History

• At first, the Pueblos walked. With the taming of dogs, they managed to get some to pull their load through the use of a travois. They did not use boats because they lived in a land-locked area. The Spanish explorers brought horses and donkeys to North America. Some of these horses are thought to have escaped and later evolved into what would later be called Mustangs. Pueblos were known to own significant numbers of horses and donkeys in 1680.
  
  

Geography

• Pueblos lived in the arid southwest part of America in what is now New Mexico, Mexico, Arizona and up to southern Colorado and Utah. This area doesn't have any rivers to use for transportation, so the Peublo had to rely on feet--whether their own feet or using a beast of burden. This area is prone to sudden flash floods. Days can often be sweltering while the nights are freezing.
  
  

Types

• The three types of the Pueblo's means of transportation was walking, dogs and horses. The dogs pulled a cart called a travois. This was two poles shaped like a triangle over the dog's back. Usually, only one dog pulled one travois. The dogs usually pulled goods or children, not adults. Travois were made from cactus spine or wooden poles for the frame and a stretch of fabric to place your goods on that needed to be dragged.
  
  Horses and donkeys were used in two ways. They also pulled travois, but they could be ridden. Sometimes, the horses had to do both. The Pueblos used wheeled wagons when they could get a hold of them after the 1600s, but mostly preferred to stick with their traditional methods.
  
  People used walking sticks and the women often carried a basket on their heads that was similar in shape to a travois.
  
  

Benefits

• Use of travois and horses turned out to be far easier and smoother going in that terrain than wagons, because the wagon wheels would often freeze or get mired in sand or mud from sudden floods, while you could go all day with a horse, your feet or a travois.
  
  Over time, the Pueblo knew where some grooves or paths were formed in the desert to help them travel. They also learned to keep away from wide, smooth grooves that looked like a natural road but became dangerous rivers if there was a sudden storm upstream.
  
  

Misconceptions

• Pueblos didn't use canoes, because there wasn't enough water for their use. Modern Pueblos use any mode of transportation that is readily available.
  
  

Significance

• Since the Pueblos depended on their crops for most of their food, they were not interested in traveling far and wide to hunt and forage like other tribes. They seemed to be one of the last tribes to depend on donkeys and horses when it was discovered that mounted riders could defend against Apaches taking the crops.
  Before, they fought by barricading themselves in their homes and could not defend anything else. They centered their lives at their abode villages and had time to develop incredibly elaborate ceremonies.
  
  Horses and dogs became so essential for daily life that it was assumed they would be needed in the afterlife. Favorite horses and dogs were sometimes killed when their master died so they could help their dead master in the afterlife.