-- not lake -- the cortez sea to get, was that mostly hard or brittle? . >> it was hard but not tool hard. the colorado plateau is covered with chert, a glassy rock that is really really good for making tools, making very sharp edges. you find there are pieces of chert all over the place and you can still cut your skin open very quickly with it and it's been sitting out in the open. >> where does chert come from? . >> it's a marine rock that's mostly silica. you find it in these layers, sandstone layers. if you are especially in a marine or water environment, you will find this layer of chert. it's in all colors, purple, green, red, blue. it's a beautiful rock. . >> one thing i wanted to ask you, the review in the paper recently on sunday said that your book is different from all the other books about the anastazi because you brought out some of the non-flattering parts of their culture like violence. how did you conclude that they were a violent culture? . >> well, i didn't necessarily conclude they were a violent culture, i just concluded there was vio

and on the last trip you can see the sea of cortez out there on the horizon. we walked to the edge of the dunes and even out there, just past the edge of the dunes, you would find places where there's -- there were piles of pottery, pottery scattered in the sand, and then the desert pan extended out and then you reach the sea of cortez that lies beyond. you know, i should -- i want to show you guys these next slides. i'm kind of running out of time here but i've got to show you this place. i'm not going to go into heavy detail, i want to take you down here into the sierra madre. i was following routes all over for the house of rain, trying to figure out where the anastazi went when they left house of rain. many of them made the modern pueblos but other groups continued south. i followed pottery trails down into the sierra madre where my wife and two others went out and we came to these cliff dwellings. it seemed like every single cave we looked into had cliff dwellings. and this wasn't a place with trails. this wasn't a known location. many of these sites were

olivia cortez. to get her on the ballot. in addition to that remarkably charitable effort by the russell pearce family, the mysterious cortez campaign also somehow found itself with enough money, enough funding to pay professional signature gatherers to go out alongside russell pearce's nieces in order to get olivia cortez on the ballot. >> i was told that if people were supporters of mr. pearce, to tell them go ahead and sign this, that this will help his chances. >> so the idea was to dilute or divert the vote? >> yeah. >> by running a diversionary or a sham candidate that that might run a file of arizona's election laws? >> i had no idea. >> i had no idea, she says. no idea there could be serious legal consequences in this scheme to save russell pearce from being recalled, by saving russell pearce from running a clear election against somebody who wants to recall him. the circumstances of the russell pearce recall race were strange enough that a maricopa county judge began holding hearings into whether or not this olivia

in one of the extraordinary things that happens after cortez is suddenly all these spaniards think, whoa, i can do this. i can go out randomly and find gold, and they are able -- it's a little like the dot-com boom. netscape goes out, everybody is willing to fund the most idiotic ideas and random spaniards can say, give me a boat, and it's expensive. >> one critic praised your book, referring to your prose as being muscular. there's something that matches the audacity of the explorers in that there's some attempt to yoke the continents and not simply cross the atlantic but across the pacific as well. do you admire this habit in the male? >> i hadn't thought about it. this is part of what people do, of all cultures. i describe how the chinese are pushing out west, and body-slamming into asian minorities, still doing this today. and so there's -- often when you read histories like this hairs a lot of hand-wringing, and to me that just isn't surprising that people do this. one of the most striking concepts i have -- that is in the last book i quote anthropologist who says, if you read the a

i think it's true, and one of the extraordinary thing that happens after cortez is suddenly spaniards think, i can do this. i can go out randomly and find gold. it's like a dot-com boom. everybody is willing to fund any idea, and random spaniards can say, give me a boat, and they go out in all directions. >> one critic referred to your prose as being muscular. there is something in the prose that matches the audacity of the explorers you described in as far as there's an attempt to link the continents. do you admire this habit within the male that you describe, or -- >> i haven't thought about it. i mean, i guess this is part of what people do and of all cultures, you know, i describe how the chinese push out west, and, you know, body slamming into asian minorities. they are still doing this today. >> yes. >> so, you know, there's often when you read histories like this, there's a lot of hand ringing, and to me, that is -- it's just not surprising people do this. one of the most striking comments that i -- that's in the last book i quote, an anthropologist who says if you read the acc

what is the sea of cortez? >> the gulf of california. >> 3-4-1. it all comes down to that. how many oil nations have the word guinea in their name? >> two. >> correct. >> three. >> three is not correct. is four. [applause] >> i will give you the rest of the nerds but there's only one left. only one more question. in what city is the at the river? frank. i tried to help you. let's give these guys a big hand. [applause] very impressive. we will do -- does anybody have any questions? what are the four guineas? guinea, guinea-bissau, editorial guinea, apple and new guinea. they are all the hard ones. any questions not about countries? >> how is your favorite dog? >> sort of famous mentioned in the jacket copy. i have a labrador retriever who could not be with us tonight but is getting more stable with age. the same -- pretty awesome in our dog. any other questions? >> tell us about your explanation. >> my education? i sort of screw up a lot in school. that is not what you want to hear. i was originally from seattle and moved overseas when i was 7 or 8. my dad got a job in a law

what cold is known as cortez? >> the gulf of california. >> correct. it all comes down to this. how many world nations have the word being in their name? >> three. >> three is not correct. >> for. >> it is for. [applause] >> very nicely done, you guys. i was going to give you the rest of nerds but there's only one left. i think you guys have enough. one more question. in what u.s. state is the iasi river? >> mississippi. >> i heard it up here first,sn frank. let's give these guys a big and. [applause] >> very impressive. we will do, doesn't have any questions i did not get to? >> what are the four guinea? >> and new guinea. i don't know what the hard-won is. i think there are all hard once. any questions about -- [inaudible] >> she is famous. i have a labrador retriever who could not be with us here tonight but it's getting more stable with age. unicom the same thing that is sort of -- it's awesome and our dog. any other questions? [inaudible] >> about my education. sort of screwed up a lot in school. [laughter] know, you're asking if i cheated. that's not what you want to hear.