Paul Coze

Illustration of Hohokam tending a field

The early people who lived in the Sonoran Desert were hunter/gatherers. They would collect the edible plants and other natural resources of the desert. They picked the seed pods from the mesquite tree to make flour. They used the flowers, fruit, and pads of the prickly pear cactus and the flowers from the cholla cactus, saguaro, and hedgehog cactus for food. They used the creosote bush and other desert plants for medicine. The agave plant was used for food and also fiber.

The early people hunted animals like jackrabbits, cottontail rabbits, and ground squirrels; and also birds, like dove and quail. They even fished in the Gila River, because when the early people lived here, the Gila River had water in it for the entire year.

Jim Creager

The Saguaro blooms in June and produces a delicious fruit.

Probably because there was so much water and food in the area, the early people decided to stay. After a while, they began using up a lot of the resources that were close by and began to run out of food. They could have moved to a new area where there were more things to eat, but instead, the early people turned to agriculture and became what archeologists call the Hohokam.

Agriculture occurs when people begin planting and cultivating crops. The crops can include plants that are native to the region or seeds brought in from other areas. Some of the crops planted by the Hohokam were corn, squash, beans and cotton. One of the greatest difficulties of growing crops in the desert is the lack of rainfall. The Hohokam were very clever and devised a system of irrigation canals to bring the water from the rivers to their fields. This meant they could water more land and produce more crops. With more food available, the Hohokam were able to feed more people, so the population increased. Extra food also meant not everyone needed to work at growing or finding food. Like today, the Hohokam were able to specialize their tasks. There were farmers, but some people may have been potters, basket weavers or jewelry makers. The craftspeople may have traded what they created with the farmers for food and the farmers may have gained storage vessels to store their seeds and crops.

What if we use most of our land to build houses? Where will we grow our food?

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