~~" nn D 
THE CAMP DWELLERS. 147 
Foop SuPPLyY. 
The nomadic tribes had a large territory at their dis- 
posal. There were fertile and fairly well-watered river 
valleys where corn and beans could be raised, and vast 
tracts of upland covered, if sparsely, with a varied 
vegetation. Judging from the number of cattle and 
sheep which that region now supports, before their 
introduction there must have been sufficient food for 
many deer, antelope, and elk. A few days’ travel east 
from the Rio Grande were the buffalo plains with a 
supply of meat limited only by the means of trans- 
porting it. 
Corn was planted by all the tribes; but the Eastern 
Apache, the Jicarilla and Mescalero, depended but 
little upon agriculture. That the Navajo formerly 
had large fields was stated by Benavides, who gave that 
fact as the explanation of their name. The methods 
employed seem not to have differed particularly from 
those of the village Indians. The corn was planted in 
irregularly spaced bunches, rather than in rows. 
The Navajo cornfields are in the moist valleys. The 
White Mountain Apache plant their fields in river beds 
wherever the streams have left a fertile flat. Sometimes 
the water is turned on these by diverting it into simple 
ditches with a log placed in the edge of the stream. 
The Havasupai, being located in the Cataract Can- 
yon, have exceptional opportunities for agriculture. 
The canyon walls broaden out, making a valley nearly 
two and a half miles long. Over this valley the water 
of the creek is conducted by means of ditches in the 
sand and slight dams across the stream. The light soil 
and sudden rises in the stream level make it necessary 
frequently to renew both ditches and dams. To the 
fertile soil and a plentiful water supply is added summer 
heat, since the valley is a half mile lower than the 
