the name can sit on the brink of a great canyon or gaze +up from the dark depths of a gorge without a sense of awe and +wonder. There, as in few other places, Nature shows with +unmistakable grandeur the marvelous power and certainty with +which her laws work out the destiny of the universe. + +In other parts of the great American cordillera some of the +simplest and youngest mountain ridges in the world are found. In +southern Oregon, for example, lava blocks have been broken and +uplifted and now stand with steep fresh faces on one side and +with the old surface inclining more gently on the other. Tilted +blocks on a larger scale and much more deeply carved by erosion +are found in the lofty St. Elias Mountain of Alaska, where much +of the erosion has been done by some of the world's greatest +glaciers. The western slope of the Wasatch Mountains facing the +desert of Utah is the wall of a huge fracture, as is the eastern +face of the Sierra Nevadas facing the deserts of Nevada. Each of +these great faces has been deeply eroded. At the base, however, +recent breaking and upheaval of the crust have given rise to +fresh uneroded slopes. Some take the form of triangular facets, +where a series of ridges has been sliced across and lifted up by +a great fault. Others assume the shape of terraces which +sometimes continue along the base of the mountains for scores of +miles. In places they seem like bluffs cut by an ancient lake, +but suddenly they change their altitude or pass from one drainage +area to another as no lake-formed strand could possibly do. + +In other parts of the cordillera, mountains have been formed by a +single arching of the crust without any breaking. Such is the +case in the Uinta Mountains of northwestern Utah and in some of +the ranges of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. The Black Hills of +South Dakota, although lying out in the plains, are an example of +the same kind of structure and really belong to the cordillera. +In them the layers of the earth's crust have been bent up in the +form of a great dome. The dome structure, to be sure, has now +been largely destroyed, for erosion has long been active. The +result is that the harder strata form a series of concentric +ridges, while between them are ring-shaped valleys, one of which +is so level and unbroken that it is known to the Indians as the +"race-course." In other parts of the cordillera great masses of +rock have been pushed horizontally upon the tops of others. In +Montana, for example, the strata of the plains have been bent +down and overridden by those of the mountains. These are only a +few of the countless forms of breaking, faulting, and crumpling +which have given to the cordillera an almost infinite variety of +scenery. + +The work of mountain building is still active in the western +cordillera, as is evident from such an event as the San +Francisco earthquake. In the Owens Valley region in southern +California the gravelly beaches of old lakes are rent by fissures +made within a few years by earthquakes. In other places fresh +terraces on the sides of the valley mark the lines of recent +earth movements, while newly formed lakes lie in troughs at their +base. These Owens Valley movements of the crust are parts of the +stupendous uplift which has raised the Sierra Nevada to heights +of over 14,000 feet a few miles to the west. Along the fault line +at the base of the mountains there runs for over 9.50 miles the +world's longest aqueduct, which was built to relieve Los Angeles +from the danger of drought. It is a strange irony of fate that so +delicate and so vital an artery of civilization should be forced +to lie where a renewal of earthquake movements may break it at +any time. Yet there was no other place to put it, for in spite of +man's growing control of nature he was forced to follow the +topography of the region in which he lived and labored. + +On the southern side of the Mohave Desert a little to the east of +where the Los Angeles aqueduct crosses the mountains in its +southward course, the record of an earthquake is preserved in +unique fashion. The steep face of a terrace is covered with trees +forty or fifty years old. Near the base the trees are bent in +peculiar fashion. Their lower portions stand at right angles to +the steeply sloping face of the terrace, but after a few feet the +trunks bend upward and stand vertically. Clearly when these trees +were young the terrace was not there. Then an earthquake came. +One block of the earth's crust was dropped down while another was +raised up. Along the dividing line a terrace was formed. The +trees that happened to stand along the line were tilted and left +in a slanting position on the sloping surface between the two +parts of the earth's crust. They saw no reason to stop growing, +but, turning their tips toward the sky, they bravely pushed +upward. Thus they preserve in a striking way the record of this +recent movement of the earth's crust. + +Volcanoes as well as earth movements have occurred on a grand +scale within a few hundred years in the cordillera. Even where +there is today no visible volcanic activity, recent eruptions +have left traces as fresh as if they had occurred but yesterday. +On the borders of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado one can see +not only fresh cones of volcanic ash but lava which has poured +over the edges of the cliffs and hardened while in the act of +flowing. From Orizaba and Popocatepetl in Mexico through Mount +San Francisco in Arizona, Lassen Peak and Mount Shasta in +California, Mount Rainier with its glaciers in the Cascade Range +of Washington, and Mount Wrangell in Alaska, the cordillera +contains an almost unbroken chain of great volcanoes. All are +either active at present or have been active within very recent +times. In 1912 Mount Katmai, near the northwestern end of the +volcanic chain, erupted so violently that it sent dust around the +whole world. The presence of the dust caused brilliant sunsets +second only to those due to Krakatoa in 1883. It also cut off so +much sunlight that the effect was felt in measurements made by +the Smithsonian Institution in the French provinces of North +Africa. In earlier times, throughout the length of the cordillera +great masses of volcanic material were poured out to form high +plateaus like those of southern Mexico or of the Columbia River +in Oregon. In Utah some of these have been lifted up so that +heavy caps of lava now form isolated sheets topping lofty +plateaus. There the lowland shepherds drive their sheep in summer +and live in absolute isolation for months at a time. There, as +everywhere, the cordillera bears the marks of mountains in the +making, while the mountains of eastern America bear the marks of +those that were made when the world was young. + +The geysers and hot springs of the Yellowstone are another proof +of recent volcanic activity. They owe their existence to hot +rocks which lie only a little way below the surface and which not +long ago were molten lava. The terraces and platforms built by +the geysers are another evidence that the cordillera is a region +where the surface of the earth is still being shaped into new +forms by forces acting from within. The physical features of the +country are still in process of construction. + +In spite of the importance of the constructive forces which are +still building up the mountains, much of the finest scenery of +the cordillera is due to the destructive forces of erosion. The +majestic Columbia Canyon, like others of its kind, is the work of +running water. Glaciers also have done their part. During the +glacial period the forces which control the paths of storms did +not give to the cordillera region such an abundance of snow as +was sifted down upon Laurentia. Therefore no such huge +continental glaciers have flowed out over millions of square +miles of lower country. Nevertheless among the mountains +themselves the ice gouged and scraped and smoothed and at its +lower edges deposited great moraines. Its work today makes the +cliffs and falls of the Yosemite one of the world's most famous +bits of scenery. This scenery is young and its beauty will pass +in a short time as geology counts the years, for in natural +scenery as in human life it is youth that makes beauty. The +canyons, waterfalls, and geysers of the cordillera share their +youth with the lakes, waterfalls, and rapids due to recent +glaciation in the east. Nevertheless, though youth is the +condition of most striking beauty, maturity and old age are the +condition of greatest usefulness. The young cordillera with its +mountains still in the making can support only a scanty +population, whereas the old eastern mountains, with the lines of +long life engraved upon every feature, open their arms to man and +let him live and prosper. + +It is not enough that we should picture merely the four divisions +of the land of our continent. We must see how the land meets the +sea. In low latitudes in both the Old World and the New, the +continents have tended to emerge farther and farther from the sea +during recent geological times. Hence on the eastern side of both +North and South America from New Jersey to Brazil the ocean is +bordered for the most part by coastal plains, uplifted from the +sea only a short time ago. On the mountainous western side of +both continents, however, the sea bottom shelves downward so +steeply that its emergence does not give rise to a plain but +merely to a steep slope on which lie a series of old beaches +several hundred and even one thousand feet above the present +shore line. Such conditions are not favorable to human progress. +The coastal plains produced by uplift of the land may be fertile +and may furnish happy homes for man, but they do not permit ready +access to the sea because they have no harbors. The chief harbor +of Mexico at Vera Cruz is merely a little nick in the coast-line +and could never protect a great fleet, even with the help of its +breakwater. Where an enterprising city like Los Angeles lies on +the uplifted Pacific coast, it must spend millions in wresting a +harbor from the very jaws of the sea. + +In high latitudes in all parts of the world the land has recently +been submerged beneath the sea. In some places, especially those +like the coasts of Virginia and central California which lie in +middle latitudes, a recent slight submergence has succeeded a +previous large emergence. Wherever such sinking of the land has +taken place, it has given rise to countless bays, gulfs, capes, +islands, and fiords. The ocean water has entered the valleys and +has drowned their lower parts. It has surrounded the bases of +hills and left them as islands; it has covered low valleys and +has created long sounds where traffic may pass with safety even +in great storms. Though much land has thus been lost which would +be good for agriculture, commerce has been wonderfully +stimulated. Through Long Island Sound there pass each day +hundreds of boats which again and again would suffer distress and +loss if they were not protected from the open sea. It is no +accident that of the eight largest metropolitan districts in the +United States five have grown up on the shores of deep inlets +which are due to the drowning of valleys. + +Nor must the value of scenery be forgotten in a survey such as +this. Year by year we are learning that in this restless, +strenuous American life of ours vacations are essential. We are +learning, too, that the love of beauty is one of Nature's +greatest healers. Regions like the coast of Maine and Puget +Sound, where rugged land and life-giving ocean interlock, are +worth untold millions because of their inspiring beauty. It is +indeed marvelous that in the latitude of the northern United +States and southern Canada so many circumstances favorable to +human happiness are combined. Fertile soil, level plains, easy +passage across the mountains, coal, iron, and other metals +imbedded in the rocks, and a stimulating climate, all shower +their blessings upon man. And with all these blessings goes the +advantage of a coast which welcomes the mariner and brings the +stimulus of foreign lands, while at the same time it affords rest +and inspiration to the toilers here at home. + + + +CHAPTER IV. THE GARMENT OF VEGETATION + +No part of the world can be truly understood without a knowledge +of its garment of vegetation, for this determines not only the +nature of the animal inhabitants but also the occupations of the +majority of human beings. Although the soil has much to do with +the character of vegetation, climate has infinitely more. It is +temperature which causes the moss and lichens of the barren +tundras in the far north to be replaced by orchids, twining +vines, and mahogany trees near the equator. It is rainfall which +determines that vigorous forests shall grow in the Appalachians +in latitudes where grasslands prevail in the plains and deserts +in the western cordillera. + +Forests, grass-lands, deserts, represent the three chief types of +vegetation on the surface of the earth. Each is a response to +certain well-defined conditions of climate. Forests demand an +abundance of moisture throughout the entire season of growth. +Where this season lasts only three months the forest is very +different from where it lasts twelve. But no forest can be +vigorous if the ground habitually becomes dry for a considerable +period during which the weather is warm enough for growth. Desert +vegetation, on the other hand, which consists primarily of bushes +with small, drought-resistant leaves, needs only a few irregular +and infrequent showers in order to endure long periods of heat +and drought. Discontinuity of moisture is the cause of deserts, +just as continuity is the necessary condition of forest growth. +Grasses prevail where the climatic conditions are intermediate +between those of the forest and the desert. Their primary +requisite is a short period of fairly abundant moisture with +warmth enough to ripen their seeds. Unlike the trees of the +forests, they thrive even though the wet period be only a +fraction of the entire time that is warm enough for growth. +Unlike the bushes of the desert, they rarely thrive unless the +ground is well soaked for at least a few weeks. Most people think +of forests as offering far more variety than either deserts or +grass-lands. To them grass is just grass, while trees seem to +possess individuality. In reality, however, the short turfy grass +of the far north differs from the four-foot fronds of the bunchy +saccaton grass of Arizona, and from the far taller tufts of the +plumed pampas grass, much more than the pine tree differs from +the palm. Deserts vary even more than either forests or +grass-lands. The traveler in the Arizona desert, for example, has +been jogging across a gravelly plain studded at intervals of a +few yards with little bushes a foot high. The scenery is so +monotonous and the noon sunshine so warm that he almost falls +asleep. When he wakes from his daydream, so weird are his +surroundings that he thinks he must be in one of the places to +which Sindbad was carried by the roc. The trail has entered an +open forest of joshuas, as the big tree yuccas are called in +Arizona. Their