Early Uses

When humans first came to the Green River valley thousands of years ago, they quickly learned how to make use of the native trees, shrubs, grasses and flowering plants. From accounts by the first European settlers, we know that they used dugout canoes, and from evidence in caves we know they ate the native hickory nuts and walnuts. In many cases, however, we have to guess, as artifacts made of wood or plant matter would long since have disappeared.

Early European settlers left more record of how they used the native plants around them. Some of the used may have been learned from Indian peoples - some may have even been passed down through your family to you.

Some Plants the Settlers Used

White oak - baskets, building materials, barrels

Red maple - furniture

Black walnut - nuts, dyes, building

Dogwood - spindles for spinning wheels

Pawpaw - fruit

Wild bergamot - medicinal teas

Purple coneflower - applied to sores and wounds

Redstraw - stuffing for mattresses

Marker can be reached from River Road east of Old Street.

Courtesy hmdb.org

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