1.
Edward S. Curtis
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Edward Sheriff Curtis was an American photographer and ethnologist whose work focused on the American West and on Native American peoples. Curtis was born on February 16,1868, on a farm near Whitewater and his father, the Reverend Asahel Johnson Curtis, was a minister, farmer, and American Civil War veteran born in Ohio. His mother, Ellen Sheriff, was born in Pennsylvania, Curtiss siblings were Raphael, also called Ray, Edward, called Eddy, Eva, and Asahel Curtis. Weakened by his experiences in the Civil War, Johnson Curtis had difficulty in managing his farm, resulting in hardship and poverty for his family. Around 1874, the family moved from Wisconsin to Minnesota to join Johnson Curtiss father, Asahel Curtis, Curtis left school in the sixth grade and soon built his own camera. In 1885, at the age of 17, Curtis became a photographer in St. Paul. In 1887 the family moved to Seattle, Washington, where he purchased a new camera, Curtis paid $150 for his 50% share in the studio. After about six months, he left Rothi and formed a new partnership with Thomas Guptill and they established a new studio, Curtis and Guptill, Photographers and Photoengravers. In 1895, Curtis met and photographed Princess Angeline, also known as Kickisomlo and this was his first portrait of a Native American. In 1898, three of Curtiss images were chosen for an exhibition sponsored by the National Photographic Society, two were images of Princess Angeline, The Mussel Gatherer and The Clam Digger. The other was of Puget Sound, entitled Homeward, which was awarded the grand prize. In that same year, while photographing Mt. Rainier, Curtis came upon a group of scientists. One of them was George Bird Grinnell, considered an expert on Native Americans by his peers, Curtis was appointed the official photographer of the Harriman Alaska Expedition of 1899, probably as a result of his friendship with Grinnell. Having very little formal education Curtis learned much during the lectures that were aboard the ship each evening of the voyage. Grinnell became interested in Curtiss photography and invited him to join an expedition to photograph people of the Blackfoot Confederacy in Montana in 1900, in 1906, J. P. Morgan provided Curtis with $75,000 to produce a series on Native Americans. This work was to be in 20 volumes with 1,500 photographs, morgans funds were to be disbursed over five years and were earmarked to support only fieldwork for the books, not for writing, editing, or production of the volumes. Curtis received no salary for the project, which was to last more than 20 years, under the terms of the arrangement, Morgan was to receive 25 sets and 500 original prints as repayment. Once Curtis had secured funding for the project, he was able to hire employees to help him
2.
Apache County, Arizona
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Apache County is located in the northeast corner of the U. S. state of Arizona. As of the 2010 census its population was 71,518, the county seat is St. Johns. Apache County was formed during the Tenth Territorial Legislation in 1879 out of the section of Yavapai County. By 1895, Navajo County and parts of Graham, Greenlee, the county seat was placed in the town of Snowflake, but was moved a year later to St. Johns. From 1880 to 1882, the county seat was temporarily in Springerville before being returned to St. Johns. A history of the area, written in 1896, records the following about Apache County, Apache County was created in 1879 and lies in the northeastern corner of the Territory. Until March,1895, it also embraced what is now Navajo County, Apache County is justly noted for its great natural resources and advantages. It is destined some day in the future to have a large agricultural population. Now, immense herds of cattle and flocks of sheep roam over its broad mesas, the southern part is a fine grazing country, while the northern part is cut up into picturesque gorges and canons by the floods of past centuries. In the late 1880s, the county sheriff was Old West gunfighter legend Commodore Perry Owens, at that time, the county covered more than 21,177 square miles in territory. In 2015, Apache County had the highest rate of death due to vehicles in the United States. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 11,218 square miles. The county is the third-largest county by area in Arizona and the sixth-largest in the United States, Apache County contains parts of the Navajo Indian Reservation, the Fort Apache Indian Reservation, and Petrified Forest National Park. Canyon de Chelly National Monument is entirely within the county, Apache County is one of two U. S. counties to border two counties of the same name, neither of which is in the same state as the county itself. Apache County has the most land designated as Indian reservation of any county in the United States, the county has 19,857.34 km2 of reservation territory, or 68.34 percent of its total area. The population density was 6 people per square mile, there were 31,621 housing units at an average density of 3 per square mile. 4. 49% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race,58. 39% reported speaking Navajo at home, while 38. 39% speak English and 2. 71% Spanish. 21. 20% of all households were made up of individuals and 6. 90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 3.41 and the average family size was 4.04
3.
