Part 1

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Mesa Verde

[COLORADO]

National Park

United States Department of the Interior _Harold L. Ickes, Secretary_

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE _Arno B. Cammerer, Director_

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON: 1937

+----------------------------------------------------------------------+ |+--------------------------------------------------------------------+| || Events || || || || OF HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE || |+--------------------------------------------------------------------+| || | || || 1st century[1] | The earliest occupation of Cliff Palace cave was || || B.C. or | probably before, or immediately following, the || || A.D. | beginning of the Christian era. These earliest || || | occupants, known to scientists as Basket || || | Makers, were the first agricultural Indians of || || | the Southwest. || || | || || 4th to 7th[1] | By the beginning of the fourth century A.D., the || || centuries | early agriculturists were developing the art of || || A.D. | pottery making. Later, their semisubterranean || || | homes were spread widely over the Mesa Verde. || || | || || 7th to | During the three or four centuries preceding 1000 || || 10th[1] | A.D., the Pueblo Culture on Mesa Verde was || || centuries | developing from modest beginnings toward its || || A.D. | classical stage, which culminated in the || || | building of the great cliff dwelling. || || | || || 1066 | Earliest date established for large Mesa Verde || || | cliff dwellings (Beam section from Mug House.) || || | || || 1073-1273 | Construction of Cliff Palace. || || | || || 1276 | Beginning of 24-year drought, an important factor || || | in forcing the cliff dwellers from the Mesa || || | Verde. || || | || || 1776 | Expedition of Padre Silvestre Velez de Escalante || || | to southwestern Colorado. Party camped on the || || | Mancos River near the base of the Mesa Verde. || || | || || 1859 | Ascent of the north escarpment of Mesa Verde by || || | Capt. J. N. Macomb, of the United States Army, || || | and members of his party of geologists. || || | || || 1874 | Discovery of the ruins in the Mancos Canyon by || || | W. H. Jackson, United States Geological Survey. || || | Party harrassed by Ute Indians. || || | || || 1888 | Discovery of Cliff Palace and other major ruins || || | by Richard Wetherill and Charlie Mason. || || | || || 1891 | First organized archeological expedition to Mesa || || | Verde, under direction of Baron G. Nordenskioeld.|| || | || || 1906 | Mesa Verde National Park created June 29. || || | || || | || || 1907 | Excavation of Spruce Tree House by Dr. J. Walter || || | Fewkes, of Smithsonian Institution. || || | || || 1909 | Excavation of Cliff Palace. || || | || || 1911 | Excavation and repair of Balcony House by Jesse || || | L. Nusbaum. || || | || || 1913 | First entrance road completed. First automobile in|| || | Spruce Tree Camp. Extension of park boundaries || || | to include notable ruins and archeological || || | remains. || || | || || 1914 | Construction of first wagon road from Spruce Tree || || | Camp to principal cliff dwellings. || || | || || 1915 | Sun Temple excavated by Dr. Fewkes. || || | || || 1916 | Far View House excavated by Dr. Fewkes. || || | || || 1917 | First Government-constructed trails to Spring || || | House and Soda Canyon. || || | || || 1918 | First camp accommodations established at Spruce || || | Tree Camp. || || | || || 1919 | Square Tower House excavated. || || | || || 1921 | Establishment of superintendent's office and home || || | at park headquarters. || || | || || 1925 | First unit of park museum constructed by donated || || | funds. || || | || || 1926 | Excavation in Step House Cave and discovery of || || | its occupation by Basket Maker III people more || || | than 3 centuries in advance of cliff dweller || || | occupation. || || | || || 1928 | Exclusive jurisdiction of park tendered to the || || | United States and accepted by act of Congress || || | April 25. || || | || || 1934 | Completion of deep water well (4,192 feet). || || | || || 1936 | Addition to park museum completed. || |+--------------------------------------------------------------------+| +----------------------------------------------------------------------+

RULES AND REGULATIONS

. Briefed .

A complete copy of the rules and regulations for governing the park may be seen at the office of the superintendent.

