Presents a guide to the history and culture of the American Southwest, telling the story of fifteen iconic sites across Arizona, New Mexico, southern Utah, and southern Colorado through the eyes of the explorers, missionaries, and travelers who were the first non-natives to describe them. Weber and deBuys lead readers through centuries of political, cultural, and ecological change. The sites visited in this volume range from popular destinations within the National Park System - including Carlsbad Caverns, the Grand Canyon, and Mesa Verde - to the Spanish colonial towns of Santa Fe and Taos and the living Indian communities of Ácoma, Zuni, and Taos. --From publisher description.