shaggy trunks and uncouth branches are rendered +doubly unkempt by swordlike, ashy-yellow dead leaves that double +back on the trunk but refuse to fall to the ground. At a height +of from twelve to twenty feet each arm of the many-branched +candelabrum ends in a stiff rosette of gray-green spiky leaves as +tough as hemp. Equally bizarre and much more imposing is a desert +"stand" of giant suhuaros, great fluted tree-cacti thirty feet or +more high. In spite of their size the suhuaros are desert types +as truly as is sagebrush. + +In America the most widespread type of forest is the evergreen +coniferous woodland of the north. Its pines, firs, spruces, +hemlocks, and cedars which are really junipers, cover most of +Canada together with northern New England and the region south of +Lakes Huron and Superior. At its northern limit the forest looks +thoroughly forlorn. The gnarled and stunted trees are thickly +studded with half-dead branches bent down by the weight of snow, +so that the lower ones sweep the ground, while the upper look +tired and discouraged from their struggle with an inclement +climate. Farther south, however, the forest loses this aspect of +terrific struggle. In Maine, for example, it gives a pleasant +impression of comfortable prosperity. Wherever the trees have +room to grow, they are full and stocky, and even where they are +crowded together their slender upspringing trunks look alert and +energetic. The signs of death and decay, indeed, appear +everywhere in fallen trunks, dead branches, and decayed masses of +wood, but moss and lichens, twinflowers and bunchberries so +quickly mantle the prostrate trees that they do not seem like +tokens of weakness. Then, too, in every open space thousands of +young trees bank their soft green masses so gracefully that one +has an ever-present sense of pleased surprise as he comes upon +this younger foliage out of the dim aisles among the bigger +trees. + +Except on their southern borders the great northern forests are +not good as a permanent home for man. The snow lies so late in +the spring and the summers are so short and cool that agriculture +does not prosper. As a home for the fox, marten, weasel, beaver, +and many other fur-bearing animals, however, the coniferous +forests are almost ideal. That is why the Hudson's Bay Company is +one of the few great organizations which have persisted and +prospered from colonial times to the present. As long ago as 1670 +Charles II granted to Prince Rupert and seventeen noblemen and +gentlemen a charter so sweeping that, aside from their own powers +of assimilation, there was almost no limit to what the "Governor +and Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson's Bay" +might acquire. By 1749, nearly eighty years after the granting of +the charter, however, the Company had only four or five forts on +the coast of Hudson Bay, with about 120 regular employees. +Nevertheless the poor Indians were so ignorant of the value of +their furs and the consequent profits were so large that, after +Canada had been ceded to Great Britain in 1763, a rival +organization, the Northwest Fur Company of Montreal, was +established. Then there began an era that was truly terrible for +the Indians of the northern forest. In their eagerness to get the +valuable furs the companies offered the Indians strong liquors in +an abundance that ruined the poor red man, body and soul. +Moreover the fur-bearing animals were killed not only in winter +but during the breeding season. Many mother animals were shot and +their little ones were left to die. Hence in a short time the +wild creatures of the great northern forest were so scarce that +the Indians well-nigh starved. + +In spite of this slaughter of fur-bearing animals, the same +Company still draws fat dividends from the northern forest and +its furry inhabitants. If the forest had been more habitable, it +would long ago have been occupied by settlers, as have its +warmer, southern portions, and the Company would have ceased to +exist. Aside from the regions too cold or too dry to support +any vegetation whatever, few parts of the world are more +deadening to civilization than the forests of the far north. Near +the northern limit of the great evergreen forest of North America +wild animals are so rare that a family of hunting Indians can +scarcely find a living in a thousand square miles. Today the +voracious maw of the daily newspaper is eating the spruce and +hemlock by means of relentless saws and rattling pulp-mills. In +the wake of the lumbermen settlers are tardily spreading +northward from the more favored tracts in northern New England +and southern Canada. Nevertheless most of the evergreen forests +of the north must always remain the home of wild animals and +trappers, a backward region in which it is easy for a great fur +company to maintain a practical monopoly. + +Outliers of the pine forest extend far down into the United +States. The easternmost lies in part along the Appalachians and +in part along the coastal plain from southern New Jersey to +Texas. The coastal forest is unlike the other coniferous forests +in two respects, for its distribution and growth are not limited +by long winters but by sandy soil which quickly becomes dry. This +drier southern pine forest lacks the beauty of its northern +companion. Its trees are often tall and stately, but they are +usually much scattered and are surrounded by stretches of scanty +grass. There is no trace of the mossy carpet and dense copses of +undergrowth that add so much to the picturesqueness of the +forests farther north. The unkempt half-breed or Indian hunter is +replaced by the prosaic gatherer of turpentine. As the man of the +southern forests shuffles along in blue or khaki overalls and +carries his buckets from tree to tree, he seems a dull figure +contrasted with the active northern hunter who glides swiftly and +silently from trap to trap on his rawhide snowshoes. Yet though +the southern pine forest may be less picturesque than the +northern, it is more useful to man. In spite of its sandy soil, +much of this forest land is being reclaimed, and all will some +day probably be covered by farms. + +Two other outliers of the northern evergreen forest extend +southward along the cool heights of the Rocky Mountains and of +the Pacific coast ranges of the United States. In the Olympic and +Sierra Nevada ranges the most western outlier of this northern +band of vegetation probably contains the most inspiring forests +of the world. There grow the vigorous Oregon pines, firs, and +spruces, and the still more famous Big Trees or sequoias. High on +the sides of the Sierra above the yuccas, the live oaks, and the +deciduous forest of the lower slopes, one meets these Big Trees. +To come upon them suddenly after a long, rough tramp over the +sunny lower slopes is the experience of a lifetime. Upward the +great trees rise sheer one hundred feet without a branch. The +huge fluted trunks encased in soft, red bark six inches or a foot +thick are more impressive than the columns of the grandest +cathedral. It seems irreverent to speak above a whisper. Each +tree is a new wonder. One has to walk around it and study it to +appreciate its enormous size. Where a tree chances to stand +isolated so that one can see its full majesty, the sense of awe +is tempered by the feeling that in spite of their size the trees +have a beauty all their own. Lifted to such heights, the branches +appear to be covered with masses of peculiarly soft and rounded +foliage like the piled-up banks of a white cumulus cloud before a +thunderstorm. At the base of such a tree the eye is caught by the +sharp, triangular outline of one of its young progeny. The lower +branches sweep the ground. The foliage is harsh and rough. In +almost no other species of trees is there such a change from +comparatively ungraceful youth to a superbly beautiful old age. + +The second great type of American forest is deciduous. The trees +have broad leaves quite unlike the slender needles or overlapping +scales of the northern evergreens. Each winter such forests shed +their leaves. Among the mountains where the frosts come suddenly, +the blaze of glory and brilliance of color which herald the +shedding of the leaves are surpassed in no other part of the +world. Even the colors of the Painted Desert in northern Arizona +and the wonderful flowers of the California plains are less +pleasing. In the Painted Desert the patches of red, yellow, +gray-blue, white, pale green, and black have a garish, almost +repellent appearance. In California the flame-colored acres of +poppies in some places, of white or yellow daisylike flowers in +others, or of purple blossoms elsewhere have a softer expression +than the bare soil of the desert. Yet they lack the delicate +blending and harmony of colors which is the greatest charm of the +autumn foliage in the deciduous forests. Even where the forests +consist of such trees as birches, beeches, aspens, or sycamores, +whose leaves merely turn yellow in the fall, the contrast between +this color and the green tint of summer or the bare branches of +winter adds a spice of variety which is lacking in other and more +monotonous forests. + +From still other points of view the deciduous forest has an +almost unequaled degree of variety. In one place it consists of +graceful little birches whose white trunks shimmering in the +twilight form just the background for ghosts. Contrast them with +the oak forest half a mile away. There the sense of gracefulness +gives place to a feeling of strength. The lines are no longer +vertical but horizontal. The knotted elbows of the branches +recall the keels of sturdy merchantmen of bygone days. The acorns +under foot suggest food for the herds of half-wild pigs which +roam among the trees in many a southern county. Of quite another +type are the stately forests of the Appalachians where splendid +magnolia and tulip trees spread their broad limbs aloft at +heights of one hundred feet or more. + +Deciduous forests grow in the well-balanced regions where summer +and winter approach equality, where neither is unduly long, and +where neither is subject to prolonged drought. They extend +southward from central New England, the Great Lakes, and +Minnesota, to Mississippi, Arkansas, and eastern Texas. They +predominate even in parts of such prairie States as Michigan, +Indiana, southern Illinois, and southeastern Missouri. No part of +the continent is more populous or more progressive than the +regions once covered by deciduous forests. In the United States +nearly sixty per cent of the inhabitants live in areas reclaimed +from such forests. Yet the area of the forests is less than a +quarter of the three million square miles that make up the United +States. + +In their relation to human life the forests of America differ far +more than do either grass-lands or deserts. In the far north, as +we have seen, the pine forests furnish one of the least favorable +environments. In middle latitudes the deciduous forests go to the +opposite extreme and furnish the most highly favored of the homes +of man. Still farther southward the increasing luxuriance of the +forests, especially along the Atlantic coast, renders them less +and less favorable to mankind. In southern Mexico and Yucatan the +stately equatorial rain forest, the most exuberant of all types +of vegetation and the most unconquerable by man, makes its +appearance. It forms a discontinuous belt along the wet east +coast and on the lower slopes of the mountains from southern +Yucatan to Venezuela. Then it is interrupted by the grasslands of +the Orinoco, but revives again in still greater magnificence in +the Guianas. Thence it stretches not only along the coast but far +into the little known interior of the Great Amazon basin, while +southward it borders all the coast as far as southern Brazil. In +the Amazon basin it reaches its highest development and becomes +the crowning glory of the vegetable world, the most baffling +obstacle to human progress. + +Except in its evil effects on man, the equatorial rain forest is +the antithesis of the forests of the extreme north. The +equatorial trees are hardwood giants, broad leaved, bright +flowered, and often fruit-bearing. The northern trees are +softwood dwarfs, needle-leaved, flowerless, and cone-bearing. The +equatorial trees are often branchless for one hundred feet, but +spread at the top into a broad overarching canopy which shuts out +the sun perpetually. The northern trees form sharp little +pyramids with low, widely spreading branches at the base and only +short twigs at the top. In the equatorial forests there is +almost no underbrush. The animals, such as monkeys, snakes, +parrots, and brilliant insects, live chiefly in the lofty +treetops. In the northern forests there is almost nothing except +underbrush, and the foxes, rabbits, weasels, ptarmigans, and +mosquitoes live close to the ground in the shelter of the +branches. Both forests are alike, however, in being practically +uninhabited by man. Each is peopled only by primitive nomadic +hunters who stand at the very bottom in the scale of +civilization. + +Aside from the rain forest there are two other types in tropical +countries--jungle and scrub. The distinction between rain forest, +jungle, and scrub is due to the amount and the season of +rainfall. An understanding of this distinction not only explains +many things in the present condition of Latin America but also in +the history of pre-Columbian Central America. Forests, as we have +seen, require that the ground be moist throughout practically the +whole of the season that is warm enough for growth. Since the +warm season lasts throughout the year within the tropics, dense +forests composed of uniformly large trees corresponding to our +oaks, maples, and beeches will not thrive unless the ground is +wet most of the time. Of course there may be no rain for a few +weeks, but there must be no long and regularly recurrent periods +of drought. Smaller trees and such species as the cocoanut palm +are much less exacting and will flourish even if there is a dry +period of several months. Still smaller, bushy species will +thrive even when the rainfall lasts only two or three months. +Hence where the rainy season lasts most of the year, rain forest +prevails; where the rainy and dry seasons do not differ greatly +in length, tropical jungle is the dominant growth; and where the +rainy season is short and the dry season long, the jungle +degenerates into scrub or bush. + +The relation of scrub, jungle, and rain forest is well +illustrated in Yucatan, where the ancient Mayas reared their +stately temples. On the northern coast the annual rainfall is +only ten or fifteen inches and is concentrated largely in our +summer months. There the country is covered with scrubby bushes +six to ten feet high. These are beautifully green during the +rainy season from June to October, but later in the year lose +almost all their leaves. The landscape would be much like that of +a thick, bushy pasture in the United States at the same season, +were it not that in the late winter and early spring some of the +bushes bear brilliant red, yellow, or white flowers. As one goes +inland from the north coast of