Little rain falls in the Southwest. Some parts are desert.
The rest is very dry. When rain does come, it often pours down in short, strong thunderstorms that cause flash floods. This climate doesn’t seem like a very good place for people, especially for farmers. Yet Native Americans of the Southwest were expert farmers, growing crops of corn, beans, squash, and cotton.
The Hopi were one group of Pueblo people living in the Southwest in 1492. Like some other Pueblo peoples, they lived in multistory buildings or houses. These were built on the tops of mesas (high, flat-topped hills). They were also built on the sides of cliffs. Put on your hiking boots and climb the long, winding stone stairway to the top of the mesa. The people of the pueblo are waiting there to meet you.