Arizona
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Arizona is a state in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the Western United States and the Mountain West states and it is the sixth largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix, Arizona is one of the Four Corners states. It has borders with New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, California, and Mexico, Arizonas border with Mexico is 389 miles long, on the northern border of the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja California. Arizona is the 48th state and last of the states to be admitted to the Union. Historically part of the territory of Alta California in New Spain, after being defeated in the Mexican–American War, Mexico ceded much of this territory to the United States in 1848. The southernmost portion of the state was acquired in 1853 through the Gadsden Purchase, Southern Arizona is known for its desert climate, with very hot summers and mild winters. There are ski resorts in the areas of Flagstaff, Alpine, in addition to the Grand Canyon National Park, there are several national forests, national parks, and national monuments. To the European settlers, their pronunciation sounded like Arissona, the area is still known as alĭ ṣonak in the Oodham language. Another possible origin is the Basque phrase haritz ona, as there were numerous Basque sheepherders in the area, There is a misconception that the states name originated from the Spanish term Árida Zona. See also lists of counties, islands, rivers, lakes, state parks, national parks, Arizona is in the Southwestern United States as one of the Four Corners states. Arizona is the sixth largest state by area, ranked after New Mexico, of the states 113,998 square miles, approximately 15% is privately owned. The remaining area is public forest and park land, state trust land, Arizona is well known for its desert Basin and Range region in the states southern portions, which is rich in a landscape of xerophyte plants such as the cactus. This regions topography was shaped by volcanism, followed by the cooling-off. Its climate has hot summers and mild winters. The state is well known for its pine-covered north-central portion of the high country of the Colorado Plateau. Like other states of the Southwest United States, Arizona has an abundance of mountains, despite the states aridity, 27% of Arizona is forest, a percentage comparable to modern-day France or Germany. The worlds largest stand of pine trees is in Arizona
4.
Chinle, Arizona
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Chinle is a census-designated place in Apache County, Arizona, United States. The name in Navajo means flowing out and is a reference to the location where the water out of the Canyon de Chelly. The population was 4,518 at the 2010 census, Chinle is located at 36°9′17″N 109°34′45″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has an area of 16.1 square miles, of which 16.0 square miles is land and 0.04 square miles. As of the census of 2000, there were 5,366 people,1,358 households, the population density was 334.7 people per square mile. There were 1,644 housing units at a density of 102.6 per square mile. The racial makeup of the CDP was 91. 28% Native American,6. 39% White,0. 19% Black or African American,0. 17% Asian,0. 04% Pacific Islander,0. 60% from other races, and 1. 34% from two or more races. 1. 83% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race,18. 3% of all households were made up of individuals and 2. 5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.84 and the family size was 4.43. In the CDP, the age distribution of the population shows 43. 9% under the age of 18,10. 5% from 18 to 24,25. 8% from 25 to 44,14. 7% from 45 to 64, the median age was 22 years. For every 100 females there were 93.6 males, for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.9 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $27,324, males had a median income of $25,321 versus $22,663 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $8,755, about 40. 4% of families and 43. 5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 52. 6% of those under age 18 and 46. 9% of those age 65 or over. After a period of use for trade and war by the Spanish, the first trading post was established here in 1882. This grew to a camp by 1885. A government school was established in 1910, initially anglicized as Chin Lee, the name was changed to Chinle on April 1,1941. Chinle serves as a community for Canyon de Chelly National Monument, established in 1931 primarily to preserve the archaeological sites. Canyon de Chelly AZ is unique among the National Park Service units because the park is located entirely on Navajo tribal land and has a residential canyon community, the area is served by Chinle Unified School District
5.