Yucatan the rainfall increases. +The bushes become taller and denser, trees twenty feet high +become numerous, and many rise thirty or forty feet or even +higher. This is the jungle. Its smaller portions suggest a second +growth of timber in the deciduous forests of the United States +fifteen or twenty years after the cutting of the original forest, +but here there is much more evidence of rapid growth. A few +species of bushes and trees may remain green throughout the year, +but during the dry season most of the jungle plants lose their +leaves, at least in part. + +With every mile that one advances into the more rainy interior, +the jungle becomes greener and fresher, the density of the lower +growths increases, and the proportion of large trees becomes +greater until finally jungle gives place to genuine forest. There +many of the trees remain green throughout the year. They rise to +heights of fifty or sixty feet even on the borders of their +province, and at the top form a canopy so thick that the ground +is shady most of the time. Even in the drier part of the year +when some of the leaves have fallen, the rays of the sun scarcely +reach the ground until nine or ten o'clock in the morning. Even +at high noon the sunlight straggles through only in small +patches. Long, sinuous lianas, often queerly braided, hang down +from the trees; epiphytes and various parasitic growths add their +strange green and red to the complex variety of vegetation. Young +palms grow up almost in a day and block a trail which was hewn +out with much labor only a few months before. Wherever the death +of old trees forms an opening, a thousand seedlings begin a +fierce race to reach the light. Everywhere the dominant note is +intensely vigorous life, rapid growth, and quick decay. + +In their effect on man, the three forms of tropical forest are +very different. In the genuine rain forest agriculture is almost +impossible. Not only does the poor native find himself baffled in +the face of Nature, but the white man is equally at a loss. Many +things combine to produce this result. Chief among them are +malaria and other tropical diseases. When a few miles of railroad +were being built through a strip of tropical forest along the +coast of eastern Guatemala, it was impossible to keep the +laborers more than twenty days at a time; indeed, unless they +were sent away at the end of three weeks, they were almost sure +to be stricken with virulent malarial fevers from which many +died. An equally potent enemy of agriculture is the vegetation +itself. Imagine the difficulty of cultivating a garden in a place +where the weeds grow all the time and where many of them reach a +height of ten or twenty feet in a single year. Perhaps there are +people in the world who might cultivate such a region and raise +marvelous crops, but they are not the indolent people of tropical +America; and it is in fact doubtful whether any kind of people +could live permanently in the tropical forest and retain energy +enough to carry on cultivation. Nowhere in the world is there +such steady, damp heat as in these shadowy, windless depths far +below the lofty tops of the rain forest. Nowhere is there greater +disinclination to work than among the people who dwell in this +region. Consequently in the vast rain forests of the Amazon basin +and in similar small forests as far north as Central America, +there are today practically no inhabitants except a mere handful +of the poorest and most degraded people in the world. Yet in +ancient times the northern border of the rain forest was the seat +of America's most advanced civilization. The explanation of this +contradiction will appear later.* + +* See Chapter 5, Aztecs. + + +Tropical jungle borders the rain forest all the way from southern +Mexico to southern Brazil. It treats man far better than does the +rain forest. In marked contrast to its more stately neighbor, it +contains abundant game. Wild fruits ripen at almost all seasons. +A few banana plants and palm trees will well-nigh support a +family. If corn is planted in a clearing, the return is large in +proportion to the labor. So long as the population is not too +dense, life is so easy that there is little to stimulate +progress. Hence, although the people of the jungle are fairly +numerous, they have never played much part in history. Far more +important is the role of those living in the tropical lands where +scrub is the prevailing growth. In our day, for example, few +tropical lowlands are more progressive than the narrow coastal +strip of northern Yucatan. There on the border between jungle and +scrub the vegetation does not thrive sufficiently to make life +easy for the chocolate-colored natives. Effort is required if +they would make a living, yet the effort is not so great as to be +beyond the capacity of the indolent people of the tropics. + +Leaving the forests, let us step out into the broad, breezy +grass-lands. One would scarcely expect that a journey poleward +out of the forest of northern Canada would lead to an improvement +in the conditions of human life, yet such is the case. Where the +growing season becomes so short that even the hardiest trees +disappear, grassy tundras replace the forest. By furnishing food +for such animals as the musk-ox, they are a great help to the +handful of scattered Indians who dwell on the northern edge of +the forest. In summer, when the animals grow fat on the short +nutritious grass, the Indians follow them out into the open +country and hunt them vigorously for food and skins to sustain +life through the long dreary winter. In many cases the hunters +would advance much farther into the grass-lands were it not that +the abundant musk-oxen tempt the Eskimo of the seacoast also to +leave their homes and both sides fear bloody encounters. + +With the growth of civilization the advantage of the northern +grass-lands over the northern forests becomes still more +apparent. The domestic reindeer is beginning to replace the wild +musk-ox. The reindeer people, like the Indian and Eskimo hunters, +must be nomadic. Nevertheless their mode of life permits them to +live in much greater numbers and on a much higher plane of +civilization than the hunters. Since they hunt the furbearing +animals in the neighboring forests during the winter, they +diminish the food supply of the hunters who dwell permanently in +the forest, and thus make their life still more difficult. The +northern forests bid fair to decline in population rather than +increase. In this New World of ours, strange as it may seem, the +almost uninhabited forest regions of the far north and of the +equator are probably more than twice as large as the desert areas +with equally sparse population. + +South of the tundras the grass-lands have a still greater +advantage over the forests. In the forest region of the +Laurentian highland abundant snow lasts far into the spring and +keeps the ground so wet and cold that no crops can be raised. +Moreover, because of the still greater abundance of snow in +former times, the largest of ice sheets, as we have seen, +accumulated there during the Glacial Period and scraped away most +of the soil. The grassy plains, on the contrary, are favored not +only by a deep, rich soil, much of which was laid down by the +ice, but by the relative absence of snow in winter and the +consequent rapidity with which the ground becomes warm in the +spring. Hence the Canadian plains from the United States boundary +northward to latitude 57 degrees contain a prosperous +agricultural population of over a million people, while the far +larger forested areas in the same latitude support only a few +thousand. + +The question is often asked why, in a state of nature, trees are +so scarce on the prairies--in Iowa, for instance--although they +thrive when planted. In answer we are often told that up to the +middle of the nineteenth century such vast herds of buffaloes +roamed the prairies that seedling trees could never get a chance +to grow. It is also said that prairie fires sweeping across the +plains destroyed the little trees whenever they sprouted. +Doubtless the buffaloes and the fires helped to prevent forest +growth, but another factor appears to be still more important. +All the States between the Mississippi River and the Rocky +Mountains receive much more rain in summer than in winter. But as +the soil is comparatively dry in the spring when the trees begin +their growth, they are handicapped. They could grow if nothing +else interfered with them, just as peas will grow in a garden if +the weeds are kept out. If peas, however, are left uncared for, +the weeds gain the upper hand and there are no peas the second +year. If the weeds are left to contend with grass, the grass in +the end prevails. In the eastern forest region, if the grass be +left to itself, small trees soon spring up in its midst. In half +a century a field of grass goes back to forest because trees are +especially favored by the climate. In the same way in the +prairies, grass is especially favored, for it is not weakened by +the spring drought, and it grows abundantly until it forms the +wonderful stretches of waving green where the buffalo once grew +fat. Moreover the fine glacial soil of the prairies is so clayey +and compact that the roots of trees cannot easily penetrate it. +Since grasses send their roots only into the more friable upper +layers of soil, they possess another great advantage over the +trees. + +Far to the south of the prairies lie the grass-lands of tropical +America, of which the Banos of the Orinoco furnish a good +example. Almost everywhere their plumed grasses have been left to +grow undisturbed by the plough, and even grazing animals are +scarce. These extremely flat plains are flooded for months in the +rainy season from May to October and are parched in the dry +season that follows. As trees cannot endure such extremes, +grasses are the prevailing growth. Elsewhere the nature of the +soil causes many other grassy tracts to be scattered among the +tropical jungle and forest. Trees are at a disadvantage both in +porous, sandy soils, where the water drains away too rapidly, and +in clayey soil, where it is held so long that the ground is +saturated for weeks or months at a time. South of the tropical +portion of South America the vast pampas of Argentina closely +resemble the North American prairies and the drier plains to the +west of them. Grain in the east and cattle in the west are fast +causing the disappearance of those great tussocks of tufted +grasses eight or nine feet high which hold among grasses a +position analogous to that of the Big Trees of California among +trees of lower growth. + +It is often said that America has no real deserts. This is true +in the sense that there are no regions such as are found in Asia +and Africa where one can travel a hundred miles at a stretch and +scarcely see a sign of vegetation-nothing but barren gravel, +graceful wavy sand dunes, hard wind-swept clay, or still harder +rock salt broken into rough blocks with upturned edges. In the +broader sense of the term, however, America has an abundance of +deserts--regions which bear a thin cover of bushy vegetation but +are too dry for agriculture without irrigation. On the north such +deserts begin in southern Canada where a dry region abounding in +small salt lakes lies at the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains. +In the United States the deserts lie almost wholly between the +Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountain ranges, which keep out any +moisture that might come from either the west or the east. +Beginning on the north with the sagebrush plateau of southern +Washington, the desert expands to a width of seven hundred miles +in the gray, sage-covered basins of Nevada and Utah. In southern +California and Arizona the sage-brush gives place to smaller +forms like the saltbush, and the desert assumes a sterner aspect. +Next comes the cactus desert extending from Arizona far south +into Mexico. One of the notable features of the desert is the +extreme heat of certain portions. Close to the Nevada border in +southern California, Death Valley, 250 feet below sea-level, is +the hottest place in America. There alone among the American +regions familiar to the writer does one have that feeling of +intense, overpowering aridity which prevails so often in the +deserts of Arabia and Central Asia. Some years ago a Weather +Bureau thermometer was installed in Death Valley at Furnace +Creek, where the only flowing water in more than a hundred miles +supports a depressing little ranch. There one or two white men, +helped by a few Indians, raise alfalfa, which they sell at +exorbitant prices to deluded prospectors searching for riches +which they never find. Though the terrible heat ruins the health +of the white men in a year or two, so that they have to move +away, they have succeeded in keeping a thermometer record for +some years. No other properly exposed, out-of-door thermometer in +the United States, or perhaps in the world, is so familiar with a +temperature of 100 degrees F. or more. During the period of not +quite fifteen hundred days from the spring of 1911 to May, 1915, +a maximum temperature of 100 degrees F. or more was reached on +five hundred and forty-eight days, or more than one-third of the +time. On July 10, 1913, the mercury rose to 134 degrees F. and +touched the top of the tube. How much higher it might have gone +no one can tell. That day marks the limit of temperature yet +reached in this country according to official records. In the +summer of 1914 there was one night when the thermometer dropped +only to 114 degrees F., having been 128 degrees F. at noon. The +branches of a peppertree whose roots had been freshly watered +wilted as a flower wilts when broken from the stalk. + +East and south of Death Valley lies the most interesting section +of the American desert, the so-called succulent desert of +southern Arizona and northern Mexico. There in greatest profusion +grow the cacti, perhaps the latest and most highly specialized of +all the great families of plants. There occur such strange scenes +as the "forests" of suhuaros, whose giant columns have already +been described. Their beautiful crowns of large white flowers +produce a fruit which is one of the mainstays of the Papagos and +other Indians of the regions. In this same region the yucca is +highly developed, and its tall stalks of white or greenish +flowers make the desert appear like a flower garden. In fact this +whole desert, thanks to light rains in summer as well as winter, +appears extraordinarily green and prosperous. Its fair appearance +has deceived many a poor settler who has vainly tried to +cultivate it. + +Farther south the deserts of America are largely confined to +plateaus like those of Mexico and Peru or to basins sheltered on +all sides from rain-bearing winds. In such basins the suddenness +of the transition from one type of vegetation to another is +astonishing. In Guatemala, for instance, the coast is bordered by +thick jungle which quickly gives place to magnificent rain forest +a few miles inland. This continues two or three score miles from +the coast until a point is reached where mountains begin