+Automobiles.+--Secure automobile permit, fee $1 per car. Speed limit 35 miles per hour on entrance highway, 20 miles per hour in headquarters area and on ruin roads. Drive carefully; free wheeling is prohibited within the park.

+Fires.+--Confine fires to designated places. Extinguish completely before leaving camp, even for temporary absences. Do not guess your fire is out--KNOW IT.

+Firewood.+--Use only the wood that is stacked and marked "firewood" near your campsite. By all means do not use your ax on any standing tree or strip bark from the junipers.

+Grounds.+--Burn all combustible rubbish before leaving your camp. Do not throw papers, cans, or other refuse on the ground or over the canyon rim. Use the incinerators which are placed for this purpose.

+Hiking.+--Do not venture away from the headquarters area unless accompanied by a guide or after first having secured permission from a duly authorized park officer.

+Hunting.+--Hunting is prohibited within the park. This area is a sanctuary for all wildlife.

+Noise.+--Be quiet in camp after others have gone to bed. Many people come here for rest.

+Park Rangers.+--The rangers are here to help and advise you as well as to enforce regulations. When in doubt, ask a ranger.

+Ruins and Structures.+--Do not mark, disturb, or injure in any way the ruins or any of the buildings, signs, or other properties within the park.

+Trees, Flowers, and Animals.+--Do not carve initials upon or pull the bark from any logs or trees. Flowers may not be picked unless written permission is obtained from the superintendent or park naturalist. Do not harm or frighten any of the wild animals or birds within the park. We wish to protect them for your enjoyment.

+Visitors.+--Register and secure permit at the park entrance. Between travel seasons, registration and permit are arranged for at park headquarters.

Contents

Page

The Ruins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Spruce Tree House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Cliff Palace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Balcony House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Square Tower House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Oak Tree House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Sun Set House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Sun Temple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 New Fire-House Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Cedar Tree Tower . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Far View House, a Mesa Verde Pueblo . . . . . . . . . 21 Earth Lodge A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Unexcavated Ruins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Dates for Mesa Verde Ruins Established by Tree-Ring Chronology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Discoveries of Recent Years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Prehistoric Inhabitants of the Mesa Verde . . . . . . . . 28

Fauna and Flora . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

How to Reach the Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 By Automobile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 By Railroad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Motor Transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Educational Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Guided Trips to the Ruins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Campfire Talks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Park Museum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Reference Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Free Public Camp Grounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Horseback and Hiking Trips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Hospital and Medical Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Accommodations and Expenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

MESA VERDE

_National Park_

. SEASON FROM MAY 15 TO OCTOBER 15 .

The mesa verde, or green mesa, so-called because its juniper and pinon trees give it a verdant tone, is 15 miles long by 8 miles wide. Rising abruptly from the valley on the north side, its top slopes gradually southward to the high cliffs bordering the canyon of the Mancos River on the south. Into this valley open a number of large high-walled canyons through which occasionally, in times of heavy rain, raging torrents of water flow into the Mancos. In the shelter of the caves that have been eroded in the sides of these canyons are some of the best-preserved cliff dwellings in America, built many centuries ago by a tribe of peace-loving Indians who prized the security offered by the almost inaccessible caves. In order to preserve these cliff dwellings Mesa Verde National Park was created, but they are not the only attractions in the area. In the winter the park is closed to travel by deep snow, but in the early spring the blanket of snow is replaced by a mantle of flowers that change with the seasons, and to the story of the prehistoric inhabitants is added an absorbing story of nature that is peculiar to this mesa and canyon country.

"The Mesa Verde region", writes Arthur Chapman, "has many attractions besides its ruins. It is a land of weird beauty. The canyons which seam the mesa, all of which lead toward the distant Mancos River, are, in many cases, replicas of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado. While the summer days are warm, the nights are cool, and the visitor should bring plenty of wraps besides the clothing and shoes necessary for the work of climbing around among the trails. It is a country for active footwork, just as it was in the days of the cliff dwellers themselves. But when one has spent a few days among the cedars and pinon pines of the Mesa Verde, well named Green Table by the Spaniards of early days, he becomes an enthusiast and will be found among those who return again and again to this most unique of national parks to study its mysteries and its beauties from all angles."

