The making of the American nation; a history for elementary schools . the makers of the shell heaps. Inthe Colorado plateau one may still find the dismantled walls ofmore recently built pueblos, some made of roughly shaped stone,others of sun-dried brick; these were built by the aborigines onlya few centuries ago. In Mexico and South America the aborigines had reached astage of advancement that savored of barbaric splendor. More-over, they lived at a time which belongs to the period of written 19 20 THE MAKING OF THE AMERICAN NATION history. The Aztecs, whom Cortez found in Mexico, and thePeru
The making of the American nation; a history for elementary schools . the makers of the shell heaps. Inthe Colorado plateau one may still find the dismantled walls ofmore recently built pueblos, some made of roughly shaped stone,others of sun-dried brick; these were built by the aborigines onlya few centuries ago. In Mexico and South America the aborigines had reached astage of advancement that savored of barbaric splendor. More-over, they lived at a time which belongs to the period of written 19 20 THE MAKING OF THE AMERICAN NATION history. The Aztecs, whom Cortez found in Mexico, and thePeruvians, whose rulers Pizarro so cruelly exterminated, do notbelong to the legendary period ; they were facts and factors in thereal history of America. Indian Civilization. — The romance of history is so fascinatingthat we are apt to magnify the greatness of these peoples. Asa matter of fact, they had not reached civilization at all. Inthe struggle for existence some tribes had surpassed others in theability to organize and to wield power with intelligence. There. The Indian Pueblo of Zuni. was very little of common interest between tribes; indeed,they were almost always at war with one another. Commercialpursuits were practically unknown. Tlie Indian warrior disdained every employment save the himtand the warpath. In these pursuits he was most expert. Hecould track his prey along a trail so blind that atrained white woodsman would not suspect its exist-ence. In acuteness his sight was much like the scent-ing power of a hound. He could perfectly imitate the call of thewild animals, and could stalk his prey with the stealthy treadof a cat. His patience and endurance were marvelous; half clad The Indianwarrior TUE INDIANS 21 as he crept through the forest, he seemed to feel neither cold nor hunger. War was his chief delight, and in the pursuit of his foe he was revengeful and cruel. He took fiendish delight in torturing his captive foe, and his ingenuity in devis-ing the most ho
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