to +obstruct the rain-bearing trade-winds. At once the rain forest +gives place to jungle; in a few miles jungle in its turn is +replaced by scrub; and shortly the scrub degenerates to mere +desert bush. Then in another fifty miles one rises to the main +plateau passing once more through scrub. This time the scrub +gives place to grass-lands diversified by deciduous trees and +pines which give the country a distinctly temperate aspect. On +such plateaus the chief civilization of the tropical +Latin-American countries now centers. In the past, however, the +plateaus were far surpassed by the Maya lowlands of Yucatan and +Guatemala. + +We are wont to think of deserts as places where the plants are of +few kinds and not much crowded. As a matter of fact, an ordinary +desert supports a much greater variety of plants than does either +a forest or a prairie. The reason is simple. Every desert +contains wet spots near springs or in swamps. Such places abound +with all sorts of water-loving plants. The deserts also contain a +few valleys where the larger streams keep the ground moist at all +seasons. In such places the variety of trees is as great as in +many forests. Moreover almost all deserts have short periods of +abundant moisture. + +At such times the seeds of all sorts of little annual plants, +including grasses, daisies, lupines, and a host of others, sprout +quickly, and give rise to a carpet of vegetation as varied and +beautiful as that of the prairie. Thus the desert has not only +its own peculiar bushes and succulents but many of the products +of vegetation in swamps, grasslands, and forests. Though much of +the ground is bare in the desert, the plants are actually crowded +together as closely as possible. The showers of such regions are +usually so brief that they merely wet the surface. At a depth of +a foot or more the soil of many deserts never becomes moist from +year's end to year's end. It is useless for plants to send their +roots deep down under such circumstances, for they might not +reach water for a hundred feet. Their only recourse is to spread +horizontally. The farther they spread, the more water they can +absorb after the scanty showers. Hence the plants of the desert +throttle one another by extending their roots horizontally, just +as those of the forest kill one another by springing rapidly +upward and shutting out the light. + +Vegetation, whether in forests, grasslands, or deserts, is the +primary source of human sustenance. Without it man would perish +miserably; and where it is deficient, he cannot rise to great +heights in the scale of civilization. Yet strangely enough the +scantiness of the vegetation of the deserts was a great help in +the ascent of man. Only in dry regions could primitive man +compete with nature in fostering the right kind of vegetation. In +such regions arose the nations which first practised agriculture. +There man became comparatively civilized while his contemporaries +were still nomadic hunters in the grasslands and the forests. + + + +CHAPTER V. THE RED MAN IN AMERICA + +When the white man first explored America, the parts of the +continent that had made most progress were by no means those that +are most advanced today.* None of the inhabitants, to be sure, +had risen above barbarism. Yet certain nations or tribes had +advanced much higher than others. There was a great contrast, for +example, between the well-organized barbarians of Peru and the +almost completely unorganized Athapascan savages near Hudson Bay. + +* In the present chapter most of the facts as to the Indians +north of Mexico are taken from the admirable "Handbook of +American Indians North of Mexico," edited by F. W. Hodge, +Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of Ethnology, Bulletin 30, +Washington, 1907, two volumes. In summing up the character and +achievements of the Indians I have drawn also on other sources, +but have everywhere taken pains to make no statements which are +not abundantly supported by this authoritative publication. In +some cases I have not hesitated to paraphrase considerable +portions of its articles. + + +In the northern continent aboriginal America reached its highest +development in three typical environments. The first of these +regions centered in the valley of Mexico where dwelt the Aztecs, +but it extended as far north as the Pueblos in Arizona and New +Mexico. The special feature of the environment was the relatively +dry, warm climate with the chief rainfall in summer. The Indians +living in this environment were notable for their comparatively +high social organization and for religious ceremonials whose +elaborateness has rarely been surpassed. On the whole, the people +of this summer rain or Mexican type were not warlike and offered +little resistance to European conquest. Some tribes, to be sure, +fought fiercely at first, but yielded within a few years; the +rest submitted to the lordly Spaniards almost without a murmur. +Their civilization, if such we may call it, had long ago seen its +best days. The period of energy and progress had passed, and a +time of inertia and decay had set in. A century after the +Spaniards had overcome the aborigines of Mexico, other +Europeans--French, English, and Dutch--came into contact with a +sturdier type of red man, best represented by the Iroquois or +Five Nations of central New York. This more active type dwelt in +a physical environment notable for two features--the abundance of +cyclonic storms bringing rain or snow at all seasons and the +deciduous forest which thickly covered the whole region. Unlike +the Mexican, the civilization of the Iroquois was young, +vigorous, and growing. It had not learned to express itself in +durable architectural forms like those of Mexico, nor could it +rival the older type in social and religious organization. In +political organization, however, the Five Nations had surpassed +the other aboriginal peoples of North America. When the white man +became acquainted with the Iroquois in the seventeenth century, +he found five of their tribes organized into a remarkable +confederation whose avowed object was to abolish war among +themselves and to secure to all the members the peaceful exercise +of their rights and privileges. So well was the confederation +organized that, in spite of war with its enemies, it persisted +for at least two hundred years. One of the chief characteristics +of the Iroquois was their tremendous energy. They were so +energetic that they pursued their enemies with an implacable +relentlessness similar to the restless eagerness with which the +people of the region from New York to Chicago now pursue their +business enterprises. This led the Iroquois to torture their +prisoners with the utmost ingenuity and cruelty. Not only did the +savages burn and mutilate their captives, but they sometimes +added the last refinement of torture by compelling the suffering +wretches to eat pieces of flesh cut from their own bodies. Energy +may lead to high civilization, but it may also lead to excesses +of evil. The third prominent aboriginal type was that of the +fishermen of the coast of British Columbia, especially the Haidas +of the Queen Charlotte Islands. The most important features of +their environment were the submerged coast with its easy +navigation, the mild oceanic climate, and the dense pine forests. +The Haidas, like the Iroquois, appear to have been a people who +were still advancing. Such as it was, their greatness was +apparently the product of their own ingenuity and not, like that +of the Mexicans, an inheritance from a greater past. The Haidas +lacked the relentless energy of the Iroquois and shared the +comparatively gentle character which prevailed among all the +Indians along the Pacific Coast. They were by no means weaklings, +however. Commercially, for instance, they seem to have been more +advanced than any North American tribe except those in the +Mexican area. In architecture they stood equally high. We are +prone to think of the Mexicans as the best architects among the +aborigines, but when the white man came even the Aztecs were +merely imitating the work of their predecessors. The Haidas, on +the contrary, were showing real originality. They had no stone +with which to build, for their country is so densely forested +that stone is rarely visible. They were remarkably skillful, +however, in hewing great beams from the forest. With these they +constructed houses whose carved totem poles and graceful facades +gave promise of an architecture of great beauty. Taking into +account the difficulties presented by a material which was not +durable and by tools which were nothing but bits of stone, we +must regard their totem poles and mural decorations as real +contributions to primitive architecture. + +In addition to these three highest types of the red man there +were many others. Each, as we shall see, owed its peculiarities +largely to the physical surroundings in which it lived. Of course +different tribes possessed different degrees of innate ability, +but the chief differences in their habits and mode of life arose +from the topography, the climate, the plants, and the animals +which formed the geographical setting of their homes. + +In previous chapters we have gained some idea of the topography +of the New World and of the climate in its relation to plants and +animals. We have also seen that climate has much to do with human +energy. We have not, however, gained a sufficiently clear idea of +the distribution of climatic energy. A map of the world showing +how energy would be distributed if it depended entirely upon +climate clarifies the subject. The dark shading of the map +indicates those regions where energy is highest. It is based upon +measurements of the strength of scores of individuals, upon the +scholastic records of hundreds of college students, upon the +piecework of thousands of factory operatives, and upon millions +of deaths and births in a score of different countries. It takes +account of three chief climatic conditions--temperature, +humidity, and variability. It also takes account of mental as +well as physical ability. Underneath it is a map of the +distribution of civilization on the basis of the opinion of fifty +authorities in fifteen different countries. The similarity of the +two maps is so striking that there can be little question that +today the distribution of civilization agrees closely with the +distribution of climatic energy. When Egypt, Babylonia, Greece, +and Rome were at the height of their power this agreement was +presumably the same, for the storm belt which now gives +variability and hence energy to the thickly shaded regions in our +two maps then apparently lay farther south. It is generally +considered that no race has been more closely dependent upon +physical environment than were the Indians. Why, then, did the +energizing effect of climate apparently have less effect upon +them than upon the other great races? Why were not the most +advanced Indian tribes found in the same places where white +civilization is today most advanced? Climatic changes might in +part account for the difference, but, although such changes +apparently took place on a large scale in earlier times, there is +no evidence of anything except minor fluctuations since the days +of the first white settlements. Racial inheritance likewise may +account for some of the differences among the various tribes, but +it was probably not the chief factor. That factor was apparently +the condition of agriculture among people who had neither iron +tools nor beasts of burden. Civilization has never made much +progress except when there has been a permanent cultivation of +the ground. It has been said that "the history of agriculture is +the history of man in his most primitive and most permanent +aspect." If we examine the achievements and manner of life of the +Indians in relation to the effect of climate upon agriculture and +human energy, as well as in relation to the more obvious features +of topography and vegetation, we shall understand why the people +of aboriginal America in one part of the continent differed so +greatly from those in another part. In the far north the state of +the inhabitants today is scarcely different from what it was in +the days of Columbus. Then, as now, the Eskimos had practically +no political or social organization beyond the family or the +little group of relatives who lived in a single camp. They had no +permanent villages, but moved from place to place according to +the season in search of fish, game, and birds. They lived this +simple life not because they lacked ability but because of their +surroundings. Their kayaks or canoes are marvels of ingenuity. +With no materials except bones, driftwood, and skins they made +boats which fulfilled their purpose with extraordinary +perfection. Seated in the small, round hole which is the only +opening in the deck of his canoe, the Eskimo hunter ties his skin +jacket tightly outside the circular gunwale and is thus shut into +a practically water-tight compartment. Though the waves dash over +him, scarcely a drop enters the craft as he skims along with his +double paddle among cakes of floating ice. So, too, the snowhouse +with its anterooms and curved entrance passage is as clever an +adaptation to the needs of wanderers in a land of ice and snow as +is the skyscraper to the needs of a busy commercial people +crowded into great cities. The fact that the oilburning, +soapstone lamps of the Eskimo were the only means of producing +artificial light in aboriginal America, except by ordinary fires, +is another tribute to the ingenuity of these northerners. So, +too, is the fire-drill by which they alone devised a means of +increasing the speed with which one stick could be twirled +against another to produce fire. In view of these clever +inventions it seems safe to say that the Eskimo has remained a +nomadic savage not because he lacks inventive skill but partly +because the climate deadens his energies and still more because +it forbids him to practice agriculture. + +Southward and inland from the coastal homes of the Eskimo lies +the great region of the northern pine forests. It extends from +the interior of Alaska southeastward in such a way as to include +most of the Canadian Rockies, the northern plains from Great Bear +Lake almost to Lake Winnipeg, and most of the great Laurentian +shield around Hudson Bay and in the peninsula of Labrador. Except +among the inhabitants of the narrow Pacific slope and those of +the shores of Labrador and the St. Lawrence Valley, a single type +of barbarism prevailed among the Indians of all the vast pine +forest area. Only in a small section of the wheat-raising plains +of Alberta and Saskatchewan have their habits greatly changed +because of the arrival of the white man. Now as always the +Indians in these northern regions are held back by the long, +benumbing winters. They cannot practice agriculture, for no crops +will grow. They cannot depend to any great extent upon natural +vegetation, for aside from blueberries, a few lichens, and one or +two other equally insignificant products, the forests furnish no +food except animals. These lowly people seem to have been so +occupied with the