Although the United States is a young country compared to many other countries in the world, people have lived here for a very long time. Indians have lived in North America for at least 10,000 years. European settlers started to come here in the late 1500s. Over time, settlers came from many other countries to different parts of North America. They could not always find their usual building materials; therefore, they often had to change their style of building to fit their new environment.