The Mogollon is one of the four major prehistoric

Prehistory

Prehistory is the span of time before recorded history. Prehistory can refer to the period of human existence before the availability of those written records with which recorded history begins. More broadly, it refers to all the time preceding human existence and the invention of writing...

 archaeological

Archaeology

Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...

 Oasisamerica culture

Oasisamerica

Oasisamerica was a broad cultural area in pre-Columbian southwestern North America. It extended from modern-day Utah down to southern Chihuahua, and from the coast on the Gulf of California eastward to the Río Bravo river valley...

 areas of the American Southwest

Southwestern United States

The Southwestern United States is a region defined in different ways by different sources. Broad definitions include nearly a quarter of the United States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah...

 and Northern Mexico

Geography of Mexico

The geography of Mexico entails the physical and human geography of Mexico, a country situated in the Americas. Mexico is located at about 23° N and 102° W in the southern portion of North America. It is also located in a region known as Middle America. From its farthest land points, Mexico is a...

. The American Indian

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

 culture known as the Mogollon lived in the southwest from approximately AD 150 until sometime between AD 1400 and AD 1450. The name Mogollon comes from the Mogollon Mountains

Mogollon Mountains

The Mogollon Mountains or Mogollon Range are a mountain range east of the San Francisco River in Grant and Catron counties of southwestern New Mexico, between the communities of Reserve and Silver City. They extend roughly north-south for about 30 miles , and form part of the divide between the...

, which were named after Don Juan Ignacio Flores Mogollón, Spanish Governor of New Mexico from 1712-1715.
The Mogollon archaeological area was first recognized by Emil Haury

Emil Haury

Emil Walter "Doc" Haury was an influential archaeologist who specialized in the archaeology of the American Southwest....

, following work at two archaeological sites (the Harris Village in the town of Mimbres, New Mexico, and the Mogollon Village, on the upper San Francisco River

San Francisco River

The San Francisco River is a river in the southwest United States, the largest tributary of the Upper Gila River. The river originates in Arizona and flows into New Mexico before it curves around and enters the Gila down stream from Clifton, Arizona....

) in southwestern New Mexico in 1933 and 1934.