The Havasupai lived, farmed, and hunted throughout their traditional territory, comprising the canyons and plateaus in and around Havasu Canyon, for centuries before the arrival of Europeans. They farmed in the canyons in spring and summer, and moved to the plateau lands for fall and winter. In the 1870s, when European miners, ranchers, and settlers arrived in the Arizona territory in increasing numbers, pressure increased to confine the Havasupai and other Tribes to small and demarcated reservations. In 1882, President Chester Arthur established the Havasupai Indian Reservation by Executive Order, and restricted the tribe to 518 acres in Havasu Canyon. The rest of their ancestral lands were taken by the federal government for public use. According to reports, the Havasupai were completely unaware of the Executive Order for several years. The reduction of their lands led to a disruption on the tribe's way of life, and constant tension between the tribe and the U.S. Government.