Human occupation of New Mexico stretches back at least 11,000 years to the hunter-gatherer Clovis culture. They left evidence of their campsites and stone tools. After the invention of agriculture, the land was inhabited … See more

The Navajo and Apache peoples are members of the large Athabaskan language family, which includes peoples in Alaska and Canada, and along the Pacific Coast.
The historic peoples encountered by the Europeans did not make up unified tribes in the modern … See more

Many of the Pueblo people harbored hostility toward the Spanish, due to their oppression of the Indians and prohibition of their practice of … See more

Following Lewis and Clark many men started exploring and trapping in the western parts of the United States. Sent out in 1806, Lt. See more

The Pueblo people built a flourishing sedentary culture in the 13th century A.D., constructing small towns in the valley of the Rio Grande and pueblos nearby. By about 700 to 900 AD, the Pueblo began to abandon ancient pit houses dug in cliffs and to construct … See more

Spanish exploration and colonization
Francisco Vásquez de Coronado assembled an enormous expedition at Compostela, Mexico in 1540–1542, to explore and find the mythical Seven Golden Cities of Cibola, as described by Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca See more

From the date of the founding of New Mexico, the Pueblo people and Spanish settlers were plagued by hostile relationships with nomadic and semi-nomadic Navajo, Apache, Ute, and Comanche people. These tribes raided the more sedentary … See more