Chapter I. 

 THE ANCIENT PEOPLES. 



Because there are various kinds of ruins in the 

 Southwest, it has been beheved by some that they were 

 the homes of two separate peoples: Those who built 

 the houses under the chffs and in caves have been called 

 the Cliff-dwellers, while those who built in the valley's 

 have sometimes been called Aztecs under the belief 

 that the founders of ancient Mexico migrated from the 

 Southwest at an early date. There is, however, little 

 evidence for supposing that the inhabitants of the cliff 

 ruins and the people who lived in the ruined pueblos of 

 the valleys were of different races or that they li\'ed at 

 different periods of time. They seem merely to have 

 adapted their dwellings to the character of the locality 

 and the building materials at hand. 



It is at present impossible to say how long ago the 

 Southwest was peopled. There is no undisputed 

 evidence of man's presence in America in very remote 

 times. In Europe, men were capable of making 

 serviceable tools half a million years ago. ^^^hile no 

 such age is claimed for man in America there is no 

 reason for thinkinc; he has recently arri\ed. 



