Abstract:This essay examines the ecology of the mid-nineteenth-century Arkansas River Valley and how white settlers adopted indigenous understandings of this landscape. One of the main foci of this ecology was its ability to produce berries and potentially other fruits. Although unpotable, water flowed from the Arkansas River to hydrate these berry plants and fill bison wallows. Plains Indians, such as the Cheyenne and Arapaho, had utilized the dynamic interplay of water, horses, bison, and berries in this region. As white settlers colonized the West, cartographers crafted a vision of the western landscape making it appear more hospitable to Euro-American agriculture. Furthermore, boosters and travelers promoted fruit agriculture in the West. Part of this vision was rooted in boosterism, but a major component of this vision was planted in reality. Throughout the nineteenth century, explorers’ diaries and travelogues explicated the importance of berries to supplement their diets on the Arkansas River trail. Consequently, many boosters encouraged settlers to grow vineyards and orchards in the arid and saline portion of the Arkansas River. Overall, many boosters looked at the physical landscape to understand how white settlers could thrive in what explorers had called the “Great American Desert.”

中文翻译：

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“以果为判断”：1800 年至 1867 年，沿阿肯色河将印第安土地改造成果园

摘要：本文考察了 19 世纪中叶阿肯色河谷的生态，以及白人定居者如何采纳土著对这一景观的理解。这种生态的主要焦点之一是它能够生产浆果和潜在的其他水果。虽然不能饮用，但阿肯色河的水从阿肯色河流出，为这些浆果植物补水并填满野牛窝。平原印第安人，如夏安人和阿拉帕霍人，利用了该地区水、马、野牛和浆果的动态相互作用。随着白人定居者在西方殖民，制图师精心描绘了西方景观的愿景，使其看起来更适合欧美农业。此外，助推器和旅行者在西方促进了水果农业。这一愿景的一部分植根于助推主义，但这一愿景的主要组成部分植根于现实。整个 19 世纪，探险家的日记和游记都阐明了浆果对阿肯色河小径上的饮食补充的重要性。因此，许多支持者鼓励定居者在阿肯色河的干旱和盐碱地区种植葡萄园和果园。总体而言，许多助推器查看了物理景观，以了解白人定居者如何在探险家称之为“美国大沙漠”的地区茁壮成长。