severe struggle with the elements that they +could not even advance out of savagery into barbarism. They were +homeless nomads whose movements were determined largely by the +food supply. + +Among the Athapascans who occupied all the western part of the +northern pine forests, clothing was made of deerskins with the +hair left on. The lodges were likewise of deer or caribou skins, +although farther south these were sometimes replaced by bark. The +food of these tribes consisted of caribou, deer, moose, and +musk-ox together with smaller animals such as the beaver and +hare. They also ate various kinds of birds and the fish found in +the numerous lakes and rivers. They killed deer by driving them +into an angle formed by two converging rows of stakes, where they +were shot by hunters lying in wait. Among the Kawchodinne tribe +near Great Bear Lake hares were the chief source of both food and +clothing. When an unusually severe winter or some other disaster +diminished the supply, the Indians believed that the animals had +mounted to the sky by means of the trees and would return by the +same way. In 1841 owing to scarcity of hares many of this tribe +died of starvation, and numerous acts of cannibalism are said to +have occurred. Small wonder that civilization was low and that +infanticide, especially of female children, was common. Among +such people women were naturally treated with a minimum of +respect. Since they were not skilled as hunters, there was +relatively little which they could contribute toward the +sustenance of the family. Hence they were held in low esteem, for +among most primitive people woman is valued largely in proportion +to her economic contribution. Her low position is illustrated by +the peculiar funeral custom of the Takulli, an Athapascan tribe +on the Upper Frazer River. A widow was obliged to remain upon the +funeral pyre of her husband till the flames reached her own body. +When the fire had died down she collected the ashes of her dead +and placed them in a basket, which she was obliged to carry with +her during three years of servitude in the family of her husband. +At the end of that time a feast was held, when she was released +from thraldom and permitted to remarry if she desired. + +Poor and degraded as the people of the northern forests may have +been, they had their good traits. The Kutchins of the Yukon and +Lower Mackenzie regions, though they killed their female +children, were exceedingly hospitable and kept guests for months. +Each head of a family took his turn in feasting the whole band. +On such occasions etiquette required the host to fast until the +guests had departed. At such feasts an interesting wrestling game +was played. First the smallest boys began to wrestle. The victors +wrestled with those next in strength and so on until finally the +strongest and freshest man in the band remained the final victor. +Then the girls and women went through the same progressive +contest. It is hard to determine whether the people of the +northern pine forest were more or less competent than their +Eskimo neighbors. It perhaps makes little difference, for it is +doubtful whether even a race with brilliant natural endowments +could rise far in the scale of civilization under conditions so +highly adverse. + +The Eskimos of the northern coasts and the people of the pine +forests were not the only aborigines whose development was +greatly retarded because they could not practice agriculture. All +the people of the Pacific coast from Alaska to Lower California +were in similar circumstances. Nevertheless those living along +the northern part of this coast rose to a much higher level than +did those of California. This has sometimes been supposed to show +that geographical environment has little influence upon +civilization, but in reality it proves exactly the opposite. + +The coast of British Columbia was one of the three chief centers +of aboriginal America. As The Encyclopaedia Britannica* puts it: +"The Haida people constituted with little doubt the finest race +and that most advanced in the arts of the entire west coast of +North America." They and their almost equally advanced Tlingit +and Tsimshian neighbors on the mainland displayed much mechanical +skill, especially in canoe-building, woodcarving, and the working +of stone and copper, as well as in making blankets and baskets. +To this day they earn a considerable amount of money by selling +their carved objects of wood and slate to traders and tourists. +Their canoes were hollowed out of logs of cedar and were often +very large. Houses which were sometimes 40 by 100 feet were built +of huge cedar beams and planks, which were first worked with +stone and were then put together at great feasts. These +correspond to the "raising bees" at which the neighbors gathered +to erect the frames of houses in early New England. Each Haida +house ordinarily had a single carved totem pole in the middle of +the gable end which faced toward the beach. Often the end posts +in front were also carved and the whole house was painted. +Another evidence of the fairly advanced state of the Haidas was +their active commercial intercourse with regions hundreds of +miles away. At their "potlatches," as the raising bees were +called by the whites, trading went on vigorously. Carved copper +plates were among the articles which they esteemed of highest +value. Standing in the tribe depended on the possession of +property rather than on ability in war, in which respect the +Haidas were more like the people of today than were any of the +other Indian tribes. + +* 11th Edition, vol. XXII, p. 730. + + +Slavery was common among the Haidas. Even as late as 1861, 7800 +Tlingits held 828 slaves. Slavery may not be a good institution +in itself, but it indicates that people are well-to-do, that they +dwell in permanent abodes, and that they have a well-established +social order. Among the more backward Iroquois, captives rarely +became genuine slaves, for the social and economic organization +was not sufficiently developed to admit of this. The few captives +who were retained after a fight were adopted into the tribe of +the captors or else were allowed to live with them and shift for +themselves--a practice very different from that of the Haidas. + +Another feature of the Haidas' life which showed comparative +progress was the social distinctions which existed among them. +One of the ways in which individuals maintained their social +position was by giving away quantities of goods of all kinds at +the potlatches which they organized. A man sometimes went so far +as to strip himself of nearly every possession except his house. +In return for this, however, he obtained what seemed to him an +abundant reward in the respect with which his fellow-tribesmen +afterward regarded him. At subsequent potlatches he received in +his turn a measure of their goods in proportion to his own gifts, +so that he was sometimes richer than before. These potlatches +were social as well as industrial functions, and dancing and +singing were interspersed with the feasting. One of the +amusements was a musical contest in which singers from one tribe +or band would contend with one another as to which could remember +the greatest number of songs or accurately repeat a new song +after hearing it for the first time. At the potlatches the +children of chiefs were initiated into secret societies. They had +their noses, ears, and lips pierced for ornaments, and some of +them were tattooed. This great respect for social position which +the Haidas manifested is doubtless far from ideal, but it at +least indicates that a part of the tribe was sufficiently +advanced to accumulate property and to pass it on to its +descendants--a custom that is almost impossible among tribes +which move from place to place. The question suggests itself why +these coast barbarians were so much in advance of their neighbors +a few hundred miles away in the pine woods of the mountains. The +climate was probably one reason for this superiority. Instead of +being in a region like the center of the pine forests of British +Columbia where human energy is sapped by six or eight months of +winter, the Haidas enjoyed conditions like those of Scotland. +Although snow fell occasionally, severe cold was unknown. Nor was +there great heat in summer. The Haidas dwelt where both bodily +strength and mental activity were stimulated. In addition to this +advantage of a favorable climate these Indians had a large and +steady supply of food close at hand. Most of their sustenance was +obtained from the sea and from the rivers, in which the runs of +salmon furnished abundant provisions, which rarely failed. In +Hecate Strait, between the Queen Charlotte Islands and the +mainland, there were wonderfully productive halibut fisheries, +from which a supply of fish was dried and packed away for the +winter, so that there was always a store of provisions on hand. +The forests in their turn furnished berries and seeds, as well as +bears, mountain goats, and other game. + +Moreover the people of the northwest coast had the advantage of +not being forced to move from place to place in order to follow +the fish. They lived on a drowned shore where bays, straits, and +sounds are extraordinarily numerous. The great waves of the +Pacific are shut out by the islands so that the waterways are +almost always safe for canoes. Instead of moving their dwellings +in order to follow the food supply, as the Eskimo and the people +of the pine forest were forced to do, the Haidas and their +neighbors were able without difficulty to bring their food home. +At all seasons the canoes made it easy to transport large +supplies of fish from places even a hundred miles away. Having +settled dwellings, the Haidas could accumulate property and +acquire that feeling of permanence which is one of the most +important conditions for the development of civilization. +Doubtless the Haidas were intellectually superior to many other +tribes, but even if they had not been greatly superior, their +surroundings would probably have made them stand relatively high +in the scale of civilization. Southward from the Haidas, around +Puget Sound and in Washington and Oregon, there was a gradual +decline in civilization. The Chinook Indians of the lower +Columbia, beyond the limits of the great northern archipelago, +had large communal houses occupied by three or four families of +twenty or more individuals. Their villages were thus fairly +permanent, although there was much moving about in summer owing +to the nature of the food supply, which consisted chiefly of +salmon, with roots and berries indigenous to the region. The +people were noted as traders not only among themselves but with +surrounding tribes. They were extremely skillful in handling +their canoes, which were well made, hollowed out of single logs, +and often of great size. In disposition they are described as +treacherous and deceitful, especially when their cupidity was +aroused. Slaves were common and were usually obtained by barter +from surrounding tribes, though occasionally by successful raids. +These Indians of Oregon by no means rivaled the Haidas, for their +food supply was less certain and they did not have the advantage +of easy water communication, which did so much to raise the +Haidas to a high level of development. + +Of the tribes farther south an observer says: "In general +rudeness of culture the California Indians are scarcely above the +Eskimo, and whereas the lack of development of the Eskimo on many +sides of their nature is reasonably attributable in part to their +difficult and limiting environment, the Indians of California +inhabit a country naturally as favorable, it would seem, as it +might be. If the degree of civilization attained by a people +depends in any large measure on their habitat, as does not seem +likely, it might be concluded from the case of the California +Indians that natural advantages were an impediment rather than an +incentive to progress." In some of the tribes, such as the Hupa, +for example, there existed no organization and no formalities in +the government of the village. Formal councils were unknown, +although the chief might and often did ask advice of his men in a +collected body. In general the social structure of the California +Indians was so simple and loose that it is hardly correct to +speak of their tribes. Whatever solidarity there was among these +people was due in part to family ties and in part to the fact +that they lived in the same village and spoke the same dialect. +Between different groups of these Indians, the common bond was +similarity of language as well as frequency and cordiality of +intercourse. In so primitive a condition of society there was +neither necessity nor opportunity for differences of rank. The +influence of chiefs was small and no distinct classes of slaves +were known. Extreme poverty was the chief cause of the low social +and political organization of these Indians. The Maidus in the +Sacramento Valley were so poor that, in addition to consuming +every possible vegetable product, they not only devoured all +birds except the buzzard, but ate badgers, skunks, wildcats, and +mountain lions, and even consumed salmon bones and deer +vertebrae. They gathered grasshoppers and locusts by digging +large shallow pits in a meadow or flat. Then, setting fire to the +grass on all sides, they drove the insects into the pit. Their +wings being burned off by the flames, the grasshoppers were +helpless and were thus collected by the bushel. Again of the +Moquelumne, one of the largest tribes in central California, it +is said that their houses were simply frameworks of poles and +brush which in winter were covered with earth. In summer they +erected cone-shaped lodges of poles among the mountains. In +favorable years they gathered large quantities of acorns, which +formed their principal food, and stored them for winter use in +granaries raised above the ground. Often, however, the crop was +poor, and the Indians were left on the verge of starvation. + +Finally in the far south, in the peninsula of Lower California, +the tribes were "probably the lowest in culture of any Indians in +North America, for their inhospitable environment which made them +wanderers, was unfavorable to the foundation of government even +of the rude and unstable kind found elsewhere." The Yuman tribes +of the mountains east of Santiago wore sandals of maguey fiber +and descended from their own territory among the mountains "to +eat calabash and other fruits" that grew beside the Colorado +River. They were described as "very dirty on account of the much +mescal they eat." Others speak of them as "very filthy in their +habits. To overcome vermin they coat their heads with mud with +which they also paint their bodies. On a hot day it is by no +means unusual to see them wallowing in the mud like pigs." They +were "exceedingly poor, having no animals except foxes of which +they had a few skins. The dress of the women in summer was a +shirt and a bark skirt. The men appear to have been practically +unclothed during this season. The practice of selling children +seems to have been common. Their sustenance was fish, fruits, +vegetables, and seeds of grass, and many of the tribes were said +to have been dreadfully scorbutic." A little to the east of these +degraded savages the much more advanced Mohave tribe had its home +on the lower Colorado River. The contrast between these +neighboring tribes throws much light on the reason for the low +estate of the California Indians. "No better example of the power +of environment to better man's condition can be found than that +shown as the lower Colorado is reached. Here are tribes of the +same family (as those of Lower California) remarkable not only +for their fine physical development, but living in settled +villages with well-defined tribal lines, practising a rude, but +effective, agriculture, and well advanced in many primitive +Indian arts. The usual Indian staples were raised except tobacco, +these tribes preferring a wild tobacco of their region to the +cultivated."