Canyons of the Colorado by J. W. Powell
page 57 of 264 (21%)
page 57 of 264 (21%)
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great tribe had its central pueblo and its outlying rancherias.
Sometimes the rancherias were occupied from year to year, especially in time of peace, but usually they were occupied only during seasons of cultivation. Such groups of ruins and pueblos with accessory rancherias are still inhabited, and have been described as found throughout the Plateau Province except far to the north beyond the Uinta Mountains. A great pueblo once existed in the Uinta Valley on the south side of the mountains. This is the most northern pueblo which has yet been discovered. But the pueblo-building tribes extended beyond the area drained by the Colorado. On the west there was a pueblo in the Great Basin at the site now occupied by Salt Lake City, and several more to the southward, all on waters flowing into the desert. On the east such pueblos were found among mountains at the headwaters of the Arkansas, Platte, and Canadian rivers. The entire area drained by the Rio Grande del Norte was occupied by pueblo tribes, and a number are still inhabited. To the south they extended far beyond the territory of the United States, and the so-called Aztec cities were rather superior pueblos of this character. The known pueblo tribes of the United States belong to several different linguistic stocks. They are far from being one homogeneous people, for they have not only different lan^ guages but different religions and worship different gods. These pueblo peoples are in a higher grade of culture than most Indian tribes of the United States. This is exhibited in the slight superiority of their arts, especially in their architecture. It is also noticeable in their mythology and religion. Their gods, the heroes of their myths, are more often personifications of the powers and phenomena of nature, and their religious ceremonies are more elaborate, and their cult societies are highly organized. As they had begun to domesticate animals and to cultivate the soil, so as to obtain a part of their subsistence by agriculture, they had almost accomplished the ascent from savagery to |
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