Plants of the Plains

Plants of the Plains (HM2ND7)

Location:
Buy flags at Flagstore.com!

N 47° 58.941', W 103° 59.702'

  • 0 likes
  • 0 check ins
  • 0 favorites
  • 163 views
Inscription

Missouri-Yellowstone Confluence Interpretive Center

The Countrey in every direction is plains. — William Clark

This area held large herds of bison, elk, and deer, which had grazed on grasses and shrubs for millennia. Chief among the native grasses were big bluestem, buffalo grass, and needle-and-tread grass. Big sagebrush was a common shrub on the semi-arid plains.
Prairies provided native peoples with plants, used for food and medicine. Paste or tea made from purple coneflower root was used by many Northern Plains tribes to treat their coughs, sore throats, and headaches. They called the plant "elk root" because they learned of its effectiveness when they saw sick or wounded elk eat the plant. When Meriwether Lewis sent seeds to President Jefferson, he indicated it was used for snakebites.
Indian bread root, also called prairie turnip, was an important food for native peoples because it can be eaten raw, boiled, dried, or pounded into flour. It was also sought after by grizzly bears, once common among the wooded stream bottoms. Indian breadroot seeds collected by Lewis are preserved today by the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia.

This root (beadroot) forms a considerable article of food with the Indians of the Missouri, who for this purpose prepare them in several ways. they are esteemed good at all seasons of the year, but are



best from the middle of July to the latter end to Autumn when they are sought and gathered by the provident part of the natives for their winter store. when collected they are striped of their rhind and strung on small throngs or chords and exposed to the sun or placed in the smoke of their fires to dry; when well dryed they will keep for several years.... — Meriwether Lewis, Wednesday May 8th 1805
Details
HM NumberHM2ND7
Tags
Placed ByState Historical Society of North Dakota
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Tuesday, December 3rd, 2019 at 10:01am PST -08:00
Pictures
Sorry, but we don't have a picture of this historical marker yet. If you have a picture, please share it with us. It's simple to do. 1) Become a member. 2) Adopt this historical marker listing. 3) Upload the picture.
Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)13T E 574991 N 5314827
Decimal Degrees47.98235000, -103.99503333
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 47° 58.941', W 103° 59.702'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds47° 58' 56.46" N, 103° 59' 42.12" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Closest Postal AddressAt or near , ,
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

Is this marker missing? Are the coordinates wrong? Do you have additional information that you would like to share with us? If so, check in.

Check Ins  check in   |    all

Have you seen this marker? If so, check in and tell us about it.

Comments 0 comments

Maintenance Issues
  1. What country is the marker located in?
  2. Is this marker part of a series?
  3. What historical period does the marker represent?
  4. What historical place does the marker represent?
  5. What type of marker is it?
  6. What class is the marker?
  7. What style is the marker?
  8. Does the marker have a number?
  9. What year was the marker erected?
  10. This marker needs at least one picture.
  11. Can this marker be seen from the road?
  12. Is the marker in the median?