During one of the earliest European explorations of interior North America in 1541 Hernando de Soto's scribes wrote of a particular tropical-like fruit that was being cultivated by Native Americans.
When President Thomas Jefferson sent William Dunbar and George Hunter to explore the Ouachita River in 1804, Hunter recorded a small Bayou named after this plant that entered the river on the east side about a league above the mouth of Bayou Bartholomew.
Two years later as the Lewis and Clark expedition neared the end of their epic journey to the Pacific Northwest, they depended on the fruit of this plant for sustenance when their rations ran low and game was scarce.
Many of us still sing a jingle about picking up the fruit and putting them in our pocket.
