1 00:00:11,200 --> 00:00:17,743 When Laurie got home from school, she ran straight to the mailbox. 2 00:00:17,744 --> 00:00:25,101 Grandpa had gone to the Southwest a week ago but hadn't sent her anything yet. 3 00:00:25,102 --> 00:00:34,409 Had he forgotten about her? She saw a postcard and a yellow envelope addressed to her. "Finally!" she thought. 4 00:00:34,410 --> 00:00:41,431 Hi, Laurie! How's my favorite granddaughter? I made it to New Mexico. 5 00:00:41,432 --> 00:00:53,789 I'm in Chaco Culture National Historical Park studying the ancient Pueblos—Native Americans who lived in the Southwest over 1,500 years ago. 6 00:00:53,790 --> 00:01:01,670 Many different peoples lived here, but as a group, we call them the Pueblos, after the houses they built. 7 00:01:01,671 --> 00:01:07,402 Their houses had connecting walls and rooms built on top of one another. 8 00:01:07,403 --> 00:01:12,367 They were really more like villages than individual houses. 9 00:01:12,368 --> 00:01:17,444 The biggest Pueblo settlements are found here in Chaco Canyon. 10 00:01:17,445 --> 00:01:21,810 We archaeologists call them the great houses. 11 00:01:21,811 --> 00:01:30,968 One house, Pueblo Bonito, covered about three acres, and probably housed about twelve hundred people. 12 00:01:30,969 --> 00:01:37,969 Pueblo society had no leaders, so living together took a lot of organization and patience. 13 00:01:37,970 --> 00:01:44,455 But amazingly, they were one of the most peaceful people this country has ever known. 14 00:01:44,456 --> 00:01:49,430 I'll write you a letter explaining more when I set up camp tonight. 15 00:01:49,431 --> 00:01:54,598 But I had to send you a postcard of the amazing Pueblo Bonito! 16 00:01:54,599 --> 00:01:58,028 Laurie examined the image on the postcard. 17 00:01:58,029 --> 00:02:06,320 All the walls really were connected! She tried to imagine living in a house that was connected to everybody else's. 18 00:02:06,321 --> 00:02:11,438 It would be strange to live so close to her classmates and teacher! 19 00:02:11,439 --> 00:02:15,845 She wished she could have gone with Grandpa to see the ancient sites. 20 00:02:15,846 --> 00:02:19,320 There were so many things she wanted to know. 21 00:02:19,321 --> 00:02:25,820 If the Pueblos moved into the Southwest 1,500 years ago, where were they before that? 22 00:02:25,821 --> 00:02:32,761 Where were they now? She opened the envelope and started reading Grandpa's letter. 23 00:02:32,762 --> 00:02:33,979 Dear Laurie, 24 00:02:33,980 --> 00:02:37,872 I know you wish you were here and I do too. 25 00:02:37,873 --> 00:02:45,714 I bet you also have lots of questions about the Pueblos. So let's start at the beginning. 26 00:02:45,715 --> 00:02:54,678 Native Americans had been living in the United States for thousands of years before the Europeans arrived and colonized the land. 27 00:02:54,679 --> 00:03:02,951 Many historians think the natives originally came from Asia and arrived in North America during the Ice Age. 28 00:03:02,952 --> 00:03:07,894 Back then a land bridge connected Asia to Alaska. 29 00:03:07,895 --> 00:03:16,365 Native Americans might have crossed this land bridge while following bison and other large mammals they hunted. 30 00:03:16,366 --> 00:03:20,687 But Pueblos have their own version of how they got here. 31 00:03:20,688 --> 00:03:29,112 They believe they came from the earth, in a holy place underground, and were then led to the surface by a god. 32 00:03:29,113 --> 00:03:36,663 Origins aside, we know for sure that the first Pueblos were nomadic hunters and gatherers. 33 00:03:36,664 --> 00:03:48,497 Eventually they began building pit houses. These were circular underground houses, dug five or six feet into the ground. 34 00:03:48,498 --> 00:03:57,738 Around the year 700, they began building aboveground, but kept underground rooms for special religious ceremonies. 35 00:03:57,739 --> 00:04:04,862 Now their houses were made of stone and red-clay bricks, but still had no doors or windows. 