The book that I chose to read is called A Brief History of New Mexico. It contains about four chapters dealing with the original inhabitants of New Mexico, New Mexico under Spain, The Mexican Period, and New Mexico since 1846. .
During the earliest period(12,000 B.C., to A.D. 1540) man in the southwest hunted big game, such a mammoth, and all lived in open areas or cave shelters. Sandia Cave was the earliest known archeological site in the Southwest and has received national attention in the scientific field. When the largest animals started to disappear around 8,000 B.C., the hunters turned to smaller game and mostly gathered wild food. Eventually, the southwestern people began to farm and with farming came many other ideas such as pottery making from neighbors in Mexico and Arizona. The Mogollon were the first group of people to make pottery in New Mexico. There were many pueblos in New Mexico: Zuni, Tiwa, Taos, Acoma, Isleta, and Jimenez. Each pueblo developed their own individual style of pottery making because some had more economic advantages. New Mexico was very fortunate that the direct descendants of the prehistoric groups have survived to the present day. All of their cultural mixes provided a unique heritage. To this day, the pueblos have viable centers with their own identity, language and custom.
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What caused European exploration in New Mexico was a shipwreck, rumors of gold and legends of great Indian civilization. The shipwreck happened in the spring of 1536 where four travelers were the soul survivors of a destined ill-fated Narvaez shipwreck near present Galveston, Texas. Also, rumors heard from local Indians of great riches could be found in the "Seven Cities of Cibola." However, the "seven cities of gold" were simply a number of multistoried villages of the Zuni Pueblo Indians.
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On August 24, 1821, Mexico gained its independence from Spain and New Mexico became a part of the Mexican nation.
