GoodlandsAmer European settlement of the Great Plains transformed bountifulNative soil into pasture and cropland, distorting the prairie ecosystemthat the peoples who originally populated the land had long understoodand were able to use wisely. Settlers justified this transformationwith the unexamined premise of deficiency, according to which the vastarea of the Great Plains was inadequate in flora and fauna and lackingin the advances of modern civilization.