36 00:04:04,863 --> 00:04:12,703 So how did the Pueblos get in and out of their houses? Through the roof! 37 00:04:12,704 --> 00:04:19,698 They climbed up a wooden ladder to the top of the wall, and then down another ladder to enter their homes. 38 00:04:19,699 --> 00:04:26,145 Imagine you're returning home after a hunt, carrying a large deer over your back. 39 00:04:26,146 --> 00:04:31,613 Or you're coming back from the spring with two large jugs full of water! 40 00:04:31,614 --> 00:04:36,337 You would become a very skilled ladder climber! 41 00:04:36,338 --> 00:04:41,749 Maybe you'd like to know a little more about the Pueblos' daily life. 42 00:04:41,750 --> 00:04:49,731 They worked very hard. Women ground corn and gathered seeds, berries, and nuts for the family meals. 43 00:04:49,732 --> 00:04:57,501 They also made pottery. Men took care of the crops, went on hunts, and wove baskets and blankets. 44 00:04:57,502 --> 00:05:01,351 Young children and girls stayed home to help their mothers. 45 00:05:01,352 --> 00:05:08,304 But older boys followed the men, learning everything they would need to know to become adults in the village. 46 00:05:08,305 --> 00:05:15,004 It was hot during the daytime, when the plateaus were lit by the sun, but nights were cold. 47 00:05:15,005 --> 00:05:21,838 The Pueblos ate warm cornbread, beans, and squash, and roasted meat over fires. 48 00:05:21,839 --> 00:05:31,103 Then they curled up in rabbit-skin robes and turkey-feather blankets and went to sleep because at sunrise they would start another long day. 49 00:05:31,104 --> 00:05:37,449 But guess what these hardworking people did in their free time, Laurie? 50 00:05:37,450 --> 00:05:45,616 They played games! Running races, dart-throwing contests, and ball games were all popular. 51 00:05:45,617 --> 00:05:53,316 Of course the games were fun, but Pueblos also believed that these games were invented by the gods. 52 00:05:53,317 --> 00:06:01,623 So playing them pleased the gods and helped keep rivers flowing, rain falling, and the sun shining in the sky. 53 00:06:01,624 --> 00:06:10,788 When I get back, let's see if playing kickball every day will keep the gods happy and bring us lots of good sledding snow this winter! 54 00:06:10,789 --> 00:06:12,953 Missing you, Grandpa 55 00:06:12,954 --> 00:06:23,448 P.S. I'll send you an email from the next site. 56 00:06:23,449 --> 00:06:32,638 Laurie ran upstairs to the computer in the study. 57 00:06:32,639 --> 00:06:37,508 In her inbox was an e-card from Grandpa. 58 00:06:37,509 --> 00:06:42,271 Laurie—I'm in Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado. 59 00:06:42,272 --> 00:06:49,273 Here Pueblos farmed, built houses, wove baskets, and performed rain dances. 60 00:06:49,274 --> 00:06:58,821 But in the 1200s, they moved down into the cliffs and built their homes into the steep walls of canyons, perhaps for protection. 61 00:06:58,822 --> 00:07:05,389 These peaceful people spent their time making pottery and offering respect to the gods. 62 00:07:05,390 --> 00:07:12,065 Then, about a hundred years later, they mysteriously left Mesa Verde forever. 63 00:07:12,066 --> 00:07:18,715 Were they escaping something or had they simply outgrown their homes? No one knows. 64 00:07:18,716 --> 00:07:28,212 They continued to live nearby until the Spanish arrived in the 1500s and forced the Pueblos to leave their homes yet again. 65 00:07:28,213 --> 00:07:32,626 But Pueblo ancestors still live in the Southwest. 66 00:07:32,627 --> 00:07:41,235 In fact, I'll meet some modern Pueblos tomorrow at a ceremony! See you soon! –Grandpa 67 00:07:41,236 --> 00:07:44,705 Laurie looked at the photograph on the e-card. 68 00:07:44,706 --> 00:07:51,538 She couldn't imagine climbing in and out of that big canyon every day just to get home. 69 00:07:51,539 --> 00:07:55,527 The Pueblos must have been so strong! 70 00:07:55,528 --> 00:08:03,707 Laurie heard the front door open. "Laurie! Are you home? Sorry I'm late!" Mom called. 71 00:08:03,708 --> 00:08:13,651 "I'm up here, Mom! I got mail from Grandpa in New Mexico!"