American Ginseng, while fairly new and unknown in modern culture, has been used by almost

every Indian tribe where it grows wild. The really astonishing fact is that Indian tribes of North

America used wild American Ginseng in much the same manner as the Chinese used Asian Ginseng.

They used it as a preventative. For instance, the Cherokee used American Ginseng for colic,

convulsions, dysentry, and headache, and described it as "the little man". Other tribes used it for an

aid to digestion, and appetite and a help for cramps and menstrual problems. Other uses were for

exhaustion, breathlessness, croup, and as an aid to keep the wounded alive.





It would seem that there must be something to the legend of Ginseng when two such different

groups of people, who never had any contact with each other, independently started to use a very

similar plant for the same pupose. While modern medical research has substantiated very few of

their claims, it seems probable that there must be some substance to these beliefs. No one seems to

know for how many years the Indians have used Ginseng, but we can be fairly certain that it was in

use for hundreds of years.



In the year 1702, a French Jesuit priest, by the name of Father Jartoux, was in Manchuria, a

province of China when he observed the Chinese use of Ginseng. In his writings he described the

wonder plant in sufficient detail to fascinate another Jesuit priest, by the name of Father Lafitau.

Father Lafitau, working among the Indians in Canada, deduced that since the climate in Canada was

similar to Manchuria, that he might be able to find the same plant growing there. In 1716, after

months of searching he was rewarded by the discovery of Panax Quinquefolius - American

Ginseng.



French fur traders quickly realized there were enormous profits to be made selling American

Ginseng to the Chinese. They reportedly paid 25 cents per pound to the diggers and then sold the

Ginseng for $5 per pound in China. by 1752 the French Canadian traders were selling $100,000

worth of Ginseng. Unfortunately, in their haste to make profits they gathered poorer and poorer

roots and then dried them to quickly in ovens, completely destroying their value. Trade fell to

$6,500 in 1754.



Around the same time, the American colonies discovered Ginseng. One of the early Ginseng

traders in the U.S. was John Jacob Astor, in the late 1700's. Mr. Astor, of the American fur

company, reportedly made a profit of $55,000, all in silver, on one of his first expeditions. The

equivalent of many millions of dollars today.



Daniel Boone, of Kentucky, made his fortune trading Ginseng, although he is remembered as a fur

trader. Fur just didn't pay as much as Ginseng. Daniel Boone also has the dubious distinction of

having one of the first Ginseng disasters. In 1788, he accumulated twelve tons of Ginseng but lost it

all when his boat overturned in the Ohio River on it's way to Philadelphia. The next year, he had

better luck and the Boone family fortune was made. And of course, Daniel Boone himself became a

legend.



Ginseng cultivation began sometime around the 1880's as wild Ginseng was already becoming

scarce. There is much discussion about who was the first successful cultivator of Ginseng, but by

1895, there were a few successes. Today, in 1999, Ginseng is still difficult to cultivate, requiring

almost constant attention during the growing season and considerable effort in the spring and fall to

attend to Ginseng's need for shade.