The northern edge of the mesa terminates in a precipitous bluff, averaging 2,000 feet above the Montezuma Valley. The general slope of the surface is to the south, and as the main entrance highway meanders back and forth in heading each smaller canyon, many times skirting the very brink of the great northern fault line, tremendous expanses of diversified terrain are brought into view, first in Colorado and Utah, then in Arizona and New Mexico.

A new scenic road approximately 1 mile in length branches from the main highway at a point 10.2 miles beyond the entrance checking station and ascends to the crest of Park Point, the highest part of the Mesa Verde National Park, which attains an elevation of 8,572 feet above sea level.

From this majestic prominence the great Montezuma Valley, dotted with artificial lakes and fertile fields, appears as from an airplane, while to the north are seen the Rico Mountains and the Lone Cone of Colorado, and to the east, the La Plata Mountains. To the west the La Sals, the Blues, and Bears Ears, of Utah, dominate the horizon. Some of these landmarks are more than 115 miles distant. Southward numerous deep canyons, in which the more important cliff dwellings are found, subdivide the Mesa Verde into many long, narrow tonguelike mesas. The dark purplish canyon of the Mancos River is visible in the middle foreground, and beyond, above the jagged outline of the mesa to the south, the Navajo Reservation, surrounded by the deep-blue Carrizos of Arizona and the Lukachukai and Tunichas of New Mexico.

In the midst of this great mountain-enclosed, sandy plain, which, seen from the mesa, resembles a vast inland sea surrounded by dark, forbidding mountains, rises Ship Rock (45 miles distant), a great, jagged shaft of igneous rock, 1,860 feet high, which appears for all the world like a great "windjammer" under full sail. Toward evening the illusion is perfect.

The distance from Park Point to Spruce Tree Camp, the park headquarters, is 10.5 miles. The entire road from the park entrance to headquarters, 20 miles, is gravel surfaced and oil treated, full double width, and cars may pass at any point thereon.

Although there are hundreds of cliff dwellings within the Mesa Verde National Park, the more important are located in Rock, Long, Wickiup, Navajo, Spruce, Soda, Moccasin, and tributary canyons. Surface ruins of a different type are widely distributed over the narrow mesas separating the numerous canyons. A vast area surrounding the park contains more or less important ruins of these early inhabitants, most important and easiest of access from the park being the Aztec Ruins and Chaco Canyon National Monuments, New Mexico; the Yucca House National Monument, Colorado; and the Hovenweep National Monument, Colorado-Utah.

THE RUINS

Although the Spaniards were in the Mesa Verde region as early as 1765 and the Americans as early as 1859, it was not until 1872 that the first settlement was made. In that year the Mancos Valley, lying at the foot of the Mesa Verde, was settled, but because of the fact that the mesa itself was a stronghold of the warlike Ute Indians, many years passed before the cliff dwellings were discovered.

The ruins in the Mancos Canyon were discovered as early as 1874 when W. H. Jackson, who led a Government party, found there many small dwellings broken down by the weather. The next year he was followed by Prof. W. H. Holmes, later chief of the Bureau of American Ethnology, who drew attention to the remarkable stone towers also found in this region. Had either of the explorers followed up the side canyons of the Mancos they would have then discovered ruins which, in the words of Baron Gustav Nordenskioeld, the talented Swedish explorer, are "so magnificent that they surpass anything of the kind known in the United States."

The largest cliff ruin, known as Cliff Palace, was discovered by Richard Wetherill and Charlie Mason while hunting cattle one December day in 1888. Coming to the edge of a small canyon they first caught sight of a village under the overhanging cliff on the opposite side, placed like a picture in its rocky frame. In their enthusiasm they thought it was a palace. With the same enthusiasm the visitors of today involuntarily express their pleasure and surprise as they first view this spectacular ruin.

