<P> The Navajo were an Athabaskan people who migrated from the north into the Colorado River basin around 1025 A.D. They soon established themselves as the dominant Native American tribe in the Colorado River basin, and their territory stretched over parts of present - day Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado--in the original homelands of the Puebloans . In fact, the Navajo acquired agricultural skills from the Puebloans before the collapse of the Pueblo civilization in the 14th century . A profusion of other tribes have made a continued, lasting presence along the Colorado River . The Mohave have lived along the rich bottomlands of the lower Colorado below Black Canyon since 1200 A.D. They were fishermen--navigating the river on rafts made of reeds to catch Gila trout and Colorado pikeminnow--and farmers, relying on the annual floods of the river rather than irrigation to water their crops . Ute peoples have inhabited the northern Colorado River basin, mainly in present - day Colorado, Wyoming and Utah, for at least 2,000 years, but did not become well established in the Four Corners area until 1500 A.D. The Apache, Cocopah, Halchidhoma, Havasupai, Hualapai, Maricopa, Pima, and Quechan are among many other groups that live along or had territories bordering on the Colorado River and its tributaries . </P> <P> Beginning in the 17th century, contact with Europeans brought significant changes to the lifestyles of Native Americans in the Colorado River basin . Missionaries sought to convert indigenous peoples to Christianity--an effort sometimes successful, such as in Father Eusebio Francisco Kino's 1694 encounter with the "docile Pimas of the Gila Valley (who) readily accepted Father Kino and his Christian teachings". The Spanish introduced sheep and goats to the Navajo, who came to rely heavily on them for meat, milk and wool . By the mid-16th century, the Utes, having acquired horses from the Spanish, introduced them to the Colorado River basin . The use of horses spread through the basin via trade between the various tribes and greatly facilitated hunting, communications and travel for indigenous peoples . More warlike groups such as the Utes and Navajos often used horses to their advantage in raids against tribes that were slower to adopt them, such as the Goshutes and Southern Paiutes . </P> <P> The gradual influx of European and American explorers, fortune seekers and settlers into the region eventually led to conflicts that forced many Native Americans off their traditional lands . After the acquisition of the Colorado River basin from Mexico in the Mexican--American War in 1846, U.S. military forces commanded by Kit Carson forced more than 8,000 Navajo men, women and children from their homes after a series of unsuccessful attempts to confine their territory, many of which were met with violent resistance . In what is now known as the Long Walk of the Navajo, the captives were marched from Arizona to Fort Sumner in New Mexico, and many died along the route . Four years later, the Navajo signed a treaty that moved them onto a reservation in the Four Corners region that is now known as the Navajo Nation . It is the largest Native American reservation in the United States, encompassing 27,000 square miles (70,000 km) with a population of over 180,000 as of 2000 . </P> <P> The Mohave were expelled from their territory after a series of minor skirmishes and raids on wagon trains passing through the area in the late 1850s, culminating in an 1859 battle with American forces that concluded the Mohave War . In 1870, the Mohave were relocated to a reservation at Fort Mojave, which spans the borders of Arizona, California and Nevada . Some Mohave were also moved to the 432 - square - mile (1,120 km) Colorado River Indian Reservation on the Arizona--California border, originally established for the Mohave and Chemehuevi people in 1865 . In the 1940s, some Hopi and Navajo people were also relocated to this reservation . The four tribes now form a geopolitical body known as the Colorado River Indian Tribes . </P>

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