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40 One research question is whether there is documentary and archaeological evidence for ethnic segregation within the site. In general, the reason for segregation is both legal and cultural. Local ' governments and other organizations, for example, often prevented some ethnic groups from living outside of designated azeas. External pressure may have led the New Mexican Hispanics to seek ' living in the same place for mutual protection. That search for protection and possible internal group networking aze probably responsible for the existence of some ethnic enclaves, such as the one present at Bent Canyon (Friedman 1985; Carrillo 1990). Other ethnic enclaves seem to be related to a cultural preference to live among people who share one's lifestyle. Ethnic and/or racial segregation is frequently associated with the concept of social distance ' between groups. Historic documents indicate that at least two ethnic groups interacted in the azea. The AngloAmerican population was associated with the merchant class (in Las Animas City and Trinidad), and ranching activities, primarily cattle and sheep. The Hispanic males were employed on the ranches as cowboys or sheep herders. New Mexican and Native American women either cohabitated with or married AngloAmerican men, and were employed as domestic workers. Additionally, some Hispanics owned and maintained ranches, primazily raising sheep. What is ' known is that underlying tensions between the communities existed, and hostilities erupted, pitting AngloAmerican cattle ranchers against Hispanic sheep ranchers over control of the rangeland, as ' well as for political reasons. The racial attitudes of the period need to be examined, not only as a potential local problem, but also as a manifestation of a larger contemporary nativistic trend that impacted dozens of other western communities as well. Could the larger "world system" of racial politics have been transplanted to the Purgatoire Valley during the 1860s period with the influx of new people as a result of the United States taking over the Southwest, or did ananti-Hispanic/Native American sentiment spring purely from local conditions? Additionally, were other ethnic minorities present in the azea? If such distinctions for the Purgatoire Valley region can be gleaned from the historical ' and archaeological records, deeper questions concerning in-group/out-group formation may be addressed along lines of occupational differences and competition for resources. ' Alternatively, because the population of the project area fluctuated dramatically over time, different ethnic or racial groups may well have interacted in a relatively egalitazian fashion. If this ' assumption is valid, the distribution of artifacts, faunal remains, floral remains, and size of domiciles should be either random or uniform. It is expected that social and economic variability, and perhaps sexual and ethnic segregation, did exist within the population of the Purgatoire River Valley and that the material culture and its spatial arrangement will reflect that variability. This may be especially true in the 1860s and through the mid-1870s. ' The way in which ethnicity is reflected in the archaeological record and what social and or economic factors can be inferred from the archaeological deposits becomes the research topic of interest, especially at a single residence site such as SLA7186. A "site's" ethnicity, if it might be ' viewed as such, can be viewed in two ways. First, the regional Euro-American population was • composed of several distinct ethnic groups who participated in a common culture based on occupational endeavors, and second, the Hispanic and Native American population were often segregated from the AngloAmerican population.