National Register of Historic Places
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The National Register of Historic Places is the United States federal governments official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation. The passage of the National Historic Preservation Act in 1966 established the National Register, of the more than one million properties on the National Register,80,000 are listed individually. The remainder are contributing resources within historic districts, each year approximately 30,000 properties are added to the National Register as part of districts or by individual listings. For most of its history the National Register has been administered by the National Park Service and its goals are to help property owners and interest groups, such as the National Trust for Historic Preservation, coordinate, identify, and protect historic sites in the United States. While National Register listings are mostly symbolic, their recognition of significance provides some financial incentive to owners of listed properties, protection of the property is not guaranteed. During the nomination process, the property is evaluated in terms of the four criteria for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, the application of those criteria has been the subject of criticism by academics of history and preservation, as well as the public and politicians. Occasionally, historic sites outside the proper, but associated with the United States are also listed. Properties can be nominated in a variety of forms, including individual properties, historic districts, the Register categorizes general listings into one of five types of properties, district, site, structure, building, or object. National Register Historic Districts are defined geographical areas consisting of contributing and non-contributing properties, some properties are added automatically to the National Register when they become administered by the National Park Service. These include National Historic Landmarks, National Historic Sites, National Historical Parks, National Military Parks/Battlefields, National Memorials, on October 15,1966, the Historic Preservation Act created the National Register of Historic Places and the corresponding State Historic Preservation Offices. Initially, the National Register consisted of the National Historic Landmarks designated before the Registers creation, approval of the act, which was amended in 1980 and 1992, represented the first time the United States had a broad-based historic preservation policy. To administer the newly created National Register of Historic Places, the National Park Service of the U. S. Department of the Interior, hartzog, Jr. established an administrative division named the Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation. Hartzog charged OAHP with creating the National Register program mandated by the 1966 law, ernest Connally was the Offices first director. Within OAHP new divisions were created to deal with the National Register, the first official Keeper of the Register was William J. Murtagh, an architectural historian. During the Registers earliest years in the late 1960s and early 1970s, organization was lax and SHPOs were small, understaffed, and underfunded. A few years later in 1979, the NPS history programs affiliated with both the U. S. National Parks system and the National Register were categorized formally into two Assistant Directorates. Established were the Assistant Directorate for Archeology and Historic Preservation and the Assistant Directorate for Park Historic Preservation, from 1978 until 1981, the main agency for the National Register was the Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service of the United States Department of the Interior. In February 1983, the two assistant directorates were merged to promote efficiency and recognize the interdependency of their programs, jerry L. Rogers was selected to direct this newly merged associate directorate
6.
National Monument (United States)
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Historically, some national monuments were managed by the War Department. National monuments can be so designated through the power of the Antiquities Act of 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt used the act to declare Devils Tower in Wyoming as the first national monument. The Antiquities Act of 1906 resulted from concerns about protecting mostly prehistoric Native American ruins, the Act authorized permits for legitimate archaeological investigations and penalties for taking or destroying antiquities without permission. Among the next three monuments he proclaimed in 1906 was Petrified Forest in Arizona, another natural feature, in 1908, Roosevelt used the act to proclaim more than 800,000 acres of the Grand Canyon as a national monument. In 1918, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Katmai National Monument in Alaska, Katmai was later enlarged to nearly 2,800,000 acres by subsequent Antiquities Act proclamations and for many years was the largest national park system unit. Petrified Forest, Grand Canyon, and Katmai were among the national monuments later converted to national parks by Congress. Substantial opposition did not materialize until 1943, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed Jackson Hole National Monument in Wyoming. He did this to accept a donation of lands acquired by John D. Rockefeller, roosevelts proclamation unleashed a storm of criticism about use of the Antiquities Act to circumvent Congress. A bill abolishing Jackson Hole National Monument passed Congress but was vetoed by Roosevelt, the proclamation authority was not used again anywhere until 1996, when President Bill Clinton proclaimed the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah. This action was unpopular in Utah, and bills were introduced to further restrict the presidents authority. To date, none of them have been enacted, presidents have used the Antiquities Acts proclamation authority not only to create new national monuments but to enlarge existing ones. For example, Franklin D. Roosevelt significantly enlarged Dinosaur National Monument in 1938, lyndon B. Johnson added Ellis Island to Statue of Liberty National Monument in 1965, and Jimmy Carter made major additions to Glacier Bay and Katmai National Monuments in 1978. Marine National Monument List of U. S. National Forests List of areas in the National Park System of the United States List of U. S
7.