* + +* Hodge, "Handbook of American Indians." + + +This quotation is highly significant. With it should be compared +the fact that there is no evidence that corn or anything else was +cultivated in California west of the Rio Colorado Valley. +California is a region famous throughout America for its +agriculture, but its crops are European in origin. Even in the +case of fruits, such as the grape, which have American +counterparts, the varieties actually cultivated were brought from +Europe. Wheat and barley, the chief foodstuffs for which +California and similar subtropical regions are noted, were +unknown in the New World before the coming of the white man. In +pre-Columbian America corn was the only cultivated cereal. The +other great staples of early American agriculture were beans and +pumpkins. All three are preeminently summer crops and need much +water in July and August. In California there is no rain at this +season. Though the fall rains, which begin to be abundant in +October and November, do not aid these summer crops, they favor +wheat and barley. The winter rains and the comparatively warm +winter weather permit these grains to grow slowly but +continuously. When the warm spring arrives, there is still enough +rain to permit wheat and barley to make a rapid growth and to +mature their seeds long before the long, dry summer begins. The +comparatively dry weather of May and June is just what these +cereals need to ripen the crop, but it is fatal to any kind of +agriculture which depends on summer rain. + +Crops can of course be grown during the summer in California by +means of irrigation, but this is rarely a simple process. If +irrigation is to be effective in California, it cannot depend on +the small streams which practically dry up during the long, +rainless summer, but it must depend on comparatively large +streams which flow in well-defined channels. With our modern +knowledge and machinery it is easy for us to make canals and +ditches and to prepare the level fields needed to utilize this +water. A people with no knowledge of agriculture, however, and +with no iron tools cannot suddenly begin to practice a complex +and highly developed system of agriculture. In California there +is little or none of the natural summer irrigation which, in +certain parts of America, appears to have been the most important +factor leading to the first steps in tilling the ground. The +lower Colorado, however, floods broad areas every summer. Here, +as on the Nile, the retiring floods leave the land so moist that +crops can easily be raised. Hence the Mohave Indians were able to +practice agriculture and to rise well above their kinsmen not +only in Lower California but throughout the whole State. + +In the Rocky Mountain region of the United States, just as on the +Pacific coast, the condition of the tribes deteriorated more and +more the farther they lived to the south. In the regions where +the rainfall comes in summer, however, and hence favors primitive +agriculture, there was a marked improvement. The Kutenai tribes +lived near the corner where Idaho, Montana, and British Columbia +now meet. They appear to have been of rather high grade, +noteworthy for their morality, kindness, and hospitality. More +than any other Indians of the Rocky Mountain region, they avoided +drunkenness and lewd intercourse with the whites. Their mental +ability was comparatively high, as appears from their skill in +buffalo-hunting, in making dugouts and bark canoes, and in +constructing sweat-houses and lodges of both skins and rushes. +Even today the lower Kutenai are noted for their water-tight +baskets of split roots. Moreover the degree to which they used +the plants that grew about them for food, medicine, and +economical purposes was noteworthy. They also had an esthetic +appreciation of several plants and flowers--a gift rare among +Indians. These people lived in the zone of most stimulating +climate and, although they did not practice agriculture and had +little else in their surroundings to help them to rise above the +common level, they dwelt in a region where there was rain enough +in summer to prevent their being on the verge of starvation, as +the Indians of California usually were. Moreover they were near +enough to the haunts of the buffalo to depend on that great beast +for food. Since one buffalo supplies as much food as a hundred +rabbits, these Indians were vastly better off than the people of +the drier parts of the western coast. + +South of the home of the Kutenai, in eastern Oregon, southern +Idaho, Nevada, Utah, and neighboring regions dwelt the Utes and +other Shoshoni tribes. In this region the rainfall, which is no +greater than that of California, occurs chiefly in winter. The +long summer is so dry that, except by highly developed methods of +irrigation, agriculture is impossible. Hence it is not surprising +to find a traveler in 1850 describing one tribe of the Ute family +as "without exception the most miserable looking set of human +beings I ever saw. They have hitherto subsisted principally on +snakes, lizards, roots." The lowest of all the Ute tribes were +those who lived in the sage-brush. The early explorer, +Bonneville, found the tribes of Snake River wintering in brush +shelters without roofs merely heaps of brush piled high, behind +which the Indians crouched for protection from wind and snow. +Crude as such shelters may seem, they were the best that could be +constructed by people who dwelt where there was no vegetation +except little bushes, and where the soil was for the most part +sandy or so salty that it could not easily be made into adobe +bricks. + +The food of these Utes and Shoshonis was no better than their +shelters. There were no large animals for them to hunt; rabbits +were the best that they could find. Farther to the east, where +the buffalo wandered during part of the year and where there are +some forests, the food was better, the shelters were more +effective, and, in general, the standard of living was higher, +although racially the two groups of people were alike. In this +case, as in others, the people whose condition was lowest were +apparently as competent as those whose material conditions were +much better. Today, although the Ute Indians, like most of their +race, are rather slow, some tribes, such as the Payutes, are +described as not only "peaceful and moral," but also +"industrious." They are highly commended for their good qualities +by those who have had the best opportunities for judging. While +not as bright in intellect as some of the prairie tribes whom we +shall soon consider, they appear to possess more solidity of +character. By their willingness and efficiency as workers they +have made themselves necessary to the white farmers and have thus +supplied themselves with good clothing and many of the comforts +of life. They have resisted, too, many of the evils coming from +the advance of civilization, so that one agent speaks of these +Indians as presenting the singular anomaly of improving by +contact with the whites. Apparently their extremely low condition +in former times was due merely to that same handicap of +environment which kept back the Indians of California. + +Compare these backward but not wholly ungifted Utes with the Hopi +who belonged to the same stock. The relatively high social +organization of the latter people and the intricacy and +significance of their religious ceremonials are well known. +Mentally the Hopi seem to be the equal of any tribe, but it is +doubtful whether they have much more innate capacity than many of +their more backward neighbors. Nevertheless they made much more +progress before the days of the white man, as can easily be seen +in their artistic development. Every one who has crossed the +continent by the Santa Fe route knows how interesting and +beautiful are their pottery, basketry, and weaving. Not only in +art but also in government the Hopi are highly advanced. Their +governing body is a council of hereditary elders together with +the chiefs of religious fraternities. Among these officials there +is a speaker chief and a war chief, but there seems never to have +been any supreme chief of all the Hopi. Each pueblo has an +hereditary chief who directs all the communal work, such as the +cleaning of the springs and the general care of the village. +Crimes are rare. This at first sight seems strange in view of the +fact that no penalty was inflicted for any crime except sorcery, +but under Hopi law all transgressions could be reduced to +sorcery. One of the most striking features of Hopi life was its +rich religious development. The Hopi recognized a large number of +supernatural beings and had a great store of most interesting and +poetic mythological tales. The home of the Hopi would seem at +first sight as unfavorable to progress as that of their Ute +cousins, but the Hopi have the advantage of being the most +northwesterly representatives of the Indians who dwell within the +regions of summer rain. Fortunately for them, their country is +too desert and unforested for them to subsist to any great degree +by the chase. They are thus forced to devote all their energy to +agriculture, through which they have developed a relatively high +standard of living. They dwell far enough south to have their +heaviest rainfall in summer and not in winter, as is the case in +Utah, so that they are able to cultivate crops of corn and beans. +Where such an intensive system of agriculture prevails, the work +of women is as valuable as that of men. The position of woman is +thus relatively high among the Hopi, for she is useful not only +for her assistance in the labors of the field but also for her +skill in preserving the crops, grinding the flour, and otherwise +preparing the comparatively varied food which this tribe +fortunately possesses. + +From northern New Mexico and Arizona to Mexico City summer rains, +dry winters, and still drier springs, are the rule. Forests are +few, and much of the country is desert. The more abundant the +rains, the greater the number of people and the greater the +opportunities for the accumulation of wealth, and thus for that +leisure which is necessary to part of a community if civilization +is to make progress. That is one reason why the civilization of +the summer rain people becomes more highly developed as they go +from north to south. The fact that the altitude of the country +increases from the United States border southward also tends in +the same direction, for it causes the climate to be cooler and +more bracing at Mexico City than at places farther north. + +The importance of summer rains in stimulating growth and in +facilitating the early stages of agriculture is noteworthy. Every +one familiar with Arizona and New Mexico knows how the sudden +summer showers fill the mountain valleys with floods which flow +down upon the plain and rapidly spread out into broad, thin +sheets, often known as playas. There the water stands a short +time and then either sinks into the ground or evaporates. Such +places are favored with the best kind of natural irrigation, and +after the first shower it is an easy matter for the primitive +farmer to go out and drop grains of corn into holes punched with +a stick. Thereafter he can count on other showers to water his +field while the corn sprouts and grows to maturity. All that he +needs to do is to watch the field to protect it from the rare +depredations of wild animals. As time goes on the primitive +farmer realizes the advantage of leading the water to +particularly favorable spots and thus begins to develop a system +of artificial irrigation. In regions where such advantageous +conditions prevail, the people who live permanently in one place +succeed best, for the work that they do one year helps them the +next. They are not greatly troubled by weeds, for, though grasses +grow as well as corn in the places where the water spreads out, +the grasses take the form of little clumps which can easily be +pulled up. In the drier parts of the area of summer rain, it +becomes necessary to conserve the water supply to the utmost. The +Hopi consider sandy fields the best, for the loose sand on top +acts as a natural blanket to prevent evaporation from the +underlying layers. Sometimes in dry seasons the Hopi use +extraordinary methods to help their seeds to sprout. For +instance, they place a seed in a ball of saturated mud which they +bury beneath several inches of sand. As the sand prevents +evaporation, practically all the water is retained for the use of +the seed, which thereupon sprouts and grows some inches by the +time the first summer floods arrive. + +The Indians of the Great Plains lived a very different life from +that of the natives of either the mountains or the Pacific coast. +In the far north, to be sure, the rigorous climate caused all the +Indians to live practically alike, whether in the Rockies, the +plains, or the Laurentian highland. South of them, in that great +central expanse stretching from the latitude of Lake Winnipeg to +the Rio Grande River, the Indians of the plains possessed a +relatively uniform type of life peculiar to themselves. This +individuality was due partly to the luxuriant carpet of grass +which covered the plains and partly to the supply of animal food +afforded by the vast herds of buffaloes which roamed in tens of +thousands throughout the whole territory. The grass was important +chiefly because it prevented the Indians from engaging in +agriculture, for it must never be forgotten that the Indians had +neither iron tools nor beasts of burden to aid them in overcoming +the natural difficulties in the way of agriculture. To be sure, +they did occasionally pound meteoric iron into useful implements, +but this substance was so rare that probably not one Indian in a +hundred had ever seen a piece. The Indians were quite familiar +with copper, but there is not the slightest evidence that they +had discovered any means of hardening it. Metals played no real +part in the life of any of the Indians of America, and without +such tools as iron spades and hoes it was impossible for them to +cultivate grassland. If they burned the prairie and dropped seeds +into holes, the corn or beans which they thus planted were sure +to be choked by the quickly springing grass. To dig away the +tough sod around the hole for each seed would