Farming on and Transformation of Turtle Island, Native North America

North America is sometimes thought of as the "Breadbasket of the World." Although that label had merit in the 20th century, it was preceded by very different conditions. The prior agricultural landscape of the continent is envisaged in this paper as a dynamic mosaic or a kaleidoscope. Variations in natural environments from place to place established conditions that confronted farmers with different technologies, needs, and cultures. Canal irrigation in the arid Southwest was paramount ca. AD 1000. By 1500 agriculture was widespread throughout the Eastern Woodlands. In 1800, agriculture was limited to east of the Appalachian Mountains, but beginning its inevitable spread westward. Unlike pre-European settlement times, it was also commercially-based.