Contrary to some beliefs, Native history and culture cannot be reduced to a reaction to first contact. Nations would intermingle, migrate, share cultural practices, and fight with each other and with the European settlers. At the ruins of El Cuartelejo, the northeasternmost pueblo in what is now the United States, is an important touchstone that linked southwest and plains cultures. In the 1600s, the area of Kansas near what is now Scott City was home to a band of Apache people who had lived in the area since at least…