require an almost +incredible amount of work even with iron tools. To accomplish +this with wooden spades, rude hoes made of large flakes of flint, +or the shoulder blades of the buffalo, was impossible on any +large scale. Now and then in some river bottom where the grass +grew in clumps and could be easily pulled up, a little +agriculture was possible. That is all that seems to have been +attempted on the great grassy plains. + +The Indians could not undertake any widespread cultivation of the +plains not only because they lacked iron tools but also because +they had no draft animals. The buffalo was too big, too fierce, +and too stupid to be domesticated. In all the length and breadth +of the two Americas there was no animal to take the place of the +useful horse, donkey, or ox. The llama was too small to do +anything but carry light loads, and it could live only in a most +limited area among the cold Andean highlands. Even if the +aboriginal Americans could have made iron ploughs, they could not +have ploughed the tough sod without the aid of animals. Moreover, +even if the possession of metal tools and beasts of burden had +made agriculture possible in the grass-lands, it would have been +difficult, in the absence of wood for fences, to prevent the +buffalo from eating up the crops or at least from tramping +through them and spoiling them. Thus the fertile land of the +great plains remained largely unused until the white man came to +the New World bringing the iron tools and domestic animals that +were necessary to successful agriculture. + +Although farming of any sort was almost as impossible in the +plains as in the dry regions of winter rains farther west, the +abundance of buffaloes made life much easier in many respects. It +is astonishing to see how many purposes these animals served. An +early traveler who dwelt among one of the buffalo-hunting tribes, +the Tonkawa of central Texas, says: "Besides their meat it [the +buffalo] furnishes them liberally what they desire for +conveniences. The brains are used to soften skins, the horns for +spoons and drinking cups, the shoulder blades to dig up and clear +off the ground, the tendons for threads and bow strings, the +hoofs to glue the arrow-feathering. From the tail-hair they make +ropes and girths, from the wool, belts and various ornaments. The +hide furnishes . . . shields, tents, shirts, footwear, and +blankets to protect them from the cold."* + +*See Hodge, "Handbook of American Indians," vol. II, p. 781. + + +The buffalo is a surprisingly stupid animal. When a herd is +feeding it is possible for a man to walk into the midst of it and +shoot down an animal. Even when one of their companions falls +dead, the buffaloes pay no attention to the hunter provided he +remains perfectly still. The wounded animals are not at first +dangerous but seek to flee. Only when pursued and brought to bay +do they turn on their pursuers. When the Indians of an encampment +united their forces, as was their regular habit, they were able +to slaughter hundreds of animals in a few days. The more delicate +parts of the meat they ate first, often without cooking them. The +rest they dried and packed away for future use, while they +prepared the hides as coverings for the tents or as rugs in which +to sleep. + +Wherever the buffaloes were present in large numbers, the habits +of the Indians were much the same. They could not live in settled +villages, for there was no assurance that the buffalo would come +to any particular place each year. The plains tribes were +therefore more thoroughly nomadic than almost any others, +especially after the introduction of horses. Because they +wandered so much, they came into contact with other tribes to an +unusual degree, and much of the contact was friendly. Gradually +the Indians developed a sign language by which tribes of +different tongues could communicate with one another. At first +these signs were like pictographs, for the speaker pointed as +nearly as possible to the thing that he desired to indicate, but +later they became more and more conventional. For example, man, +the erect animal, was indicated by throwing up the hand, with its +back outward and the index finger extending upward. Woman was +indicated by a sweeping downward movement of the hand at the side +of the head with fingers extended to denote long hair or the +combing of flowing locks. + +Among the plains Indians, the Dakotas, the main tribe of the +Sioux family, are universally considered to have stood highest +not only physically but mentally, and probably morally. Their +bravery was never questioned, and they conquered or drove out +every rival except the Chippewas. Their superiority was clearly +seen in their system of government. Personal fitness and +popularity determined chieftainship more than did heredity. The +authority of the chief was limited by the Band Council, without +whose approbation little or nothing could be accomplished. In one +of the Dakota tribes, the Tetons, the policing of a village was +confided to two or three officers who were appointed by the chief +and who remained in power until their successors were appointed. +Day and night they were always on the watch, and so arduous were +their labors that their term of service was necessarily short. +The brevity of their term, however, was atoned for by the +greatness of their authority, for in the suppression of +disturbances no resistance was suffered. Their persons were +sacred, and if in the execution of their duty they struck even a +chief of the second class they could not be punished. + +The Dakotas, who lived in the region where their name is still +preserved, inhabited that part of the great plain which is +climatically most favorable to great activity. It is perhaps +because of their response to the influence of this factor of +geographical environment that they and their neighbors are the +best known of the plains tribes. Their activity in later times is +evident from the fact that the Tetons were called "the plundering +Arabs of America." If their activities had been more wisely +directed, they might have made a great name for themselves in +Indian history. In the arts they stood as high as could be +expected in view of the wandering life which they led and the +limited materials with which they had to work. In the art of +making pictographs, for instance, they excelled all other tribes, +except perhaps the Kiowas, a plains tribe of Colorado and western +Kansas. On the hides of buffalo, deer, and antelope which formed +their tents, the Dakotas painted calendars, which had a picture +for each year, or rather for each winter, while those of the +Kiowas had a summer symbol and a winter symbol. Probably these +calendars reveal the influence of the whites, but they at least +show that these people of the plains were quickwitted. + +Farther south the tribes of the plains stood on a much lower +level than the Dakotas. The Spanish explorer, Cabeza de Vaca, +describes the Yguases in Texas, among whom he lived for several +years, in these words: "Their support is principally roots which +require roasting two days. Many are very bitter. Occasionally +they take deer and at times fish, but the quantity is so small +and the famine so great that they eat spiders and eggs of ants, +worms, lizards, salamanders, snakes, and vipers that kill whom +they strike, and they eat earth and all that there is, the dung +of deer, things I omit to mention and I earnestly believe that +were there stones in that land they would eat them. They save the +bones of the fish they consume, the snakes and other animals, +that they may afterward beat them together and eat the powder." +During these painful periods, they bade Cabeza de Vaca "not to be +sad. There would soon be prickly pears, although the season of +this fruit of the cactus might be months distant. When the pears +were ripe, the people feasted and danced and forgot their former +privations. They destroyed their female infants to prevent them +being taken by their enemies and thus becoming the means of +increasing the latter's number." + +East of the Great Plains there dwelt still another important type +of Indians, the people of the deciduous forests. Their home +extended from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. As we have +already seen, the Iroquois who inhabited the northern part of +this region were in many respects the highest product of +aboriginal America. The northern Iroquois tribes, especially +those known as the Five Nations, were second to no other Indian +people north of Mexico in political organization, statecraft, and +military prowess. Their leaders were genuine diplomats, as the +wily French and English statesmen with whom they treated soon +discovered. One of their most notable traits was the reverence +which they had for the tribal law. The wars that they waged were +primarily for political independence, for the fundamental +principle of their confederation was that by uniting with one +another they would secure the peace and welfare of all with whom +they were connected by ties of blood. They prevented blood feuds +by decreeing that there should be a price for the killing of a +co-tribesman, and they abstained from eating the flesh of their +enemies in order to avoid future strife. So thoroughly did they +believe in the rights of the individual that women were accorded +a high position. Among some of the tribes the consent of all the +women who had borne children was required before any important +measure could be taken. Candidates for a chiefship were nominated +by the votes of the mothers, and, as lands and houses were the +property of the women, their power in the tribe was great. + +The Iroquois were sedentary and agricultural, and depended on the +chase for only a small part of their existence. The northern +tribes were especially noted for their skill in building +fortifications and houses. Their so-called castles were solid +wooden structures with platforms running around the top on the +inside. From the platforms stones and other missiles could be +hurled down upon besiegers. According to our standards such +dwellings were very primitive, but they were almost as great an +advance upon the brush piles of the Utes as our skyscrapers are +upon them. Farther south in the Carolinas, the Cherokees, another +Iroquoian tribe, stand out prominently by reason of their unusual +mental ability. Under the influence of the white man, the +Cherokees were the first to adopt a constitutional form of +government embodied in a code of laws written in their own +language. Their language was reduced to writing by means of an +alphabet which one of their number named Sequoya had devised. +Sequoya and other leaders, however, may not have been pure +Indians, for by that time much white blood had been mixed with +the tribe. Yet even before the coming of the white man the +Cherokees were apparently more advanced in agriculture than the +Iroquois were, but less advanced in their form of government, in +their treatment of women, and in many other respects. In general, +as we go from north to south in the region of deciduous forests, +we find that among the early Indians agriculture became more and +more important and the people more sedentary, though not always +more progressive in other ways. The Catawbas, for instance, in +South Carolina were sedentary agriculturists and seem to have +differed little in general customs from their neighbors. Their +men were brave and honest but lacking in energy. In the +Muskhogean family of Indians, comprising the Creeks, Choctaws, +Chickasaws, and Seminoles, who occupied the Gulf States from +Georgia to Mississippi, all the tribes were agricultural and +sedentary and occupied villages of substantial houses. The towns +near the tribal frontiers were usually palisaded, but those more +remote from invasion were unprotected. All these Indians were +brave but not warlike in the violent fashion of the Five Nations. +The Choctaws would fight only in self-defense, it was said, but +the Creeks and especially the Chickasaws were more aggressive. In +their government these Muskhogean tribes appear to have attained +a position corresponding to their somewhat advanced culture in +other respects. Yet their confederacies were loose and flimsy +compared with that of the Five Nations. Another phase of the life +of the tribes in the southern part of the region of deciduous +forests is illustrated by the Natchez of Mississippi. These +people were strictly sedentary and depended chiefly upon +agriculture for a livelihood. They possessed considerable skill +in the arts. For instance, they wove a cloth from the inner bark +of the mulberry tree and made excellent pottery. They also +constructed great mounds of earth upon which to erect their +dwellings and temples. Like a good many of the other southern +tribes, they fought when it was necessary, but they were +peaceable compared with the Five Nations. They had a form of +sun-worship resembling that of Mexico, and in other ways their +ideas were like those of the people farther south. For instance, +when a chief died, his wives were killed. In times of distress +the parents frequently offered their children as sacrifice. + +Many characteristics of the Natchez and other southern tribes +seem to indicate that they had formerly possessed a civilization +higher than that which prevailed when the white man came. The +Five Nations, on the contrary, apparently represent an energetic +people who were on the upward path and who might have achieved +great things if the whites had not interrupted them. The southern +Indians resemble people whose best days were past, for the mounds +which abound in the Gulf States appear to have been built chiefly +in pre-Columbian days. Their objects of art, such as the +remarkable wooden mortars found at Key Marco and the embossed +copper plates found elsewhere in Florida, point to a highly +developed artistic sense which was no longer in evidence at the +coming of the white man. + +It is interesting to see the way in which climatic energy tended +to give the Five Nations a marked superiority over the tribesmen +of the South, while agriculture tended in the opposite direction. +There has been much discussion as to the part played by +agriculture among the primitive Americans, especially in the +northeast. Corn, beans, and squashes were an important element in +the diet of the Indians of the New England region, while farther +south potatoes, sunflower seeds, and melons were also articles of +food. The New England tribes knew enough about agriculture to use +fish and shells for fertilizer. They had wooden mattocks and hoes +made from the shoulder blades of deer, from tortoise shells, or +from conch shells set in handles. They also had stone hoes and +spades, while the women used short pickers or parers about a foot +long and five inches wide. Seated on the ground they used these +to break the upper part of the soil and to grub out weeds, grass, +and old cornstalks. They had the regular custom of burning over +an old patch each year and then replanting it. Sometimes they +merely put the seeds in holes and sometimes they dug up and +loosened the ground for each seed. Clearings they made by +girdling the trees, that is, by cutting off the bark in a circle +at the bottom and thus causing the tree to die. The brush they +hacked or broke down and burned when it was dry enough. + +There is much danger of confusing the agricultural condition of +the Indian after the European had modified his life with his +condition before the European came to America. For instance, in +the excellent article on agriculture in the "Handbook of American +Indians," conditions prevailing as late as 1794 in the States +south of the Great Lakes are spoken of as if typical of +aboriginal America. But at that time the white man had long been +in contact with the Indian, and iron tools had largely taken the +place of stone. The rapidity with which European importations +spread may be judged by the fact that as early as 1736 the +Iroquois in New York not only had obtained horses but were +regularly breeding them. The use of the iron axe of course spread +with vastly greater rapidity than that of the horse, for an axe +or a knife was the first thing that an Indian sought from the +white man. In the eighteenth century agriculture had thus become +immeasurably easier than before, yet even then the Indians still +kept up their old habit of cultivating the same fields only a +short time. The regular practice was to cultivate a field five, +ten, and sometimes even twenty or more years, and then abandon +it.