The practice of ethnology and archaeology in the southwestern territories of the United States in the nineteenth century was poorly organized and chaotic. The presence of indigenous populations, along with extensive archaeological evidence, was attractive to the communities of interest concerned with these issues. However, difficulties of access and the lack of expertise proved a considerable hindrance. The “field network” concept, developed by historian of science Jeremy Vetter, provides means to explore how information from this region was “produced” by members of the local Euro-American population, was obtained/used by scholars, and reflected the interests of an array of actors. The field network created by Lewis Henry Morgan (1818–1881) for research in the United States Southwest between 1860 and 1880 provides a particularly useful example of how such connections developed in a critical era for the development of American anthropology.