As Harris -- a self-proclaimed "professional hobo" -- explained to the New Yorker, she hadn't really planned to keep Maggie. "On the [reservation], she was covered in mud and ticks," Harris said. "I was going to drop her off at the Humane Society, and, on my way there, I put her in this bucket in the front seat and she stared at me while we drove for hours."

Harris quickly decided that Maggie would make an excellent companion on a road trip around the United States, which the photographer had planned in preparation for her upcoming citizenship exam. And, just as author Benoit Denizet-Lewis discovered on his cross-country tour -- chronicled in the forthcoming book "Travels With Casey" -- Harris found that dogs can make the best tutors when it comes to learning about America.

Harris has chronicled her journey with Maggie through Instagram photos, which she hopes to compile into a book.

Photos by Naomi Harris.