When Laurie got home from school, she ran straight to the mailbox.
Grandpa had gone to the Southwest a week ago but hadn't sent her anything yet.
Had he forgotten about her? She saw a postcard and a yellow envelope addressed to her. "Finally!" she thought.
Hi, Laurie! How's my favorite granddaughter? I made it to New Mexico.
I'm in Chaco Culture National Historical Park studying the ancient Pueblos—Native Americans who lived in the Southwest over 1,500 years ago.
Many different peoples lived here, but as a group, we call them the Pueblos, after the houses they built.
Their houses had connecting walls and rooms built on top of one another.
They were really more like villages than individual houses.
The biggest Pueblo settlements are found here in Chaco Canyon.
We archaeologists call them the great houses.
One house, Pueblo Bonito, covered about three acres, and probably housed about twelve hundred people.
Pueblo society had no leaders, so living together took a lot of organization and patience.
But amazingly, they were one of the most peaceful people this country has ever known.
I'll write you a letter explaining more when I set up camp tonight.
But I had to send you a postcard of the amazing Pueblo Bonito!
Laurie examined the image on the postcard.
All the walls really were connected! She tried to imagine living in a house that was connected to everybody else's.
It would be strange to live so close to her classmates and teacher!
She wished she could have gone with Grandpa to see the ancient sites.
There were so many things she wanted to know.
If the Pueblos moved into the Southwest 1,500 years ago, where were they before that?
Where were they now? She opened the envelope and started reading Grandpa's letter.
Dear Laurie,
I know you wish you were here and I do too.
I bet you also have lots of questions about the Pueblos. So let's start at the beginning.
Native Americans had been living in the United States for thousands of years before the Europeans arrived and colonized the land.
Many historians think the natives originally came from Asia and arrived in North America during the Ice Age.
Back then a land bridge connected Asia to Alaska.
Native Americans might have crossed this land bridge while following bison and other large mammals they hunted.
But Pueblos have their own version of how they got here.
They believe they came from the earth, in a holy place underground, and were then led to the surface by a god.
Origins aside, we know for sure that the first Pueblos were nomadic hunters and gatherers.
Eventually they began building pit houses. These were circular underground houses, dug five or six feet into the ground.
Around the year 700, they began building aboveground, but kept underground rooms for special religious ceremonies.
Now their houses were made of stone and red-clay bricks, but still had no doors or windows.
So how did the Pueblos get in and out of their houses? Through the roof!
They climbed up a wooden ladder to the top of the wall, and then down another ladder to enter their homes.
Imagine you're returning home after a hunt, carrying a large deer over your back.
Or you're coming back from the spring with two large jugs full of water!
You would become a very skilled ladder climber!
Maybe you'd like to know a little more about the Pueblos' daily life.
They worked very hard. Women ground corn and gathered seeds, berries, and nuts for the family meals.
They also made pottery. Men took care of the crops, went on hunts, and wove baskets and blankets.
Young children and girls stayed home to help their mothers.
But older boys followed the men, learning everything they would need to know to become adults in the village.
It was hot during the daytime, when the plateaus were lit by the sun, but nights were cold.
The Pueblos ate warm cornbread, beans, and squash, and roasted meat over fires.
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.
But guess what these hardworking people did in their free time, Laurie?
They played games! Running races, dart-throwing contests, and ball games were all popular.
Of course the games were fun, but Pueblos also believed that these games were invented by the gods.
So playing them pleased the gods and helped keep rivers flowing, rain falling, and the sun shining in the sky.
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!
Missing you, Grandpa
P.S. I'll send you an email from the next site.
Laurie ran upstairs to the computer in the study.
In her inbox was an e-card from Grandpa.
Laurie—I'm in Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado.
Here Pueblos farmed, built houses, wove baskets, and performed rain dances.
But in the 1200s, they moved down into the cliffs and built their homes into the steep walls of canyons, perhaps for protection.
These peaceful people spent their time making pottery and offering respect to the gods.
Then, about a hundred years later, they mysteriously left Mesa Verde forever.
Were they escaping something or had they simply outgrown their homes? No one knows.
They continued to live nearby until the Spanish arrived in the 1500s and forced the Pueblos to leave their homes yet again.
But Pueblo ancestors still live in the Southwest.
In fact, I'll meet some modern Pueblos tomorrow at a ceremony! See you soon! –Grandpa
Laurie looked at the photograph on the e-card.
She couldn't imagine climbing in and out of that big canyon every day just to get home.
The Pueblos must have been so strong!
Laurie heard the front door open. "Laurie! Are you home? Sorry I'm late!" Mom called.
"I'm up here, Mom! I got mail from Grandpa in New Mexico!"