National Park Service
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It was created on August 25,1916, by Congress through the National Park Service Organic Act and is an agency of the United States Department of the Interior. As of 2014, the NPS employs 21,651 employees who oversee 417 units, the National Park Service celebrated its centennial in 2016. National parks and national monuments in the United States were originally individually managed under the auspices of the Department of the Interior, the movement for an independent agency to oversee these federal lands was spearheaded by business magnate and conservationist Stephen Mather, as well as J. Horace McFarland. With the help of journalist Robert Sterling Yard, Mather ran a publicity campaign for the Department of the Interior and they wrote numerous articles that praised the scenic and historic qualities of the parks and their possibilities for educational, inspirational, and recreational benefits. This campaign resulted in the creation of a National Park Service, Mather became the first director of the newly formed NPS. On March 3,1933, President Herbert Hoover signed the Reorganization Act of 1933, the act would allow the President to reorganize the executive branch of the United States government. It wasnt until later that summer when the new President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President Roosevelt agreed and issued two Executive orders to make it happen. In 1951, Conrad Wirth became director of the National Park Service, the demand for parks after the end of the World War II had left the parks overburdened with demands that could not be met. In 1952, with the support of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, he began Mission 66, New parks were added to preserve unique resources and existing park facilities were upgraded and expanded. In 1966, as the Park Service turned 50 years old, emphasis began to turn from just saving great and wonderful scenery, Director George Hartzog began the process with the creation of the National Lakeshores and then National Recreation Areas. Since its inception in 1916, the National Park Service has managed each of the United States national parks, Yellowstone National Park was the first national park in the United States. In 1872, there was no government to manage it. Yosemite National Park began as a park, the land for the park was donated by the federal government to the state of California in 1864 for perpetual conservation. Yosemite was later returned to federal ownership, at first, each national park was managed independently, with varying degrees of success. In Yellowstone, the staff was replaced by the U. S. Army in 1886. Due to the irregularities in managing these national treasures, Stephen Mather petitioned the government to improve the situation. In response, Secretary of the Interior Franklin K. Lane challenged him to lobby for creating a new agency, Mather was successful with the ratification of the National Park Service Organic Act in 1916. Later, the agency was given authority over other protected areas, the National Park System includes all properties managed by the National Park Service
8.