* + +*Ordinarily it is stated that this practice was due to the +exhaustion of the soil. That, however, is open to question, for +five or ten years' desultory cultivation on the part of the +Indian would scarcely exhaust the soil so much that people would +go to the great labor of making new clearings and moving their +villages. Moreover, in the Southern States it is well known today +that the soil is exhausted much more rapidly than farther north +because it contains less humus. Nevertheless the southern tribes +cultivated the land about their villages for long periods. Tribes +like the Creeks, the Cherokees, and the Natchez appear to have +been decidedly less prone to move than the Iroquois, in spite of +the relatively high development of these northern nations. + + +What hindered agriculture most in the northern part of the +deciduous forest was the grass. Any one who has cultivated a +garden knows how rapidly the weeds grow. He also knows that there +is no weed so hard to exterminate as grass. When once it gets a +foothold mere hoeing seems only to make it grow the faster. The +only way to get rid of grass when once it has become well +established is to plow the field and start over again, but this +the Indians could not do. When first a clearing was made in the +midst of the forest, there was no grass to be contended with. +Little by little, however, it was sure to come in, until at +length what had been a garden was in a fair way to become a +meadow. Then the Indians would decide that it was necessary to +seek new fields. + +One might suppose that under such circumstances the Indians would +merely clear another patch of forest not far from the village and +so continue to live in the old place. This, however, they did not +do because the labor of making a clearing with stone axes and by +the slow process of girdling and burning the trees was so great +that it was possible only in certain favored spots where by +accident the growth was less dense than usual. When once a +clearing became grassy, the only thing to do was to hunt for a +new site, prepare a clearing, and then move the village. This was +apparently the reason why the Iroquois, although successful in +other ways, failed to establish permanent towns like those of the +Pueblos and the Haidas. Their advancement not only in +architecture but in many of the most important elements of +civilization was for this reason greatly delayed. There was +little to stimulate them to improve the land to which they were +attached, for they knew that soon they would have to move. + +Farther south the character of the grassy vegetation changes, and +the condition of agriculture alters with it. The grass ceases to +have that thick, close, turfy quality which we admire so much in +the fields of the north, and it begins to grow in bunches. Often +a southern hillside may appear from a distance to be as densely +covered with grass as a New England hayfield. On closer +examination, however, the growth is seen to consist of individual +bunches which can easily be pulled up, so that among the southern +tribes the fields did not become filled with grass as they did in +the north, for the women had relatively little difficulty in +keeping out this kind of weed as well as others. + +In this survey of aboriginal America we have been impressed by +the contrast between two diverse aspects of the control of human +activities by physical environment. We saw, in the first place, +that in our own day the distribution of culture in America is +more closely related to climatic energy than to any other factor, +because man is now so advanced in the arts and crafts that +agricultural difficulties do not impede him, except in the far +north and in tropical forests. Secondly, we have found that, +although all the geographical factors acted upon the Indian as +they do today, the absence of metals and beasts of burden +compelled man to be nomadic, and hence to remain in a low stage +of civilization in many places where he now can thrive. In the +days long before Columbus the distribution of civilization in the +Red Man's Continent offered still a third aspect, strikingly +different both from that of today and from that of the age of +discovery. In that earlier period the great centers of +civilization were south of their present situation. In the +southern part of North America from Arizona to Florida there are +abundant evidences that the Indians whom the white man found were +less advanced than their predecessors. The abundant ruins of +Arizona and New Mexico, their widespread distribution, and the +highly artistic character of the pottery and other products of +handicraft found in them seem to indicate that the ancient +population was both denser and more highly cultured than that +which the Europeans finally ousted. In the Gulf States there is +perhaps not much evidence that there was a denser population at +an earlier period, but the excellence of the pre-Columbian +handicrafts and the existence of a decadent sun worship +illustrate the way in which the civilization of the past was +higher than that of later days. The Aztecs, who figure so largely +in the history of the exploration and conquest of Mexico, were +merely a warlike tribe which had been fortunate in the +inheritance of a relatively high civilization from the past. So, +too, the civilization found by the Spaniards at places such as +Mitla, in the extreme south of Mexico, could not compare with +that of which evidence is found in the ruins. Most remarkable of +all is the condition of Yucatan and Guatemala. In northern +Yucatan the Spaniards found a race of mild, decadent Mayas living +among the relics of former grandeur. Although they used the old +temples as shrines, they knew little of those who had built these +temples and showed still less capacity to imitate the ancient +architects. Farther south in the forested region of southern +Yucatan and northern Guatemala the conditions are still more +surprising, for today these regions are almost uninhabitable and +are occupied by only a few sickly, degraded natives who live +largely by the chase. Yet in the past this region was the scene +of by far the highest culture that ever developed in America. +There alone in this great continent did men develop an +architecture which, not only in massiveness but in wealth of +architectural detail and sculptural adornment, vies with that of +early Egypt or Chaldea. There alone did the art of writing +develop. Yet today in those regions the density of the forest, +the prevalence of deadly fevers, the extremely enervating +temperature, and the steady humidity are as hostile to +civilization as are the cold of the far north and the dryness of +the desert. + +The only explanation of this anomaly seems to be that in the past +the climatic zones of the world have at certain periods been +shifted farther toward the equator than they are at present. +Practically all the geographers of America now believe that +within the past two or three thousand years climatic pulsations +have taken place whereby places like the dry Southwest have +alternately experienced centuries of greater moisture than at +present and centuries as dry as today or even drier. During the +moist centuries greater storminess prevailed, so that the climate +was apparently better not only for agriculture but for human +energy. At such times the standard of living was higher than now +not only in the Southwest but in the Gulf States and in Mexico. +In periods when the deserts of the southwestern United States +were wet, the Maya region of Yucatan and Guatemala appears to +have been relatively dry. Then the dry belt which now extends +from northern Mexico to the northern tip of Yucatan apparently +shifted southward. Such conditions would cause the forests of +Yucatan and Guatemala to become much less dense than at present. +This comparative deforestation would make agriculture easily +possible where today it is out of the question. At the same time +the relatively dry climate and the clearing away of the +vegetation would to a large degree eliminate the malarial fevers +and other diseases which are now such a terrible scourge in wet +tropical countries. Then, too, the storms which at the present +time give such variability to the climate of the United States +would follow more southerly courses. In its stimulating qualities +the climate of the home of the Mayas in the days of their prime +was much more nearly like that which now prevails where +civilization rises highest. + +From first to last the civilization of America has been bound up +with its physical environment. It matters little whether we are +dealing with the red race, the black, or the white. Nor does it +matter whether we deal with one part of the continent or another. +Wherever we turn we can trace the influence of mountains and +plains, of rocks and metals from which tools are made, of water +and its finny inhabitants, of the beasts of the chase from the +hare to the buffalo, of domestic animals, of the native forests, +grass-lands, and deserts, and, last but not least, of +temperature, moisture, and wind in their direct effects upon the +human body. At one stage of human development the possibilities +of agriculture may be the dominant factor in man's life in early +America. At another, domestic animals may be more important, and +at still another, iron or waterways or some other factor may be +predominant. It is the part of the later history of the American +Continent to trace the effect of these various factors and to +chronicle the influence that they have had upon man's progress. + + + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + +Although many books deal with the physical features of the +Western Hemisphere and many others with the Indians, few deal +with the two in relation to one another. One book, however, +stands out preeminent in this respect, namely, Edward John +Payne's "History of the New World Called America," 2 vols. +(1892-99). This book, which has never been finished, attempts to +explain the conditions of life among the American aborigines as +the result of geographical conditions, especially of the food +supply. Where the author carries this attempt into the field of +special customs and religious rites, he goes too far. +Nevertheless his work is uncommonly stimulating and deserves the +careful attention of the reader who would gain a broad grasp of +the relation of geography to the history of the New World. + +Two other good books which deal with the relation of geography to +American history are Miss Ellen C. Semple's "American History and +its Geographical Conditions" (1903) and A. P. Brigham's +"Geographic Influences in American History" (1903). Both of these +books interpret geography as if it included little except the +form of the land. While they bring out clearly the effect of +mountain barriers, indented coasts, and easy routes whether by +land or water, they scarcely touch on the more subtle +relationships between man on the one hand and the climate, +plants, and animals which form the dominant features of his +physical environment on the other hand. + +In their emphasis on the form of the land both Semple and Brigham +follow the lead of W. M. Davis. In his admirable articles on +America and the United States in "The Encyclopaedia Britannica" +(11th edition) and in The International Geography edited by H. R. +Mill (1901), Davis has given an uncommonly clear and vivid +description of the main physical features of the New World. +Living beings, however, play little part in this description, so +that the reader is not led to an understanding of how physical +geography affects human actions. + +Other good descriptions of the North American continent are found +in the following books: I. C. Russell's "North America" (1904), +Stanford's "Compendium of Modern Geography and Travel," including +the volumes on Canada, the United States, and Central America, +and the great volumes on America in "The Earth and its +Inhabitants" by Elise Reclus, 19 vols. (1876-1894). Russell's +book is largely physiographic but contains some good chapters on +the Indians. In Stanford's "Compendium" the purpose is to treat +man and nature in their relation to one another, but the +relationships are not clearly brought out, and there is too much +emphasis on purely descriptive and encyclopedic matter. So far as +interest is concerned, the famous work by Elise Reclus holds high +rank. It is an encyclopedia of geographical facts arranged and +edited in such a way that it has all the interest of a fine book +of travel. Like most of the other books, however, it fails to +bring out relationships. + +As sources of information on the Indians, two books stand out +with special prominence. "The American Race," by D. G. Brinton +(1891), is a most scholarly volume devoted largely to a study of +the Indians on a linguistic basis. It contains some general +chapters, however, on the Indians and their environment, and +these are most illuminating. The other book is the "Handbook of +American Indians North of Mexico," edited by F. W. Hodge, and +published by the United States Bureau of Ethnology (Washington, +1897, 1910, 1911). Its two large volumes are arranged in +encyclopedic form. The various articles are written by a large +number of scholars, including practically all the students who +were at work on Indian ethnology at the time of publication. Many +of the articles are the best that have been written and will not +only interest the general reader but will contribute to an +understanding of what America was when the Indians came here and +what it still is today. + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Red Man's Continent, A +Chronicle of Aboriginal America, by Ellsworth Huntington + diff --git a/old/redma10.zip b/old/redma10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1151092 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/redma10.zip |