Later these two men explored this ruin and gave it the name of Cliff Palace, an unfortunate designation, for it is in no respect a palace, but a community house, containing more than 200 living rooms, former abodes of families, and 23 ceremonial rooms or kivas. They also discovered other community dwellings, one of which was called Spruce Tree House, from a large spruce tree, since cut down, growing in front of it. This had eight ceremonial rooms and probably housed 300 inhabitants.

The findings of these two ruins did not complete the discoveries of ancient buildings in the Mesa Verde; many other ruins were found by the Wetherill brothers and other early explorers. They mark the oldest and most congested region of the park, but the whole number of archeological sites may reach into the thousands.

Only a few of the different types of ruins that have already been excavated, repaired, and made accessible to the visitor are considered herein. This excavation and repair was the work of the late Dr. J. Walter Fewkes, formerly chief of the Bureau of American Ethnology, with the exception of Balcony House, which was done by Jesse L. Nusbaum. Hundreds of sites await scientific investigation, being accessible now only on foot or horseback.

SPRUCE TREE HOUSE

Spruce Tree House, located in a large cave just across Spruce Tree Canyon from the museum, has been made readily accessible by a short winding trail. This is the only excavated cliff dwelling in the park that may be visited without going on a conducted tour, and is open to the public at all times. A ranger is always on duty to protect the ruin from vandalism and to give information to the visitors.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

The total length of Spruce Tree House is 216 feet, and its greatest width is 89 feet. During the excavation of the ruin in 1907, Dr. Fewkes counted 8 ceremonial rooms, or kivas, and 114 rooms that had been used for living, storage, and other purposes. At least 14 seemed to have been storage and burial rooms so that probably not more than 100 were used as dwellings. If it is considered that a family occupied each room, the population would have been large, but it is doubtful if all of the rooms were occupied at one time. An average of 2 or 3 persons to the room, making a total of not more than 300 for the entire village, would no doubt be a fair estimate.

Two hundred feet north of Spruce Tree House the canyon comes to an abrupt box end. A splendid spring flows from the base of the sandstone cliff, and it was to this spring that the cliff-dweller women went for water carrying it back to their homes in their big water jars. At the south end of the cave a trail, consisting of small toeholds cut in the cliff, led to the mesa top above. This trail was used by the men as they went to their mesa-top fields, where they raised corn, beans, and squash, and by the hunters as they went in search of deer and mountain sheep that lived in the forests above.

LIVING ROOMS

The rooms of Spruce Tree House are divided into two groups by a court or street running from the front to the back of the cave, at a point just south of the center of the village. The majority of the rooms are north of this street, and some of the walls show the finest work in the entire structure. The stones were well shaped and smoothed; the mud mortar was carefully worked into the crevices and compressed with thin stone wedges. Over many of the walls was spread a thin coat of reddish plaster, often decorated with paintings. These rooms, standing as when they were constructed 700 years ago, are mute evidence of the cleverness of the masons who built them.

Spruce Tree House has more walls that reach the top of the cave than any other ruin in the park. All through the central part the walls were three stories high, the top of the cave serving as the roof of the upper rooms. One-and two-story structures usually required a ceiling of heavy rafters, running lengthwise of the rooms. These were covered with a crosswise layer of small poles and withes as a support for an average 3-inch floor of clay. Very often a small hatchway was left in one corner of the ceiling. A short ladder leaning in the corner of the lower room gave access to the room above.

Very few of the houses were equipped with fire pits. Most of the cooking was done in the open courts. Small fire pits can be found along the walls and in the corners of the courts and passageways.

CEREMONIAL ROOMS OR KIVAS

Spruce Tree House has eight of the circular, subterranean rooms that were set aside for ceremonial purposes. Similar rooms are still in use in the present day Pueblo Indian villages and are known as kivas.

Usually the kiva roofs have collapsed, but in Square Tower House two kivas have the original roofs almost intact. Following the plan of these original roofs, three of the kivas in Spruce Tree House have been reroofed. Details of construction may be noted by descending the ladder into one of these restored kivas.