Ganado

History

The earliest peoples in the region are believed to have been nomadic hunters in search of big game roaming throughout the Four Corners region. The next wave of inhabitants are believed to have been smaller hunter-gatherer communities of similar nomadic characteristic. It is believed that archaic forms of agriculture came to the Little Colorado River basin around . The first permanent residents of the Ganado region (comprising greater Ganado, Kinlichee, Burnside, and Cornfields) were the "Basketmaker" Ancestral Puebloan. The ruins of their homesteads are scattered throughout the Little Colorado River basin and Colorado Plateau, among the red clay hills surrounding Ganado, and on the escarpment to the west. Significant agricultural advancement was seen in the first millennium. The largest Puebloan ruin at Ganado is Wide Reeds Ruin, along the floodplain near the present-day Ganado Wash bridge; and it is believed to have been constructed around 1276. Modern understanding of the historical record left behind by the Ancestral Puebloans exhibits a massive network of villages, storehouses, and fortified structures throughout the Colorado Plateau region. Stretching from Mesa Verde in the north, to Chaco Canyon in the east, to Keet Seel (Kitsʼiil) and Betatakin (Bitátʼahkin) and Wupatki in the west, trading routes can be traced through the Ganado region to as far south as Mexico. Pottery fragments found through the area show a wide array of design and utility, both local and foreign to Ganado. The largest population center in this era near Ganado, is to the north at Canyon de Chelly. Between 1276 and 1299, archaeologists have recorded a period of "great drought," leading (among other causes) to the eventual end of influence of Puebloan culture and peoples on the Ganado…

Geography

Ganado is located at (35.702571, −109.553234). According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of , all land.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• Ganado High School
  High · Ganado · 448 students · 18.7:1 ratio
• Ganado Middle School
  Middle · Ganado · 291 students · 15.3:1 ratio
• Ganado Primary School
  Elementary · Ganado · 212 students · 15.1:1 ratio
• Ganado Intermediate School
  Elementary · Ganado · 207 students · 12.2:1 ratio
• NATIVE - Ganado High School
  High · Ganado · 1 students