Four Corners
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The Four Corners is a region of the United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, southeastern corner of Utah, northeastern corner of Arizona, and northwestern corner of New Mexico. It is the location in the United States where four states meet. Most of the Four Corners region belongs to semi-autonomous Native American nations, the largest of which is the Navajo Nation, followed by Hopi, Ute, and Zuni tribal reserves and nations. The Four Corners region is part of a region known as the Colorado Plateau and is mostly rural, rugged. In addition to the monument, commonly visited areas within Four Corners include Monument Valley, Mesa Verde National Park, Chaco Canyon, the most populous city in the Four Corners region is Farmington, New Mexico, followed by Durango, Colorado. The United States acquired the four corners region from Mexico after the end of the Mexican–American War in 1848, in 1863 Congress created Arizona Territory from the western part of New Mexico Territory. The boundary was defined as a line running due south from the southwest corner of Colorado Territory and this was an unusual act of Congress, which almost always defined the boundaries of new territories as lines of latitude or longitude, or following rivers. By defining one boundary as starting at the corner of another Congress ensured the creation of four states meeting at a point. The area was first surveyed by the U. S. Government in 1868 as part of an effort to make Colorado Territory into a state, the first marker was placed at the spot in 1912. The first Navajo tribal government was established in 1923 to regulate a number of oil exploration activities on Navajo land. The Four Corners Area is defined as a circle around the Four corners located at 36°59′56. 3″N 109°02′42. 6″W, the Four Corners is part of the high Colorado Plateau. This makes it a center for systems, which stabilize on the plateau then proceed eastward through Colorado. This weather system creates snow and rain fall over the central United States, protected areas in the Four Corners area include Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Hovenweep National Monument, Mesa Verde National Park, and Monument Valley. Mountain Ranges in the Four Corners include Sleeping Ute Mountains, Abajo Mountains, the Four Corners Monument itself is administered by the Navajo Nation Department of Parks and Recreation. Other tribal nations within the Four Corners region include the Hopi, the Four Corners is home to the capital of the Navajo tribal government at Window Rock, Arizona. The Ute Mountain Ute Tribal headquarters are located at Towaoc, Colorado, the Four Corners region is mostly rural. The economic hub, largest city, and only area in the region is Farmington. The populated settlement closest to the center of Four Corners is Teec Nos Pos, other cities in the region include Cortez and Durango in Colorado, Monticello and Blanding in Utah, Kayenta and Chinle in Arizona, and Shiprock, Aztec, and Bloomfield in New Mexico
9.
Ancestral Puebloans
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The Ancestral Puebloans are believed to have developed, at least in part, from the Oshara Tradition, who developed from the Picosa culture. They lived in a range of structures that included small family pit houses, larger structures to house clans, grand pueblos, the Ancestral Puebloans possessed a complex network that stretched across the Colorado Plateau linking hundreds of communities and population centers. They held a distinct knowledge of celestial sciences that found form in their architecture, the kiva, a congregational space that was used chiefly for ceremonial purposes, was an integral part of this ancient peoples community structure. In contemporary times, the people and their culture were referred to as Anasazi for historical purposes. The Navajo, who were not their descendants, called them by this term, reflecting historic traditions, the term was used to mean ancient enemies. Contemporary Puebloans do not want this term used, archaeologists continue to debate when this distinct culture emerged. The current agreement, based on terminology defined by the Pecos Classification, suggests their emergence around the 12th century BC, beginning with the earliest explorations and excavations, researchers identified Ancestral Puebloans as the forerunners of contemporary Pueblo peoples. Three UNESCO World Heritage Sites located in the United States are credited to the Pueblos, Mesa Verde National Park, Chaco Culture National Historical Park and Taos Pueblo. Pueblo, which means village in Spanish, was a term originating with the Spanish explorers who used it to refer to the particular style of dwelling. The Navajo now use the term in the sense of referring to ancient people or ancient ones, Hopi people used the term Hisatsinom, meaning ancient people, to describe the Ancestral Puebloans. The Ancestral Puebloans were one of four major prehistoric archaeological traditions recognized in the American Southwest and this area is sometimes referred to as Oasisamerica in the region defining pre-Columbian southwestern North America. The others are the Mogollon, Hohokam, and Patayan, in relation to neighboring cultures, the Ancestral Puebloans occupied the northeast quadrant of the area. The Ancestral Puebloan homeland centers on the Colorado Plateau, but extends from central New Mexico on the east to southern Nevada on the west. Structures and other evidence of Ancestral Puebloan culture has been found extending east onto the American Great Plains, in areas near the Cimarron and Pecos Rivers, terrain and resources within this large region vary greatly. The plateau regions have high elevations ranging from 4,500 to 8,500 feet, extensive horizontal mesas are capped by sedimentary formations and support woodlands of junipers, pinon, and ponderosa pines, each favoring different elevations. Wind and water erosion have created steep-walled canyons, and sculpted windows, in areas where resistant strata, such as sandstone or limestone, overlie more easily eroded strata such as shale, rock overhangs formed. The Ancestral Puebloans favored building under such overhangs for shelters and defensive building sites, all areas of the Ancestral Puebloan homeland suffered from periods of drought, and wind and water erosion. Summer rains could be unreliable and often arrived as destructive thunderstorms, while the amount of winter snowfall varied greatly, the Ancestral Puebloans depended on the snow for most of their water
10.
