Joshua Tree National Park, California Converted Panasonic LX100 infrared image 720nm Joshua Tree’s human history commenced after the last ice age with the arrival of the Pinto people, hunter-gatherers, one of the Southwest’s earliest cultures. They lived in Pinto Basin, which had a wet climate some 5,000 to 7,000 years ago. Nomadic groups of Indians seasonally inhabited the region when harvests of pinyon nuts, mesquite beans, acorns, and cactus fruit offered sustenance.