Prior to the Spanish conquest, trade connected vast regions of North America. Goods and concepts from Mesoamerica spread as far north as Utah and Illinois, while shell beads from the Pacific Coast circulated along east/west trade routes ranging from California and Oklahoma. These long-distance interactions had important repercussions for social histories throughout North America. Periods of integration in the American Southwest, for example, have long been seen as paralleling political developments in the wider Mesoamerican world. In the absence of political integration, however, it is difficult to define the boundaries of these various overlapping trade networks. This paper examines the North American continental system from the perspective of trade between the pacific coast and the American Southwest. We argue that networks of prestige exchange connected the political histories of both regions, with important developments for social evolution, especially in coastal California.