Navajo
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The Navajo are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States. After the Cherokee, they are the second-largest federally recognized tribe in the United States, the Navajo language is spoken throughout the region, with most Navajos speaking English, as well. The states with the largest Navajo populations are Arizona and New Mexico, over three-quarters of the Navajo population reside in these two states. The Navajos are speakers of a Na-Dené Southern Athabaskan language known within the language as Diné bizaad, the language comprises two geographic, mutually intelligible dialects. It is closely related to the Apache language, as the Navajos and Apaches are believed to have migrated from northwestern Canada and eastern Alaska, speakers of various other Athabaskan languages located in Canada may still comprehend the Navajo language despite the geographic and linguistic deviation of the languages. Additionally, some Navajos speak Navajo Sign Language, which is either a dialect or daughter of Plains Sign Talk, archaeological and historical evidence suggests the Athabaskan ancestors of the Navajos and Apaches entered the Southwest around 1400 CE. The Navajo oral tradition is said to retain references of this migration, until contact with Pueblos and the Spanish, the Navajos were largely hunters and gatherers. The tribe adopted crop-farming techniques from the Pueblo peoples, growing corn, beans. When the Spanish arrived, the Navajos began herding sheep and goats as a source of trade and food. Sheep also became a form of currency and status symbols among the Navajos based on the quantity of herds a family maintained. In addition, the practice of spinning and weaving wool into blankets and clothing became common, in the 18th century, the Spanish reported the Navajos maintaining large herds of livestock and cultivating large crop areas. Navahu comes from the Tewa, meaning area of cultivated lands. By the 1640s, the Spanish began using the term Navajo to refer to the Diné, during the 1670s, the Spanish wrote that the Diné lived in a region known as Dinétah, about 60 miles west of the Rio Chama valley region. In the 1780s, the Spanish sent military expeditions against the Navajos in the Mount Taylor, the Navajos came into contact with the United States Army in 1846, when General Stephen W. Kearny invaded Santa Fe with 1,600 men during the Mexican–American War. The treaty was not honored by many young Navajo raiders, who continued to steal livestock from New Mexican villages, New Mexicans, on their part, together with Utes, continued to raid Navajo country, stealing livestock and taking women and children for sale as slaves. In 1849, the governor of New Mexico, Colonel John MacRae Washington—accompanied by John S. The treaty acknowledged the jurisdiction of the United States and allowed forts, the United States, on its part, promised such donations such other liberal and humane measures, as may deem meet and proper. While en route to this treaty signing, Narbona, a prominent Navajo peace leader, was killed, during the next 10 years, the U. S. established forts on traditional Navajo territory
11.
