584 GENERAL VIEW OF ARCHEOLOGY OF THE PUEBLO REGION. 



and others in the Dolores drainage — were of little importance. On 

 the west and northwest the limit is the northwestern outline of the 

 basin of the Rio Colorado. Pueblo settlements beyond this boundary 

 were few. On the east side of the river typical pueblo culture 

 flourished. Passing to the western side we find it gradually ceased 

 to be characteristically pueblo. On the south the boundary as 

 accepted in this paper is the southern rim of the Gila valley. This 

 limitation is purel}^ arbitrary, however, as traces of identical or but 

 slightly differing culture extend much farther south. 



An examination of the physiography of the frontiers of this cul- 

 ture is instructive. East of the Pecos and of the Rocky mountains 

 are the vast unbroken grassy plains, the great cattle range of recent 

 years, and the favoi-ite buffalo range of earlier times. The buffalo 

 afforded the principal food supply for the plains Indians. It was 

 an unstable source of subsistence. This, in primitive life, induces 

 a correspondingly mobile population, whereas a culture of the 

 Pueblo type is based on sedentary habits. Physiographic conditions 

 account for the arrest of Pueblo culture east of the Pecos. Its 

 failure to extend west of the Colorado is likewise a matter of physi- 

 ography, for along the lower course of this river absolute aridity 

 prevented settlement, while farther up the great chasm of the Grand 

 Can^'on barred migration. The reason for the arrest of the Pueblo 

 frontier on the north with the San Juan-Grand watershed is not 

 so apparent. To the northeast was an excellent game country, full 

 of warlike hunting tril^es, forming an effective barrier in that direc- 

 tion, but to the noi'thwest through Utah and NcA^ada the physi- 

 ographic conditions were altogether favorable to the Pueblo culture, 

 and an open gateway in that direction is found east of the Colorado. 

 On the south the Gila does not constitute either a physiographic or 

 ethnographic boundary, since similar conditions extend down into 

 Mexico. r)y common usage the name " Pueblo " is applied only to 

 tribes within the United States, disregarding the ethnic similarities 

 of north Mexican tribes. Here we find natural gateways for the 

 entrance of early immigrants into Pueblo territory from the Rio 

 Grande at the southeast and along the Gila and its tributaries from 

 the southwest. 



There is thus inclosed within the boundaries above described a 

 phj^'siographic area which is accurately characterized by the term 

 " semiarid,'' the limits of Avhich are approximately coextensive with 

 the limits of the Pueblo culture. The climatic conditions are pecul- 

 iarly definite. Dryness is the prevailing condition. Precipitation 

 is very une(|ually distributed tlii'oughout the year. Heavy rainfalls 

 of from a few hours to some days' duration are followed by months 

 devoid of moisture. The character of the soil is such that. the effects 

 of rainfall rapidly disappear. Absorption, evaporation, and drain- 



