Welcome back to Techne! Apparently, tumbleweeds are not indigenous to western North America. Russian thistle (Salsola tragus) is actually a highly invasive species of Amaranth, a family that also includes spinach and beets. The plant arrived in South Dakota in the 1870s, which means that tumbleweeds were likely not around during the Wild West era.
Will Rinehart is author of Techne and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