New Mexico
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New Mexico is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States of America. It was admitted to the Union as the 47th state on January 6,1912 and it is usually considered one of the Mountain States. New Mexico is fifth by area, the 36th-most populous, inhabited by Native Americans for thousands of years before European exploration, New Mexico was colonized by the Spanish in 1598 Imperial Spanish viceroyalty of New Spain. Later, it was part of independent Mexico before becoming a U. S. territory and eventually a U. S. state as a result of the Mexican–American War. Among U. S. states, New Mexico has the highest percentage of Hispanics, the major Native American nations in the state are Navajo, Pueblo, and Apache peoples. The demography and culture of the state are shaped by these strong Hispanic and Native American influences and its scarlet and gold colors are taken from the royal standards of Spain, along with the ancient sun symbol of the Zia, a Pueblo-related tribe. New Mexico, or Nuevo México in Spanish, is incorrectly believed to have taken its name from the nation of Mexico. The name simply stuck, even though the area had no connection to Mexico or the Mexica Indian tribes, Mexico, formerly a part of New Spain, adopted its name centuries later in 1821, after winning independence from Spanish rule. New Mexico was a part of the independent Mexican Empire and Federal Republic of Mexico for 27 years,1821 through 1848, New Mexico and Mexico developed as neighboring Spanish-speaking communities under Spanish rule, with relatively independent histories. The states total area is 121,412 square miles, the eastern border of New Mexico lies along 103° W longitude with the state of Oklahoma, and 2.2 miles west of 103° W longitude with Texas. On the southern border, Texas makes up the eastern two-thirds, while the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora make up the western third, the western border with Arizona runs along the 109°03 W longitude. The southwestern corner of the state is known as the Bootheel, the 37° N latitude parallel forms the northern boundary with Colorado. The states New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, and Utah come together at the Four Corners in the corner of New Mexico. New Mexico, although a state, has very little water. Its surface water area is about 250 square miles, the New Mexican landscape ranges from wide, rose-colored deserts to broken mesas to high, snow-capped peaks. Despite New Mexicos arid image, heavily forested mountain wildernesses cover a significant portion of the state, the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the southernmost part of the Rocky Mountains, run roughly north-south along the east side of the Rio Grande in the rugged, pastoral north. The most important of New Mexicos rivers are the Rio Grande, Pecos, Canadian, San Juan, the Rio Grande is tied for the fourth-longest river in the United States. Tourists visiting these sites bring significant money to the state, other areas of geographical and scenic interest include Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument and the Gila Wilderness in the southwest of the state
12.
Kit Carson
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Christopher Houston Kit Carson was an American frontiersman. The few paying jobs he had during his lifetime included mountain man, wilderness guide, Indian agent, Carson became a frontier legend in his own lifetime via biographies and news articles. Exaggerated versions of his exploits were the subject of dime novels, Carson left home in rural present-day Missouri at age 16 to become a mountain man and trapper in the West. In the 1830s, he accompanied Ewing Young on an expedition to Mexican California and he lived among and married into the Arapaho and Cheyenne tribes. In the 1840s, he was hired as a guide by John C, Fremonts expedition covered much of California, Oregon, and the Great Basin area. Fremont mapped and wrote reports and commentaries on the Oregon Trail to assist, Carson achieved national fame through Fremonts accounts of his expeditions. Under Fremonts command, Carson participated in the uprising against Mexican rule in California at the beginning of the Mexican-American War. S. government, in the 1850s, he was appointed as the Indian agent to the Ute Indians and the Jicarilla Apaches. During the American Civil War, Carson led a regiment of mostly Hispanic volunteers from New Mexico on the side of the Union at the Battle of Valverde in 1862. When the Confederate threat to New Mexico was eliminated, Carson led forces to suppress the Navajo, Mescalero Apache, Carson was breveted a Brigadier General and took command of Fort Garland, Colorado. He was there briefly, poor health forced him to retire from military life. Carson was married three times and had ten children, the Carson home was in Taos, New Mexico. Carson died at Fort Lyon, Colorado, of an aneurysm on May 23,1868. He is buried in Taos, New Mexico, next to his third wife Josefa Jaramillo, Carson was born in Kentucky on Christmas Eve,1809. His parents were Lindsay Carson and his wife, Rebecca Robinson. Lindsay had had five children by his first wife Lucy Bradley, Kit was their sixth, making him the eleventh of Lindsays offspring. Lindsay Carson had a Scots-Irish Presbyterian background and he was a farmer, a cabin builder, and a veteran of the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. He fought Indians on the American frontier, losing two fingers on his hand in a battle with the Fox and Sauk Indians. The Carson family moved to Boones Lick, Howard County, Missouri, the family settled on a tract of land owned by the sons of Daniel Boone, who had purchased the land from the Spanish
