Shelter in the Southwest: Early Dwellings of the Borderlands

When Anglo settlers from the United States first arrived in the southern area of what is now Arizona and New Mexico, they faced two situations which differed from those in any other section of the American frontier and which influenced their first shelters: (1) protection from the sun was as necessary as protection from cold, and (2) there were already residents of European origin in the area. In some periods and places, another factor had to be considered, a home had to afford a refuge from hostile forces.
Southwesterners learn early to respect the sun, to a degree perhaps hard to conceive by inhabitants of regions with less ferocious heat.
Reeve-Kidney paints an accurate and engaging portrait of this period of Southwest architecture.