Many, many moons before the first modern Europeans began populating the shores of the 'New World' tobacco smoke carried prayers of the early Native Americans skyward to their Creator. It was not long after the Europeans landed, however, that they, too, began enjoying the intoxicating effects of tobacco. By the 16th century the Portuguese were planting limited quantities of it at small farms near their trading posts. Today the tobacco industry, though much maligned, is a multi-billion dollar a year business, and reaches around the world.