country fajada butte
The Western ___MASK19___ , commonly referred to as the American West , the Far West , or simply the West , traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the ___MASK19___ . Because European settlement in the U . S . expanded westward after its founding , the meaning of the West has evolved over time . Prior to about 1800 , the crest of the Appalachian Mountains was seen as the western frontier . The Chaco Wash is an arroyo ( a periodic stream ) cutting through Chaco Canyon , which is located in northwestern New ___MASK49___ on the Colorado Plateau . Another arroyo known as Escavada Wash is a tributary that feeds in from the northeast , near the western end of Chaco Canyon . Chaco Wash flows northwest to become the intermittent Chaco River . It is a tributary of the San Juan River . ___MASK49___ (, modern Nahuatl ), officially the United Mexican States , is a federal republic in the southern half of North America . It is bordered to the north by the ___MASK19___ ; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean ; to the southeast by ___MASK42___ , Belize , and the Caribbean Sea ; and to the east by the Gulf of ___MASK49___ . Covering almost two million square kilometers ( over 760 , 000 sq mi ), ___MASK49___ is the sixth largest country in the Americas by total area and the 13th largest independent nation in the world . With an estimated population of over 120 million , it is the eleventh most populous country and the most populous Spanish - speaking country in the world while being the second most populous country in Latin America . ___MASK49___ is a federation comprising 31 states and a federal district that is also its capital and most populous city . Other metropolises include Guadalajara , Monterrey , Puebla , Toluca , Tijuana and León . A butte is an isolated hill with steep , often vertical sides and a small , relatively flat top ; buttes are smaller than mesas , plateaus , and table landforms . The word butte comes from a French word meaning " small hill "; its use is prevalent in the Western ___MASK19___ , including the southwest where " mesa " is also used for the larger landform . Because of their distinctive shapes , buttes are frequently landmarks in plains and mountainous areas . In differentiating mesas and buttes , geographers use the rule of thumb that a mesa has a top that is wider than its height , while a butte has a top that is narrower than its height . Pueblos are modern and old communities of Native Americans in the Southwestern ___MASK19___ . The first Spanish explorers of the Southwest used this term to describe the communities housed in apartment structures built of stone , adobe mud , and other local material . These structures were usually multi - storied buildings surrounding an open plaza . The rooms were accessible only through ladders lowered by the inhabitants , thus protecting them from break - ins and unwanted guests . Larger pueblos were occupied by hundreds to thousands of Pueblo people . Several different federally recognized tribes have traditionally resided in pueblos of such design . Etymology and usage . The word " pueblo " is the Spanish word for " town " or " village ". It comes from the Latin root word " populus " meaning " people ". Chaco Culture National Historical Park is a ___MASK19___ National Historical Park hosting the densest and most exceptional concentration of pueblos in the American Southwest . The park is located in northwestern New Mexico , between Albuquerque and Farmington , in a remote canyon cut by the Chaco Wash . Containing the most sweeping collection of ancient ruins north of Mexico , the park preserves one of the most important pre - Columbian cultural and historical areas in the ___MASK19___ . New ___MASK49___ is a state located in the southwestern region of the ___MASK8___ . It was admitted to the union as the 47th state on January 6 , 1912 . It is usually considered one of the Mountain States . New ___MASK49___ is fifth by area , the 36th - most populous , and the sixth - least densely populated of the 50 United States . Fajada Butte is a butte in Chaco Culture National Historical Park , in northwest New ___MASK49___ . Fajada Butte ( Banded Butte ) rises 135 meters above the canyon floor . Although there is no water source on the butte , there are ruins of small cliff dwellings in the higher regions of the butte . Analysis of fragments of pottery found on Fajada show that these structures were used between the 10th to 13th centuries ( Ford 1993 , p . 474 ) . The remains of a 95 - meter - high , 230 - meter - long ramp are evident on the southwestern face of the butte ( Ford 1993 , p . 478 ) . The magnitude of this building project , without an apparent utilitarian purpose , indicates that Fajada Butte may have had considerable ceremonial importance for the Chacoan people .