Southeast Region
Oklahoma,Texas New Mexico and Arizona
Trail of Tears
Migration from the original Cherokee Nation began in the early 1800’s. Some Cherokees, wary of white encroachment, moved west on their own and settled in other areas of the country. A group known as the Old Settlers previously had voluntarily moved in 1817 to lands given them in Arkansas where they established a government and a peaceful way of life. Later, however, they were forced to migrate to Indian Territory.
The Alamo
Because written history was not a tradition in these tribes, information about these indigenous people is imprecise. Most were hunter-gathers, a nomadic way of life that moved with the seasons in search of food. However, the introduction of agriculture, horses and domesticated livestock would later alter many of these indigenous cultures.
Dust Bowl
In the early morning hours of March 6, the Mexican Army advanced on the Alamo. After repulsing two attacks, the were unable to fend off a third attack. As Mexican soldiers scaled the walls, most of the soldiers withdrew into interior buildings. Defenders unable to reach these points were slain by the Mexican cavalry as they attempted to escape. Between five and seven may have surrendered; if so, they were quickly executed. Most eyewitness accounts reported between 182 and 257 dead, while most historians of the Alamo agree that around 600 Mexicans were killed or wounded.
Landforms
The Great Plains
The Great Plains were long inhabited by Native Americans, who hunted the teeming herds of buffalo
that roamed the grasslands and, due to wholesale slaughter by settlers and the U.S. army, were nearly extinct by the end of the 19th cent. The region was explored by the Spanish in the 17th cent. Until well into the 19th cent., the central Great Plains were called the Great American Desert. The first westward-bound pioneers bypassed the Great Plains. The railroads were largely responsible for their development after the Civil War. An initial wave of settlement was followed by emigration in times of drought.
that roamed the grasslands and, due to wholesale slaughter by settlers and the U.S. army, were nearly extinct by the end of the 19th cent. The region was explored by the Spanish in the 17th cent. Until well into the 19th cent., the central Great Plains were called the Great American Desert. The first westward-bound pioneers bypassed the Great Plains. The railroads were largely responsible for their development after the Civil War. An initial wave of settlement was followed by emigration in times of drought.
Grand Canyon
The known history of the Grand Canyon area stretches back 10,500 years, when the first evidence of human presence in the area is found. Native Americans have inhabited the Grand Canyon and the area now covered by Grand Canyon National Park for at least the last 4,000 of those years. Ancestral Pueblo peoples, first as the Basketmaker culture and later as the more familiar Pueblo people, developed from the Desert Culture as they became less nomadic and more dependent on agriculture. A similar culture, the Cohonina, also lived in the canyon area. Drought in the late 13th century likely caused both groups to move on. Other people followed, including the Paiute, Cerbat, and the Navajo, only to be later forced onto reservations by the United States Government.
The Painted Desert
Painted Desert Inn is a lodge in Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona. It was built in 1937–1940, on the site of an earlier lodge, the Stone Tree House.[3] It was designed in 1937 by National Park Service architect Lyle E. Bennett and others from the Park Service Branch of Plans and Design. Construction was carried out by Civilian Conservation Corps labor.[4] After updates by Mary Jane Colter, it was operated by the Fred Harvey Company from 1947 to 1963, when it closed.[5] Demolition was proposed in the mid-1970s, but after public protests the building was reopened for limited use in 1976. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987. The old Inn buildings were extensively rehabilitated, and reopened as a museum and bookstore in 2006.