The milkweed family is represented by four species of _Asclepias_, namely, _tuberosa_, _pulchra_, _incarnata_, and _syriaca_. These fibers were used in the manufacture of fine threads and cords. In both archaeological and recent Indian material the fibers were well prepared before use. In the archaeological objects it is possible that the fibers were collected in the spring, after retting by the weather; in any event, they all show that they have been freed to a large extent of their cementitious materials and epidermis. The highland milkweed (_Asclepias tuberosa_, L.) was encountered twelve times from all parts of its geographical range. The cave dwellers of Arkansas used it, as is exemplified by a bundle of knotted fibers in the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation (11-6179). In the Peabody Museum of Harvard University is some textile material which accompanied a knife found in an Ohio mound (28328). The protohistoric Indians of Massachusetts used the fiber to manufacture textiles as may be seen in a piece of plain cloth (A4127) and in a specimen of twined cloth (A5478) in the same museum. The Iroquois Indians employed it to make fine threads for stringing wampum belts as is shown by one (M1905) in the Archaeological Museum of McGill University. As stated above, all this material was broken down to make comparatively fine, smooth threads and cords. The species, _Asclepias pulchra_, Ehrh., or swamp milkweed, is closely related to _A. incarnata_, L. It was found in ten specimens examined, but from only two states, Ohio and Kentucky. In the University of Kentucky Museum is a rope (Bh-15/V4), made of this fiber. In the Ohio State Historical and Archaeological Museum are specimens of fabrics made from it which are attributed to the Hopewell culture. One of these, a piece of cloth wrapped around a copper plate (283), also contains _Urtica gracilis_. The milkweed (_Asclepias incarnata_, L.) was noted four times in Ohio archaeological objects. In the Ohio State Historical and Archaeological Museum is a two-strand rope (899-20), one strand of which is made from this fiber. This is a typical cave and rock-shelter sample. Wrapped around a Hopewell culture copper plate in the same museum is a piece of fabric containing five different fibers, among them _Asclepias incarnata_ (957). The species _Asclepias syriaca_, L., seems to be the most widely distributed geographically of any used by the Indians surveyed in this paper. It was found seventeen times in material from all sections and many tribes.